Brush your boots, save a forest: Ontario hikers get the simplest conservation job there is

Some of the worst invaders in Ontario's forests arrive invisibly, as seeds hitchhiking in the mud on a hiker's boots. The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority is installing 12 boot-brushing stations across its 11 public conservation areas — free brushes where visitors can scrub soil and seeds off their shoes (and their dogs' paws) before and after a walk. The areas welcome about 343,000 visitors a year, and conservation lands technician Adrienne Lewis points out that a ten-second scrub can protect an entire ecosystem. The project is backed by the Invasive Species Action Fund, which is supporting 112 such projects across the province this year.

SDG 15 · Life on land — Mechanism: institutional program