Macoun Marsh restoration delayed by complaint
Macoun Marsh, a sanctuary for many of us in Manor Park and Cardinal Glen, has been undergoing changes over the last few years. Locals have noticed lower water levels, increased cattails, and shoreline invasive species.
In response, Beechwood Cemetery has launched a project to revitalize and restore the marsh ecosystem. Unfortunately, what turned out to be a groundless complaint has delayed the work until fall 2025.
Adjacent to Dunbarton Crt. on the southeastern edge of the cemetery’s property, Macoun Marsh is a small, urban wetland that has been protected by the cemetery for over 150 years. More than 1,400 species have been recorded in the marsh area, including midland painted turtles and blue-spotted salamanders.
Imbalanced ecosystem
Michael Leveille, science teacher at St-Laurent Academy and a Macoun Marsh biodiversity expert, reports that “there have been dramatic changes to our marsh area over the past 20 years. Some species have disappeared completely.”
Part of this may be attributed to lower water levels. Once shallower, the marsh became an ideal environment for cattails which spread across its entirety instead of growing just along its shallow edges.
Cattails (Typha latifolia) are a semi-aquatic perennial, native to the Ottawa region. They are essential to many aquatic ecosystems, growing along the edges of marshes, ponds, lakes, and rivers in water up to 60 cm deep. They prevent shoreline erosion and provide critical habitat for birds, fish, amphibians, insects, and mammals.
Yet in when bodies of water become shallow, bodies of water like Macoun Marsh has become, cattails are aggressive. They can rapidly create dense stands, making it very difficult for other plant species to compete and limiting the open water necessary for some species. Macoun Marsh now has little open water.
No one eating or harvesting cattails
The lack of use of the cattails by animals and humans is also contributing to their overgrowth. According to Patricia Senack who has lived near the marsh since 1989, there were over 20 muskrats eating and making dens in the cattails in the 1990s, keeping their population under control. Now, there are no muskrats.
Harvesting apakweshkwayag (cattail in Anishinaabemowin) also helps to keep them in check. Cattails have been used for food – its rhizomes, pith, and flower stalk are edible – and for fiber.
Indigenous scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer says one of the Potawatomi words for cattail – bewiieskwinkuk – means “we wrap the baby in it”. The sturdy fibre of its leaves are used for mats, shelters, thread, and twine while the fluff of the flowers make pillows and bedding. Its gel is similar to aloe vera, and the flower stalk can be lit like a torch. Without being harvesteding for these uses, cattails can create an ecological imbalance.
Restoration Plans
Beechwood Cemetery has been consulting talked with the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority and has contracted environmental consultants with expertise in aquatic habitat restoration to design an ecological restoration plan for Macoun Marsh. The team of experts includes biologists, ecologists, a geomorphologist, and engineers.
They plan to remove shoreline invasive species, remove excess cattails, deepen the marsh to create open water areas, and restore habitat with native vegetation and other features.
Groundless complaint
In late September, after bird nesting season, invasive species removal started along the northwestern side of the marsh; this included getting rid of common buckthorn and garlic mustard, and cutting down including removal of Manitoba maples, common buckthorn, and garlic mustard. (While native to the extreme northwest of Ontario, Manitoba maples are deemed invasive in Ottawa as they outcompete native vegetation. Their weak branches are also a danger for people and property.)
Contractors specialising in water drainage started draining the northern segment of the marsh. Their aim was to lower the water level before the critical date of October 15 in order to ensure that the local midland painted turtles could not hibernate there and instead will choose to hibernate in the deeper southern segment of the marsh. where it will remain deep enough for hibernation. Over the winter, the team could then begin removing cattails, knowing the turtles would be safe from harm.
However, before the work could be completed, the city received a complaint about butternut trees being removed during this work. Butternut trees are an endangered species and protected under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act.
While butternut trees are found in the adjacent forest, they were not present along the northwestern side where invasives were removed. The complaint proved to be baseless, yet the city’s investigation delayed the completion of the work past October 15. This means that the project must now be delayed until next fall to avoid any potential harm to hibernating turtles.
Future plans
Once excess cattails are safely removed over a year from now in late October 2025, the marsh will be deepened up to two metres in some areas. Rocks and logs will be installed Then turtle basking logs, a raptor pole, rock and boulder piles, and root wads — a shoreline protection technique that stabilizes slopes — will be installed strategically. to create turtle basking logs, a raptor pole, rock and boulder piles, and root wads, which are a shoreline protection technique that stabilizes slopes. The shoreline will also be re-planted with native trees and shrubs including red osier dogwood, nannyberry, sandbar willow, and pussy willow. A seed mix with native perennials, sedges, or grasses will be sowed.
Droughts have contributed to lower water levels. Futhermore, the swale (a channel that directs water) feeding to the marsh has become clogged with debris, including invasive species. This further reduces water in the marsh. This swale will be cleared, regraded, and reinforced. This work will also prevent potential flooding in surrounding areas, including Dunbarton Crt. properties.
Beyond the marsh
On the western side of the marsh, Beechwood is developing plans for a green burial site in a wooded area. Removal of Manitoba maples and other invasive species has already started here. There are also plans to add native trees and shrubs at a later point.
On the eastern side of the marsh in the forest, there unfortunately has been a radical explosion of invasive species. Japanese knotweed is growing exponentially. Common buckthorns dominate the canopy understory. Goutweed and periwinkle, likely escaped from nearby Cardinal Glen and Manor Park backyards, crowd out native species. Many Ottawa forests are facing similar invasive species pressures.
The cemetery plans future restoration work of the forest by the cemetery in order to remove these serious invasive species. There are also plans to replant native species, complimenting Beechwood’s commitment to reconciliation.
For now, we can look forward to a revitalised marsh for walkers, birders, students, and especially wildlife to enjoy.
Christina Keys is a wildlife gardener with Garden ReLeaf, a Glebe-based ecological garden restoration and design company. She is also a MPCA Environmental Sustainability Committee volunteer.
