The Couchiching Conservancy has a goal to effectively monitor and care for the thousands of acres we protect in this region, and as we settle into the 21st century, that order has been supersized.
Partly we are victims of our own blessed success in acquiring new habitats, thanks to all of you. But the odds are also ratcheting up against biodiversity in our region, due to daunting factors such as climate change and the development of unprotected lands.
Volunteer take on invaders to care for our earth
Garlic mustard. Purple loosestrife. Phragmites reed. Dog-strangling vine. The list of invading plants keeps getting longer, and our knowledge of how to battle them is ever changing. The species listed here, plus many more, are ones that have shown up in the Couchiching region from their distant home ranges, and they are quickly displacing the native species.
Protecting Habitat on the Carden Plain
Alvar environments boast ecological communities that are incredibly rare and worth protecting for future generations. Regionally, the globally-significant Carden limestone plain is an area of large, diverse, and relatively un-fragmented habitat including alvars, shrublands, grasslands, forests, and wetlands.