Cootes Paradise

Cootes Paradise is the largest wetland at the western end of Lake Ontario, on the west side of Hamilton Harbour. It is bordered by the cities of Hamilton and Burlington, Ontario, Canada. It is owned and managed by the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG), a private charitable status organization. These lands represent 99% of the unaltered lands along the local Lake Ontario shoreline. Originally a seasonally flooded river mouth marsh providing habitat to a wide variety of lifeforms, the habitat went into decline beginning in the late 19th century a result of water pollution, human overuse and the introduction of carp into Lake Ontario. By 1985, 85% of its plant cover was lost, 90% of the remainder was non native species, and the carp population numbered over 70,000 fish. As part of ongoing efforts to reverse this ecological decline, the Gardens' introduced Project Paradise in 1993, part of the Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan. The project focuses on removing sources of stress to the marsh by focusing attention on water pollution, minimizing the number of spawning carp and re-establishing native plants. There are a number of identified anthropogenic stresses that have led to the unbalanced populations of carp and Canada Geese. These are water quality and quantity based. Poor water clarity is a result of extremely high nutrient and sediment levels derived from sewage and urban runoff. Rapid sediment accumulation is the result of unmanaged land use patterns in the watersheds, and the regulated water level in Lake Ontario have dramatically altered the flooding pattern. Project Paradise is one of the largest wetland rehabilitation projects in North America.

Controlled burns have also been conducted in an effort to restore some of the old field areas to their original Oak savanna ecosystem, a rare grouping of Carolinian plants and animals. Cootes Paradise is connected to Hamilton Harbour via the Desjardins Canal, which was dug through Burlington Heights in the early 19th century in an effort to connect Dundas, Ontario with shipping on the Great Lakes.

In 2000, the City of Hamilton constructed a 3 km recreational trail connecting Royal Botanical Gardens to Pier 4 Park; this trail is also part of the Waterfront Trail system. Royal Botanical Gardens' trails are open to passive recreation only as the area is a National Historic site, Nationally Important Bird Area (IBA), and Nationally Important Reptile and Amphibian Area (IMPARA), containing numerous endangered species. As such, activities such as biking, jogging and orienteering are against the By-laws.