Skip to main content

Conservation Guides

To help people and nature live in balance, we’ve put together some information below.

Life on the Bay

Our Life on the Bay Guide is designed to help home and cottage owners interested in increasing their stewardship impact and decreasing their ecological footprint. It covers a range of topics including how to live alongside wildlife, how to use landscaping to improve water quality, best practices during construction, how to store chemicals, reduce waste, and much more. The guide is designed to be used by waterfront property owners on eastern Georgian Bay and inland lakes.

Alternatively, download select chapters from the Life on the Bay Guide. Note that all worksheets and action plans should be form fillable, to help reduce printing!

Spongy Moth in the Georgian Bay Biosphere

Following a sharp increase in areas affected by spongy moth in Ontario during 2020, there have been many questions about spongy moth, its impacts in our area, and what can be done to control it. This information package aims to provide answers to some of these questions.

Turtles on Roads Reporting & Handling Guide

The Turtles on Roads Reporting & Handling Guide includes everything you need to know about finding both injured and uninjured turtles on roadways. Including:

  • I Found a Turtle! Now What? (Flow Chart)
  • Proper Turtle Handling Dos & Don’ts
  • Finding an Injured Turtle: Next Steps
  • Helping a Turtle Cross the Road
  • Nesting on Roadways
  • Other Ways to Keep Turtles Safe
  • Plus, download the Injured Turtle Report Form and store in your vehicle’s glove box. Don’t be unprepared, summer is turtle season!

Bioblitz Guide

Consider supporting biodiversity research and information gathering by hosting your own Bioblitz! A Bioblitz is a broad term for a citizen science event to record different species within a certain location and time. Some Bioblitzes look for a variety of plant and animal species over several days, others might look for one type of plant, animal, or even species over a few hours. A Bioblitz allows people to get out into nature with friends and family and help collect useful data for conservation and science. It is like a digital library of biodiversity
accessible worldwide!

GBB has made it easy to organize and create a Bioblitz event in your community using iNaturalist. Download the Bioblitz Guide below!

Building in the Biosphere Habitat Screening Tool

Do you have a building project in mind? Naturally, you want to choose the best location and protect the key natural features of your property. The following screening tool helps to determine the potential for species at risk habitat on, or adjacent to, your proposed building site.

About the Habitat Screening Tool

Over 50 species are “at risk” in the Georgian Bay Biosphere due to a variety of factors including habitat loss and fragmentation, road mortality, competition from invasive species, pollution and over harvesting. These species are experiencing population declines and therefore have protection under the Provincial Endangered Species Act (ESA). It is your responsibility to ensure your building project is in compliance with the ESA. Local Townships are not responsible for verifying if you are compliant under the ESA, and do not have the authority to consider the ESA provisions in their decision to issue a building permit.

This habitat screening tool has been created to help you determine how the ESA may be applicable to your proposed building project. Essentially the screening tool helps you determine the potential for species at risk habitat on, or adjacent to, your proposed building site. This is best completed as early as possible in your planning process. This screening tool has been designed for small scale building projects. Please note that this screening tool does not replace an ESA permit or absolve the user of any responsibility under the Endangered Species Act. Please contact the Parry Sound Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry at 705-746-4201 with any questions or clarifications about the ESA.

Pollinators & Native Plants

Choose plants for your property that are native to eastern Georgian Bay and help to enhance your property and conserve important natural habitats. They are beautiful, low maintenance and provide food and shelter for a variety of wildlife.

We have two resources to help you select and grow with native plants:

1. The Best for the Biosphere Native Plant List

Best for the Biosphere Native Plant List

2. Planting for Pollinators: A Guide for Eastern Georgian Bay

This guide was developed to help individuals, families, businesses, municipalities, and all other groups increase their understanding of pollinators, the problems they face, and the ways to help.

Planting for Pollinators: A Guide for Eastern Georgian Bay

Support Your Biosphere

With your support, we can expand our impact in the Georgian Bay region through conservation and education.

We are a registered Canadian charity #87100 1335 RR0001