Goats Return to Erindale Park for Invasive Species Control in Mississauga

May 22, 2025 News Room 0 Comments 2 min read

Mississauga’s forestry team is continuing its eco-conscious approach to land stewardship by welcoming back a crew of four-legged workers: goats.

After launching a pilot program in 2024, the City will again use goat grazing at Erindale Park to help control invasive species in the floodplain of the Credit River. Goat grazing is part of the City’s broader effort to reduce reliance on herbicides and mechanical equipment in sensitive ecosystems.

“Goat grazing is an environmentally-friendly alternative to using herbicides for invasive species control,” city officials said.

This marks the second year Mississauga is using goats for ecological land management, adopting a method that has been successfully tested in other Ontario jurisdictions, including Toronto.

🌿 Why Goat Grazing?

Goats help by:

Grazing on invasive plants like garlic mustard
Reducing biomass disposal needs
Lowering emissions from gas-powered equipment
Stimulating native seed growth and biodiversity

📍 Invasive Species Awareness Fair – May 24

To celebrate the return of the goats, Mississauga will host an Invasive Species Awareness Fair:

📅 Saturday, May 24, 2025
🕙 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
📍 Erindale Park (west side, across the pedestrian bridge)

Event highlights:

Goat grazing demos
Guided nature walks (10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12 p.m.)
Native plant giveaway
Info booths from environmental organizations
Garlic mustard pull
Face painting, lawn games & kids’ activity books
Music by Benji Crane
Snacks, food truck, and a meet & greet with Forrest the Forestry mascot

No registration is required. Waivers for walks and plant pulls will be available on-site.

📲 See something? Say something.
Use Mississauga’s online invasive species reporting tool to alert the City about plants like garlic mustard or spongy moth on public property.

Learn more at: mississauga.ca

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