NEWS RELEASE
COUCHICHING CONSERVANCY
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More green equals better blue.
That’s the message of an event planned for landowners and residents committed to environmental health in the Lake Simcoe region.
The Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition and The Couchiching Conservancy are teaming up March 12 from 6:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. at the Barrie and District Association of Realtors to help the public connect the dots between the way we treat the land and the results we get in the water.
The amount of tree cover in a region is directly connected with the quality of water in nearby lakes and rivers. Understanding that connection is critical to making good planning decisions that have a direct impact on our drinking water, our fisheries, recreation, and our health.
“With environmental emergencies mounting, it can be bewildering for well-intentioned people to figure out what they can do locally to make things better globally. Our two organizations can provide answers from the front lines,” said The Couchiching Conservancy Executive Director Mark Bisset.
“We are lucky in Simcoe County and around the lake to have so much green space. But the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition’s research into how well protected our green spaces are shows that a greater effort must be made by municipal, regional and provincial governments to identify, map and strongly protect connected green spaces,” said the Coalition’s Executive Director, Claire Malcolmson. “But we also think that land trusts play a crucial role in directly protecting green spaces for ever, insulated from the whims of policy.”
The Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition is a charity that works on lake-wide issues. Their current focus is the upcoming review of Ontario’s Lake Simcoe Protection Plan (the best watershed-based legislation in Canada), which originated in a campaign that the Coalition initiated in 2005.
The Coalition hopes the province will strengthen the measures in the Plan that protect water quality and natural areas and wants people to engage in the opportunity to Protect Our Plan when the province finally initiates the public consultation.
Working collaboratively with multiple partners, The Couchiching Conservancy has helped protect more than 13,000 acres since 1993 using a variety of tools that provide benefits to landowners who wish to protect their land.
The Conservancy also supports private landowners in the stewardship of their properties. Using different approaches, these two organizations work to improve the ecology of the Lake Simcoe region.
Included in this night will be presentations by Claire Malcolmson and Mark Bisset and a speech on Wild Places by guest speaker Nari Hwang from Shanty Bay Change Agent.
If you are interested in finding out more, or taking steps to turn environmental despair into positive action, please register for the event by going to this website or by checking out the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition’s Facebook event page.
The Barrie and District Association of Realtors (BDAR) is co-hosting the event at 676 Veteran’s Drive, Barrie.
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