Hello Villagers! The Couchiching Conservancy is very happy to be back within these superb pages.
During our sabbatical from The Villager, The Conservancy’s work continued at a gallop. The spring and summer field seasons have been bursting with the good work of staff and volunteers who brave rain and mosquitoes to study reptiles, salamanders, frogs, water quality and Monarch butterflies. These people are the ones taking the pulse of our planet, our region and our neighbourhoods.
Since we last appeared in the Villager, The Conservancy hosted an outstanding Carden Challenge and raised over $36,000 for conservation! It was an inspiring achievement and the bond created by participants softened the blow that followed as the province was plunged into an eerie, acrid world of wildfire smoke. It served as a stern reminder; the climate crisis is ever-present and accelerating the promotion of nature based solutions is a vital defense.
If you have never heard of ‘Nature Based Climate Solutions’ they are one of the sharpest tools we have in the Climate Crisis box. It means to protect, restore and manage nature in such a way that provides a dual benefit, the first is expected: trees absorbing carbon, peatlands storing carbon, wetlands filtering water, the list feels infinite. These are the things existing in nature that we can use to temper the effects that the climate crisis is thundering through our lives: smoke, heavy rains, drought and more, even recently resulting in the seven hottest days in the last 100,000 years.
Yes, you read that right. Some analysis found this chilling trend between July 1st and 7th.
The second benefit is provided to biodiversity. The Anthropocene (current epoch defined by human activities) is expected to bring rates of extinction unmatched for 65 million years. Nature based climate solutions create space for nature and give respite from not only unpredictable and extreme weather events but also provide home and habitat to save species from extinction.
The data is clear, if you support humanity thriving one thousand years from now, you must support nature based climate solutions. You must support conservation.
The fortunate news that shines out of the muck is that there are so many organizations working toward nature based climate solutions including your local land trust, The Couchiching Conservancy.
Protecting habitat is the ultimate nature based solution. In one fell swoop it protects the mechanisms that absorb and store greenhouse gases and filter our water, and provides habitat for the species that need shelter from the storm; if a bright future is your aim, support The Couchiching Conservancy in our endeavors. We are currently in hot pursuit of a beautiful 416 acre parcel in the Carden Alvar. The campaign to protect this globally rare habitat, the species that call it home, the wetland that filters our water and the trees there that clean the air is called the Corridors Campaign. We would welcome you to learn more and donate by visiting our website.
