Your Mission: Help animals by being a Habitat Hero.
When we do things to change our environment, like build houses and roads, it gets harder and harder for animals to find the habitat they need to survive. A Habitat Hero is someone who helps animals by giving them shelter, food, water, or a safe place to nest.
For decades, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has been a Habitat Hero that protects and nurtures biodiversity. OPG continues to work to restore and create homes for a wide variety of animals, whether that’s woodland, wetland, or grassland.
For OPG, this means more than giving plants and animals a place to live. As plants grow, they pull carbon out of the atmosphere, helping to fight climate change.
Did you know?
In this Mission Brief, you’ll find out how to make a toad-ally awesome toad house, help a bird build a nest, and learn how to make six other mini habitats that animals will go wild for!
Habitat tips and facts
To help with this mission, Climate Guardian heroes Tammy and Fiona will be providing some tips and facts. These two climate heroes love to protect wildlife, plants, and the precious habitats animals depend on for their survival.
An ecosystem in your neighbourhood
As our population grows, we need more and more space for people to live. Almost 75,000 new houses were built in Ontario in 2018 and we’re still building more!1
With all of these new houses, plus the roads and buildings that go along with them, there’s less land for animals to live on.
Fiona says: As cities and urban areas expand, living species big and small like birds, insects and amphibians are being pushed into ever-shrinking green spaces. While some species can adapt to these changes, it makes it really hard for many of my animal friends to find enough food to eat, and safe places to sleep or nest. That’s why we all need to become Habitat Heroes and use our outdoor spaces to create homes for animals!
Whether it’s some simple flowers on a balcony, a shared courtyard or a huge garden full of plants, your outdoor space can make a world of difference for animals in your neighbourhood.
That’s because it’s just one piece of a larger ecosystem “puzzle”, along with all the other yards, parks and green spaces in your community. The more connected green spaces are to each other, the easier it is for animals to move around their territories, find mates, and forage for food.
1 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3410013501
Completed this Mission?
If you've completed everything outlined in the Mission Brief, it's time for your reward!
Click to download your Mission Certificate!
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