A petition has been launched to save the South Cameron woodlot in Windsor from development.
At the beginning of March, the province re-designated a part of the wetland, bounded by Totten St., Dominion Blvd., Daytona Ave. and Ojibway St.
It removed about 50 acres of the property from the provincially significant wetland designation, which means it could potentially be developed.
Kaitlin Kennedy started the petition to protect the land from development and as of Thursday afternoon, it had collected 3,700 signatures.
Kennedy told AM800's The Afternoon News that a lot of people are passionate about the issue.
"Just seems like the consensus was clear that the residents of Windsor really didn't want this area developed residentially," she says. "I created the petition and started sharing on Facebook and it spread like wildfire."
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says he met with Ontario Premier Doug Ford in early December and one of the issues discussed was the provincially significant wetland designation for more than 150 acres of land. Dilkens says the designation was made by a bureaucrat who never visited the city and it neutered any future residential development.
Kennedy says the entire property needs to be protected.
"Even though they are not going to strip the whole area, taking away that protected designation and making way for residential development, will really fragment the landscape and you have deer, coyotes and foxes in that area" she says.
Over 100 acres of the property is still protected by the designation but Kennedy believes there shouldn't be any changes.
"People are pointing to the flooding in Windsor as a major reason for keeping it, wetlands, natural areas can be great for mitigating any flooding" she says.
CLICK HERE to find the petition.
The local Citizens Environment Alliance is also calling on the city to protect the wetland, calling the change "backwards thinking."