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.
Currents of Change: Latornell 2019 Vlog
This vlog captures the energy of the Latornell Conservation Symposium, hosted in 2019 in Alliston, Ontario. Follow Digital Communications and Marketing Intern Monica Seidel as she takes you for a tour of the symposium and shares some of what she learned.
Cyanobacteria and Canada’s Great Lakes
Canada's Great Lakes are facing a growing issue with cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, which can produce toxic blooms that harm aquatic life and pose a risk to human health. These blooms are often caused by human activities such as agricultural runoff, wastewater discharge, and urban development, which can lead to eutrophication and deplete oxygen levels in the water. Learn about how we can address this issue in this blog post!
Cyanobacteria and Public Health
Cyanobacteria, commonly referred to as blue-green algae, pose a significant threat to public health and aquatic ecosystems due to their ability to produce toxic compounds. The toxins produced by cyanobacteria can cause a range of health issues, from skin irritation to neurological damage, and can be particularly hazardous for swimmers, pets, and livestock. Learn more about this risk to public health and what we can do to mitigate it in this blog post.
Daniel and Susan Gottlieb Lake Stewardship Grant Helps Community Freshwater Initiatives
In 2019, the Daniel and Susan Gottlieb Foundation provided funding support to go towards stewardship projects in their local lake community. This blog post outlines some of the positive impacts made possible by this Lake Stewardship grant, including water quality sampling, invasive species management, and outreach projects.
Design a Natural Shoreline handout
Can you help Tisna and her family protect their shoreline from erosion? Draw different plants that could help hold the soil together!
Do a Bio-Blitz activity by Watersheds Canada
A BioBlitz is a volunteer-led count of the biological species found in an area. Using identification guides, you can get a snapshot of the species and biodiversity in your area. This activity can be done in 30 minutes or an hour. It involves counting species such as trees, birds, animal tracks, wildflowers, dragonflies, and freshwater invertebrates.
Donor Spotlight - Annabel
As a nonprofit organization, we rely on the generosity of our donors to do the work that we do. This blog post shines a spotlight on Annabel, one of our donors that first heard about our organization when seeking ways to improve the health of her lake, Lake Simcoe. Read on to find out more.
Doreens Natural Edge testimonial
Wanting to naturalize their property to protect the shoreline and wildlife habitat while also reducing the amount of lawn they had to constantly maintain, Doreen and her husband Rob turned to the Natural Edge Program. Over 600m2 of shoreline was naturalized using over 200 native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. This video shows the progress that has already been made on the property in just three years!
Dragonflies as a Bio-indicator of Water Health
Biomonitoring involves surveying macroinvertebrates (often the larval form of insects) that are sensitive to environmental changes, immobile, and widespread. Such traits allow these creatures to integrate and represent long-term water quality changes more effectively. This blog post centers on one important bio-indicator: dragonflies! It tells of the important roles they play in freshwater ecosystems and in our monitoring activities.