The Harper Park Stewardship Committee (HPSC) is a sub-committee of the Peterborough Field Naturalists. The focus of the HPSC is the protection and restoration of Harper Park’s forested uplands, wetlands and the coldwater stream, and its tributaries known as Harper Creek. The group began as the Harper Park Stewardship Initiative (HPSI) in the fall of 2011 when a project assigned by a Trent University professor sent a group of enthusiastic students out into the field and into the library. The report generated for this project, and the students involved, served as a foundation for a stewardship group that has since grown through community support, training and additional volunteers.
The goals of the HPSC include:
- Protect the quality and quantity of the surface and groundwater resources within the coldwater stream and wetland habitats;
- Conserve the biodiversity of Harper Park by restoring and/or enhancing the stream and wetland habitats;
- Ensure Harper Park remains a valuable wildlife corridor, which is connected to other components of Peterborough’s natural heritage system;
- Promote nature-based education, as well as aesthetic and spiritual enjoyment of Harper Park.