We are a community-led and volunteer-run organization dedicated to the ecological preservation and restoration of the landscape known as the South March Highlands Conservation Forest.

Many of us are residents of Kanata North. We work together to mitigate the impacts of past and present harms done to the diverse ecosystems of the South March Highlands Conservation Forest. 

The issue: Without careful stewardship, the diverse ecosystems of the South March Highlands Conservation Forest will continue to decline and be lost for future generations due to indiscriminate human-centered use.

Our challenge: To develop a genuinely reciprocal and balanced relationship between human-centered use and ecological needs of the land, waters, and the beyond human inhabitants of this diverse landscape.

Our key goal: We want to preserve areas of the forest and wetlands that are untouched by human activity, and restore what has been negatively impacted.

How we work: We actively partner with the local community, the City of Ottawa, government agencies, businesses, and other organizations to preserve and restore the South March Highlands Conservation Forest. In turn we advocate for and help ensure continued enjoyment of this unique and beautiful landscape for all.

Friends of the South March Highlands is a 100% volunteer-run incorporated non-profit organization. We are not a registered charity.

To preserve and restore the South March Highlands Conservation Forest for generations to come. 

Mission

Our mission is to cultivate environmental stewardship and hands-on ecological restoration projects to preserve and regenerate the South March Highlands Conservation Forest for the benefit of both the community (human world) and nature (more than human world). Friends of South March Highlands actively partners with the local community, the City of Ottawa, government agencies, businesses, and other organizations to achieve this mission.

Values and Guiding Principles

The following values and guiding principles  are expressed in how we engage:

• As individual volunteers with each other

• As an organization with our partners

• With the natural world and landscape of the South March Highlands

(Re)Connect: We commit to (re)connecting with the world around us. This principle invites us to be curious and creative as well as caring and respectful in all our interactions.

Do No Harm: We accept responsibility for our impact on the world around us. We commit to 'do no harm' while also acknowledging and witnessing past harms. This principle invites us to understand and actively prevent perpetuating harmful behaviours at all times.

Reciprocate: We commit to continuously take actions that preserve and restore a healthy balance between the human and more than human world. This principle invites us to actively seek mutually beneficial solutions in everything we do.