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Ontario Nature honours Orangeville councillor for advocacy efforts on World Wetlands Day

February 13, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski

World Wetlands Day was marked on Feb. 2, and this year, Ontario Nature recognized seven Community Champions across the province for their efforts to preserve and protect the environment.

Locally, Orangeville Councillor Tess Prendergast, an environmentalist, volunteer and school teacher, was named a Community Champion.

Prendergast was recognized for her efforts to expand the tree canopy in Orangeville, protect pollinators, and strengthen wetlands management to address invasive species while supporting flood mitigation.

“Wetlands are essential infrastructure, and communities rely on them more than we often realize because they store water, slow runoff, and reduce flooding, especially in places like Orangeville that were built on wetlands,” said Prendergast.

“Managing invasive species and protecting these systems is practical, local work, and even when protections are weakened elsewhere, municipalities can step up together through regional cooperation. Small actions add up, and the benefits will hopefully be felt for generations to come.”

Prendergast noted the importance of advancing initiatives that benefit the environment, in light of local geography.

“I do this work because in Orangeville, the environment isn’t a theory, it is a reality. We are a headwaters community. We literally drink the water from beneath our feet, so protecting nature is really about protecting ourselves,” she said. “It is about teaching people that their impact matters, no matter how small.”

When walking through the Island Lake Conservation Area in Orangeville, Prendergast said she is amazed by the wildlife she sees, whether it’s turtles on the shore or the sounds of birds chirping.

“People say we are lucky to have this, but it isn’t luck. It is the result of decades of smart planning and the foresight of those who established our conservation authorities back in the 1950s. They knew then what we have to remember now: we cannot take any of this for granted,” she told the Citizen.

“Nature isn’t some abstract thing ‘out there.’ It is the water we drink and the soil that grows our food. When we say ‘the environment’ we are literally talking about our food, our water, and our shelter. Seeing it there in front of me fuels that drive to protect it at all costs. Once it is gone, we are never getting it back.”

Prendergast describes stewardship as both common-sense and practical.

“Protecting our trees and wetlands isn’t just about the view, it is about protecting our property values and stopping the kind of flooding that ends up costing all of us,” she said.

“It is about being a good steward of the taxpayer dollar by treating nature like the essential infrastructure it is. Even when provincial bills like Bill 23, 5, or 68 weaken protections, we can still lead. We can pass motions, speak up, and make sure local voices are heard.

Preserving wetlands is particularly important for the province, as Ontario is home to 25 per cent of Canada’s wetlands and 6 per cent of the world’s wetlands.

“These wetlands are also Indigenous cultural landscapes, comprising the territories of many First Nations since time immemorial. Wetlands sustain a diversity of iconic wildlife, reduce the impacts of flooding and purify the water we drink,” reads a press release from Ontario Nature.

“However, Southern Ontario has lost an estimated 70 per cent of its original wetlands. In the Greater Toronto Area, around 90 per cent of the original wetlands are gone. By weakening wetland and species habitat protections in recent years, the Government of Ontario has further threatened these essential ecosystems. Despite these provincial rollbacks, people across Ontario are protecting wetlands from the ground up.”

Prendergast said collective environmental action starts with regular people taking care of the planet in the same way they take care of their home.

“That is where it starts,” she said. “If you want to be an advocate for nature, you have to enjoy it first. You have to love something to want to fight for it. So please, go outside. Take your kids or grandkids to Island Lake. Walk the trails we have right at our fingertips. Once you connect with these places, things like our community tree planting on April 25 or our May sapling giveaway don’t feel like chores. They are just how we take care of our home.”

The six other Community Champions named by Ontario Nature are Tara Bauer (executive director of Turtles Kingston), Susan Bryan (Nature Reserves chair with the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists Club), Carolynne Crawley (co-founder of Turtle Protectors, Mishiikenh Gizhaasowin), Michel Koostachin (founder of the Friends of the Attawapiskat River), Janet Stavinga (president and co-founder of Friends of Stittsville Wetlands), and Matt Thomson (community conservationist and chair of Mariposa Ecological Initiative).

Ontario Nature is a not-for-profit environmental organization with the mission of protecting wild species and spaces through advocacy, education and conservation.

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