Adopt-A-Pond Meets Up With FOCA
On March 2nd Adopt-A-Pond’s Wetland Biologist, Shannon, and Stewardship Coordinator, Crystal, attended the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations (FOCA) AGM and spring seminar.
FOCA is the pre-eminent Ontario-wide organization representing cottagers and permanent waterfront residents. FOCA is responsible for promoting vibrant and sustainable waterfront communities through effective communication, education and advocacy.
FOCA’s top goals are to:
– Encourage and empower positive environmental stewardship by providing information and tools
– Promote and provide leadership for sound public policy on key issues
– Align with other key partners that support like goals and objectives FOCA, 2012
A variety of educational speakers shared information with the audience, around 150 representatives from Lake Associations across Ontario! We had an opportunity to meet and talk with this wide group of stewards and share our Ontario Turtle Tally and FrogWatch Ontario programmes with them. Two of our “spokes-turtles” were on hand to give members an up close experience with the animals we are trying so hard to conserve. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that there is a growing trend in awareness of the importance of environmental stewardship across all Lake Associations. Bettering water quality, protecting land, and being great community stewards are just a few of the upcoming initiatives now being written into lake management plans! Restoring habitat such as creating loon boxes, building turtle nesting beaches and naturalizing shorelines are great examples of how waterfront communities are taking ownership of their lake’s environmental heritage, for present and future generation’s enjoyment. Great job everyone!
If you have a story about a community stewardship project on your lake, please send it in an email to: sritchie@torontozoo.ca