Welcome to the Watersheds Canada Resource Library!
Here you will find a comprehensive collection of free educational resources dedicated to helping rural shoreline property owners, families, municipalities, lake groups, and educators protect their lakes and restore natural habitat. Explore guides, best practices, case studies, lesson plans, and tools to become a freshwater protector. All resources are freely shareable so please include them in a newsletter, on social media, or printed for a community booth!
Funding support thanks to Peterborough K.M. Hunter Charitable Foundation, and S.M. Blair Family Foundation.
Natural Edge update: Muskrat watershed
Step into the field with our The Natural Edge shoreline restoration program as they celebrate a big win for freshwater stewardship. This blog post highlights the end of a three-year project where 45,000 native trees and shrubs were planted along agricultural stream banks and shorelines in the Muskrat watershed.
Natural Edge – Participating landowner evaluation results report (2017-2024)
The Natural Edge program empowers waterfront property owners to re-naturalize and restore their shoreline using native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. The program provides guidance and education to participants, and 100% of participants value fish and wildlife and the habitat that protects them. The results of the evaluation surveys show that 65% of landowners are not confident in knowing what to plant on their shoreline, but 94% of landowners said the guidance and education from The Natural Edge was critical to their participation. The program has a high success rate, with 100% of participants being very satisfied or satisfied with The Natural Edge.
Natural Edge – Spring Planting Success!
This blog post highlights the impact made by The Natural Edge program in 2015 with regards to shoreline naturalization, and provides an overview of how the program is structured.
Natural Is Gorgeous!: Jane Discovers the Benefits of the Natural Edge
We at Watersheds Canada love stories about the impact of our programs on participants. This blog post is an interview with Jane, a past participant of The Natural Edge program. She explains what made her want to decide to restore her shoreline, what has changed since she completed the project, what her experience was like with our organization, and much more.
Nature Discovery Backpack workbook
This booklet is designed for students to explore and learn about nature, specifically the Tay Watershed. It provides tips for safely exploring nature, activities to discover local species and biodiversity, and ways to help protect the environment. The booklet includes information on the riparian zone, water quality, and the importance of native plants. It also encourages students to participate in community science and nature journaling.
Nature Discovery Backpack – A Checklist to Pack-Your-Own Adventure! by Watersheds Canada
This document provides a checklist for packing items for outdoor adventures. It includes items such as a backpack, water bottle, hat, notebook, and pencils. The checklist also covers specific items for different types of adventures, such as a tick safety kit for forest adventures and goggles for aquatic adventures. The checklist is intended to help individuals prepare for their outdoor activities and minimize their impact on the environment.
Nature Search
The document is about an activity called Nature Search. It focuses on ecosystems, specifically freshwater and riparian areas. The activity aims to explore biodiversity and the impact of human activities on the environment. It also touches on the importance of native species, such as the monarch butterfly, and the effects of plastic pollution on the shoreline.
Non-native earthworms: Entering the second wave of invasion webinar with Dr. Michael McTavish
This is a handout from our webinar, "Non-native earthworms in Canada: Entering the second wave of invasion". Non-native earthworms are highly influential ecosystem engineers that fundamentally change the habitats they invade. They are a major challenge to conservation and restoration as there are currently no practical, large-scale options to control them. The invasion of non-native earthworms in Canada is a recent phenomenon, with the second wave of invasion being led by species from Asia. The handout provides information on the signs of an invasion and what can be done to control the spread of non-native earthworms.
Nora Hammells Natural Edge shoreline renaturalization program testimonial
Using 50 native shrubs and wildflowers that came in the Natural Edge Shoreline Re-Naturalization Starter Kit, Nora's property is well on its way to providing shade and habitat to wildlife, and shoreline stabilization and filtration.