TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - The Toledo Zoo has been recognized by two organizations for its commitment to educating the public about conservation.
Through the Urban Prairie initiative, the Toledo Zoo purchased and re-purposed 30 acres of vacant land into mini nature preserves. It turns unused lots into functioning portions of the ecosystem acting as habitats for wildlife and locations for natural rain water management.
Earlier this month, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency awarded an education grant to the Toledo Zoo to create 10 acres of demonstration rain gardens throughout the city.
The $44,300 will help educate area residents about issues in Lake Erie. The zoo plans to host monthly educational workshops on making a difference in local and regional water quality.
Visitors to the workshops will receive their own Clean Water Garden seed packets and the opportunity to register their Clean Water Garden through a website.
This type of active conservation work outside of the zoo grounds falls in line with the zoo's core values.
"The urban prairie initiative is one of the key focuses of our mission, it really helps us get ot into the community and explain this kind of land transformation and the ecological benefits of it," Kent Bekker, director of conservation and research of the Toledo Zoo.
The dates of the one-day-a-month ecological classes have not yet been set.
