John Ecker, Chair, Board of Directors, Ontario Heritage Trust, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Amory Ngan, City of Mississauga, forestry manager, and the Honourable Edith Dumont, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario at the April 17 Ontario Heritage Trust awards ceremony (photo by Dahlia Katz courtesy of the Ontario Heritage Trust).

City of Mississauga, forestry manager, Amory Ngan, an assistant professor, teaching stream, in the Institute of Forestry and Conservation at U of T’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, leads the team being recognized with the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation.

The Ontario Heritage Trust works to preserve and celebrate Ontario’s cultural and natural heritage and keep it and meaningful for future generations. The Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Awards recognize volunteers, professionals and organizations for their heritage contributions.

The City of Mississauga is Ontario’s first municipality to use goat grazing for invasive plant species management. In 2025, the project "Prescribed Grazing for Invasive Plant Control, Mississauga," was expanded to cover five wetlands, woodlands and parks throughout the city. The approach combines traditional grazing with modern monitoring to tackle invasive plant species, reducing herbicide use, preventing seed spread while reaching difficult terrain.

“This recognition celebrates innovative work to protect Ontario’s natural heritage,” says John Caspersen, director of forestry programs at the Daniels faculty. “It’s inspiring to see Amory and the City of Mississauga forestry team honoured, and the impact of their work recognized across Ontario.”

Ngan accepted the award on behalf of the City of Mississauga’s forestry division at the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Awards on April 17.