Naturalization

Boulevard Naturalization Pilot Program

The City of Grande Prairie is taking steps to enhance its ecology and sustainability through the Boulevard Naturalization Pilot Program. This initiative involves returning land to its natural state by ceasing mechanical control and allowing existing vegetation to grow in place.

Three locations, including 116 Avenue near Copperwood, 84 Avenue near Canfor and Resources Road, will be evaluated as part of the pilot program running from spring 2023 to fall 2025.

The benefits of naturalization are numerous, including reducing water runoff and erosion, increasing absorption, and supporting habitat for bird species and pollinators.

What is Naturalization?

Naturalization is the process by which land that was previously maintained through mechanical mowing is returned to a natural state, similar to surrounding naturally occurring ecosystems.

Many municipalities within Alberta are moving towards more naturalized landscapes to capitalize on the many ecosystem services provided by natural areas.

Related Information

Ecosystem services are services provided through natural landscapes that offer benefits without significant capital investment. These services are broken into four categories: provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural.
- Provisioning services include raw materials naturalized areas provide residents such as edible landscapes.
- Regulating services include benefits provided by naturalized areas for the protection of infrastructure, such as the retention of stormwater runoff to prevent downstream flooding.
- Supporting services include benefits provided by naturalized areas for non-human organisms such as bees and other local pollinators.
- Cultural services include the intrinsic value naturalized landscapes provide humans and the benefits offered through human interactions with these landscapes.
- Slows water runoff, reducing erosion and increasing absorption, particularly on slopes.
- Stabilizes the banks around storm ponds, berms, and ditches to prevent erosion.
- Filters stormwater, protecting riparian areas that form part of the City’s drainage system.
- Reduces mowing & fertilization, which lowers the City’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
- Facilitates improved carbon sequestration on the landscape.
- Supports habitat for bird species and pollinators.
- Improves worker safety by removing heavy equipment from operating on slopes.
- Reduces infrastructure & equipment damage by removing equipment from wet areas.
- Improves operational efficiency and capacity to absorb new parkland through development.
- Increases biodiversity on the landscape, which improves resilience to insect/disease issues.

Naturalization

Naturalization

Boulevard Naturalization Pilot Program

What is Naturalization?

Related Information

Council Meetings

Operational Services Committee

Naturalization One-Pager

Delegation Request Form

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