Whitby: Ontario Nature protects Thickson's Woods old-growth white pine forest

Ontario Nature announced on Oct. 29, 2026 that it has acquired 24.86 acres (10.06 hectares) across five parcels of Thickson's Woods in Whitby, expanding its nature reserve network into the town. The property, on the Lake Ontario shoreline along the Waterfront Trail, includes mature mixed forest, coastal wetland and regenerating meadow, along with about 400 metres of shoreline, according to the organization.

The woods hold the last remaining old-growth white pine forest on the north shore of Lake Ontario, Ontario Nature says, and support 75 rare species, including 20 considered at risk in Ontario, such as prothonotary warblers, wood thrushes, eastern milksnakes, monarch butterflies and endangered butternut trees. Sitting at the intersection of two major flyways, the property is a stopover where migratory songbirds rest during long flights, the organization says.

The land lies in the Traditional Territory of the Williams Treaties First Nations, in the area covered by the Johnson-Butler Purchase of 1787/88. It was first saved from logging in 1983, when local naturalists formed the Thickson's Woods Land Trust, and volunteer care will continue with community stewards including the Durham Region Field Naturalists. The acquisition was supported by the Estate of Hazel May Broker, the Echo Foundation, the Ontario Conservation Accelerator, the Zita and Mark Bernstein Family Foundation and the Thickson's Woods Land Trust, alongside Ontario Nature members; the reserve is the first urban, transit-accessible property in Ontario Nature's system of 27 reserves totalling 3,225 hectares.