Javier Tamargo
President & CEO, 407 ETR
407 ETR and the Canadian Wildlife Federation are working together to restore the feeding and breeding habitats of monarch butterflies.
The monarch was officially listed as an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in 2022.
Pollinators are essential for food, flowers and trees, yet the loss of meadow habitat has contributed to a significant decline in monarch butterfly populations and other pollinating insect species across North America. When conditions are suitable, the land area surrounding roadways can provide important habitat to help bend the curve on biodiversity loss in Canada.
407 ETR is teaming up with the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) to help restore 12 hectares of monarch feeding and breeding habitat through a multi-year partnership. The funding is being directed to roadside projects surrounding the Highway 407 ETR corridor in Southwestern Ontario, along the monarch migration route. Through this work, rights-of-way managers and municipalities across the Greater Toronto Area will receive technical education and learn about best practices in roadside vegetation management. This will help support the recovery of monarchs and also benefit thousands of other pollinator species.
Driving change: A commitment to biodiversity
With the growing urgency of the climate crisis, 407 ETR is putting a greater emphasis on biodiversity, and supporting organizations focused on enhancing and protecting Ontario’s green spaces.
Biodiversity is critical for healthy ecosystems and we want to be part of the solution.
“Biodiversity is critical for healthy ecosystems and we want to be part of the solution,” says Javier Tamargo, President and CEO at 407 ETR. “That’s why, in addition to the work we’re doing to reduce 407 ETR’s environmental footprint, we’re investing more than $500,000 in 2023 with organizations truly making an impact to protect and improve Ontario’s natural spaces.”
With an abundance of wildlife surrounding Highway 407 ETR, the company is evaluating risks and opportunities along the roadway with the goal of introducing a long-term biodiversity vision and action plan.
407 ETR continues to work towards its target of reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent by 2030 relative to the 2018 baseline.
Do Your Part for Pollinators
This spring, get gardening to enhance habitat for essential pollinators. Whether your space is limited to a few pots or you have a larger yard, you can help to enhance biodiversity in your own backyard.
Through its support of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, 407 ETR is helping to address biodiversity loss and climate change.
Protecting our lands, waters, and biodiversity is good for nature and people. Through a corporate partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), 407 ETR is helping to protect and care for nature in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
The NCC is a non-profit organization that has protected more than 243,000 hectares in Ontario, including 300 hectares in the GTA at Happy Valley Forest, King Township. In the last 60 years, the NCC has helped conserve more than 15 million hectares from coast to coast.
Happy Valley Forest is the largest intact block of deciduous forest on the Oak Ridges Moraine. It provides habitat for countless animals and plants, including at least 30 species at risk. The forest helps to clean our air, and filter our water and provides opportunities for people to connect with nature.
The Happy Valley Forest is an old-growth forest in the making. Old-growth forests contain a mix of trees at all stages of life, including saplings and mature trees, as well as dead and rotting trees, which provide important habitats for many species.
407 ETR has been working with the NCC since 2022. To date, the company has donated over $270,000 to the organization to help protect natural areas in the GTA.
Collaborations like this are helping the NCC continue to care for this unique forest so that it can achieve old-growth status in the next 50 to 100 years. Nowhere else in the GTA is an old-growth forest of this scale achievable.
Connecting people with conservation
There’s increasing scientific evidence that being in nature has many health benefits, from boosting mood and memory to promoting cognitive development in children. Time in nature also increases awareness about the need to protect and care for it.
In the summer of 2022, 407 ETR encouraged its drivers to show their support for the environment by asking them to convert to paperless billing. 407 ETR donated $2 to the NCC for each customer who converted to paperless billing. The company also participated in NCC’s Giving Tuesday campaign in November 2022, by matching donations up to a total of $100,000 in Ontario.
“On behalf of the NCC, I want to thank 407 ETR for its ongoing financial support,” says Mike Hendren, NCC’s Regional Vice-President in Ontario. “The NCC is working to protect and care for our most important natural areas and the plants and animals they sustain. In the face of rapid biodiversity loss and climate change, nature is our ally. There’s no solution to either without nature conservation. When nature thrives, we all thrive.”
8 species
of native bees are considered at risk in Canada
$500,000+
407 ETR’s biodiversity sponsorships
and donations in 2023
12 hectares
of GTHA roadsides to be restored by 2025 through 407 ETR’s sponsorship of CWF
63,000+
407 ETR customers who participated in the paperless billing campaign for the NCC
30+
species at risk protected within Happy Valley forest
75%
population decline of the monarch butterfly in North America
25%
407 ETR’s greenhouse gas
emissions reduction target by 2030 (against 2018 baseline)
Learn more at 407etr.com.
