By MPP Toby Barrett
To The Haldimand Press
Those travelling Long Point Bay can see the progress in the local battle against phragmites – and see that we are winning.
Phragmites has been called the largest invasive plant facing Ontario by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. It thrives in wetlands and ditches and beyond, crowding out native vegetation and creating a monoculture. It isn’t healthy for birds or native wildlife.
Since first arriving at Long Point more than 20 years ago, phragmites has become the dominant plant species in a lot of areas around the bay, its tall feathery heads swaying in the wind and spreading seed further and further. By 2014, phragmites had covered 40 per cent of the wetlands. It spreads both by the seeds and underground tubers.
