Friends of the Don East (FODE) is a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

based in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. They are an

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

group whose goal is to preserve and protect natural areas in the

Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

History

FODE was created in 1993 in the pre-amalgamation borough of

East York East York is a former administrative district and municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a semi-autonomous borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toron ...

. The group's original name was "Friends of the Don East York". The name was shortened in 1998 after amalgamation eliminated East York as a separate municipality. The group was modelled after the

Task Force to Bring Back the Don The Task Force to Bring Back the Don was a citizen advisory committee that advised the city council of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on issues concerning the Don River and its watershed. It consisted of up to 20 citizen members and 3 council members. ...

, which at the time was limited to the area within the borders of the old city of Toronto. As a

, they lobbied East York Council to be more environmentally aware, especially with respect to the East York Official Plan and other planning issues. On environmental issues, they opposed the building of the

Leslie Street Leslie may refer to: * Leslie (name), a name and list of people with the given name or surname, including fictional characters Families * Clan Leslie, a Scottish clan with the motto "grip fast" * Leslie (Russian nobility), a Russian noble famil ...

extension. During this time, they persuaded the TRCA to designate

Crothers' Woods Crothers Woods is an area of the Don River (Toronto), Don River valley in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is in size and consists of woodland, meadows, wetlands, and an assortment of past and present municipal uses. The wooded area has been designat ...

, which lay directly in the path of the planned extension, as an Environmentally Significant Area (ESA). The plan was to extend Redway Road, and is now part of a plan to build a bus-only road as part of the Don Valley Transportation Master Plan. In 2004, FODE attained

charitable The practice of charity is the voluntary giving of help to those in need, as a humanitarian act, unmotivated by self-interest. There are a number of philosophies about charity, often associated with religion. Etymology The word ''charity'' ori ...

status. While this limits their ability to perform advocacy work—Canadian charities are not supposed to be politically active—it does allow the organization to raise funds more easily.

Governance

FODE is governed by a board of directors. The first chair was Stephen Peck, who stayed until 1999. He resigned to focus more attention on his business advocating for

green roof A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage ...

Programs

Another Yard for the Don encouraged homeowners to grow native plants and create

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...

-free zones. Another program, called Trees Count, used an urban-forest initiative called ''Neighbourwoods'' to perform a survey of street trees. The survey highlighted the problem of streets lined with trees planted at the same time. Those trees, being of equal age, might die around the same time—leaving local streets without their leafy canopy. The survey also recommended places where new trees could be grown.

Taylor-Massey Project

One of the group's ongoing projects has been the restoration of the

Taylor-Massey Creek Taylor-Massey Creek is a tributary of the Don River in Toronto, Ontario. It flows through Scarborough and East York, where it enters the Don River. Taylor-Massey Creek has also been called ''Silver Creek'' and ''Scarboro Creek''. The creek is na ...

watershed. Some of their naturalization projects include the ''Goulding Estate'' on Dawes Road and parts of Warden Woods. In 2003, FODE started the ''Taylor Massey Project''. The project's main goal was to highlight issues and concerns that affect the entire watershed. FODE created a web-based portal that divides the watershed into 12 parts called reaches. Each reach was described using a series of aerial photos. Another project goal was to create a walking trail along the entire length of Taylor-Massey Creek. The project intends to improve the poor water quality of the creek and the environment of the surrounding area, raise awareness of watershed issues in neighbouring communities, and create a trail along the length of the creek. , the main volunteers who had founded the TMP and taken the group out of FODE group submitted a 49-page plan for rehabilitating the watershed, ''Reach by Reach'', to the City of Toronto. The five-year, plan called for bike and walking trails, additional forest cover, regeneration of four degraded reaches, and the creation of community steward groups. The plan was the first comprehensive community-organized watershed regeneration plan in Ontario.

Activities

FODE hosts

tree planting Tree-planting is the process of transplanting tree seedlings, generally for forestry, land reclamation, or landscaping purpose. It differs from the transplantation of larger trees in arboriculture, and from the lower cost but slower and less re ...

events and neighbourhood park cleanups. They also hold walks and bicycle rides that highlight the natural areas in the lower Don watershed, and sponsor workshops that assist local communities to engage in sustainable-living practices. FODE produces a biannual newsletter, ''At the Forks''—a reference to the Forks of the Don, the confluence of the East and West Branches of the Don, as well as Taylor-Massey Creek.

References

External links

Friends of the Don East website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friends Of The Don East Charities based in Canada Environmental organizations based in Ontario Organizations based in Toronto