With a global backdrop of fires, floods, pestilence and war, and development pressure ramping up in every way, it seems odd to say The Couchiching Conservancy is thriving; but there it is.

Environmental degradation does not seem to be slowing, despite millions of words spilled on the subject on a daily basis. But, the number of people who are moved to take positive action to support obvious solutions seems to be inching upward, and that means there are more of you – the people who are responsible for the success of our enterprise; people who understand the gravity of the situation and are willing to invest in nature for its own sake.

We are still relatively small in number – despite all the chatter, only about 3.5 per cent of charitable donations go to environmental causes in Canada, and that number includes animal welfare groups.

That means you, and the people following your leadership, are playing an outsized role in the race to turn things around.

And we’re getting results.

We are advancing acquisition: three projects totalling close to 200 acres are expected to be completed by the end of the year, and there are several additional prospects being pursued tenaciously. But we can’t slow down. There is so much yet to do and every square inch we protect today will pay dividends well into the future. To that end, our Corridors Campaign is ramping up, driven by a dedicated band of volunteers and donors who are clear-eyed and motivated.

Our programs, though still hindered by the constant shifts and constraints of the pandemic, are humming along.

I think it’s fair to say that, like almost everyone else, staff are feeling a kind of deep weariness about Covid 19, but we’ve also taken heart in the small steps toward normal life over the summer. It has been uplifting to reassemble, outside at least, for staff meetings where we are able to once again feed off each other’s energy. The same can be said for the in-person encounters we have been able to have with our donors, supporters and volunteers.

Staff are now fully-vaccinated and we have collaboratively created strong guidelines designed to keep everyone as safe as possible as we face down the on-coming fourth wave. You can view that policy on our website. Up to five people are now working from our office at one time, though we are still keeping the doors closed to the general public. We’ve installed a doorbell and a lockbox on the storage room which has facilitated the comings and goings of volunteers quite effectively.

So my message to you this late summer of 2021 is, do not despair. Draw energy from each other. Support the initiatives that move us a little further in the right direction and inch us back from the precipice.

Take solace in the work you are making possible.

Mark Bisset

Join Gary Pritchard of Curve Lake First Nation and principal consultant, 4 Directions of Conservation.

On the shores of the Black River in Treaty Territory 20 and Williams Treaties, Gary will teach us about decolonizing conservation and learning to value all of our relations.

All life deserves a space on the landscape, and all of our spiritual energy is tied together. Trying to govern how each individual species behaves hasn’t worked. Conservation must move beyond managing for species at risk and trying to eradicate the species that don’t serve us.

This event includes two virtual webinars and three in person outdoor bioblitzes.

It is our shortest trail at a mere 0.15km, at the Grant’s Woods Nature Reserve on Division Road West in Severn. Grant’s Woods is the home of The Couchiching Conservancy’s office and I often see people look at the trail map, decide to try it because it is the shortest trail, then come out the other side flabbergasted because walking it takes about 30 seconds to a minute.

Featured right: their visit to Ron Reid NR to finish mapping monarch breeding habitats and test sampling protocols. They also hiked into Sweetwater Nature Reserve’s new loop trail to visit one of the meadow habitats where their first monarch monitoring team (Susan and Mary Ellen) were trained and got practice at identifying the Monarch eggs and caterpillars. The meadows were alive with insect life and starting to look especially beautiful with Wild Bergamot in bloom, and Goldenrod just starting to turn yellow. 

Starting and finishing in Couchiching Beach Park, Orillia, riders can choose from the 85km or the 140km routes, which travel along the beautiful, quiet, tarmac and dirt roads of this area. Both rides will encompass the extraordinary Carden Alvar Provincial Park.