Updated: November 18, 2024 at 7:56 a.m.

An aerial photograph of the woodland crescent on the grounds of Warwick Academy (Image taken from planning documents)

Warwick Academy hopes to restore a wooded area on its campus, according to a recently submitted conservation management plan.

The CMP, submitted to the Ministry of Urban Planning, proposed work to restore a crescent of upland woodland habitat while making it accessible for students to “engage in nature-based learning and play” .

The CMP states: “Our goal is to involve Warwick Academy students and their families in a long-term restoration project aimed at significantly improving the biodiversity and ecological qualities of a neglected wooded area on the Warwick property. Academy.

“In doing so, we will make the site accessible for nature-based outdoor learning, play and fitness so that our young people can reconnect with nature and develop a healthy respect, understanding and love for our environment .

The plan stated that the school intended to maintain “shelter and maximum vegetation cover” throughout the process, only removing trees when new plantings grew to the point where they could be replaced.

“The final forest will be dominated (in area) by 60 percent natives with a number of complementary, non-invasive fruit and ornamental trees and a high diversity of compatible grasses and flowering species in areas designated as sensory aspects of butterfly gardens”, specifies the press release. » declared the CMP.

Maintenance would involve students and families, with the process recorded with the intention of creating a “mini-documentary” to showcase the project and its benefits.

The CMP noted that the site was colonized by invasive trees and became a “virtually impenetrable tangle of dead wood and fallen branches.”

Plans also include creating an outer classroom/amphitheater circle approximately 36 feet in diameter in an existing clearing.

“A small Bobcat will be needed to level the surface and extract the rocks and waste present when the site was used as a dump,” specifies the CMP.

“A circle of young palm trees will be planted around this area. This area will be “furnished” with logs or rustic benches, a portable outdoor table and a small fire pit. »

A series of unpaved walking trails would also be created in the forest.