The forest & marsh are interdependent

 

In the heart of Aylmer, between Deschênes and chemin Fraser, south of boul. de Lucerne, is an oasis teeming with life - the Deschênes Forest and Lamoureux Marsh. 

I have lived in Aylmer almost 20 years and I have spent hours along the shoreline near Deschênes Rapids. However, it was only after this forest was threatened with destruction that I first discovered the forest and marsh. I wish I had known about this oasis years ago!  I was struck by the unique character of the forest and the incredible marsh, and I have been back many times since.

This forest is home to beautiful oak trees more than a century old and is alive with wildlife. In the forest, I have seen and heard many species of birds, and I’ve seen mammals ranging from chipmunks to deer. I am not sure when I have seen a marsh so completely alive – fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals in abundance.

I grew up in Nepean and have been walking the trails of the NCC greenbelt most of my life. In almost 50 years, I have not seen as many species there as in the Deschênes Forest and Lamoureux Marsh in the last month!

I am not opposed to development. However, this forest and marsh are rich and diverse ecosystems that must not be destroyed for the sake of “progress.”

The marsh is not for sale, and the city says it will protect it. However, the forest and marsh are one interconnected, interdependent ecosystem. If the forest is destroyed, the marsh will also be destroyed, or will, at best, be a pale, dead version of the oasis we see today.

The city wants to sell the forest to fund a new arena. I know that residents want facilities like arenas. But we must ask ourselves: if the only way to buy things we want, like arenas, is to sell our heirlooms - our ecological heritage - then are we living beyond our means? This is a high price to pay, and once gone, we can never get these heirlooms back. There will always be more things we want to buy, but if we pay for them by selling our heirlooms, then one day we will have no more treasures. Like the wetland, Aylmer will become a pale, dead version of the place we now call home.

A photo essay I created can be viewed at https://bit.ly/2NuB7eV

If you do not want this oasis destroyed, then please write the mayor and city council before July 7 when they make their decision.

Charles Dumaresq

Aylmer