Tag: ecological integrity
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Lake land playgrounds
Today’s post comes from Emily Wright, a Discovery Leader at Grundy Lake Provincial Park. The park’s campground is surrounded by three crystal-clear lakes, and that rich biodiversity inspired Emily to take us on an aquatic tour of Ontario’s lakes and some of the complex life cycles contained within, from hard-working microbe clean-up crews to feisty Small-mouth…
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Join us for Science Literacy Week!
Today’s post comes from Jessica Stillman, school outreach coordinator at Bronte Creek Provincial Park. What do a Polar Bear, a Prickly Pear Cactus, a Five-lined Skink, and a Bobolink all have in common? Aside from their snazzy names, they’re plants and animals that require unique environments to survive. Some of these special spaces have been…
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Beyond the beach: one naturalist's 35-year-career at Sandbanks
Today’s post comes from Yvette Bree. Yvette has been the park naturalist at Sandbanks Provincial Park for 35 years and retires at the end of August this year. 1986. A year forever etched in my memory. The year I graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies (B.E.S.) with a Resource…
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How to build a bat box
Today’s post comes from Rachelle Law, a Discovery leader at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. Are you looking for a fun do-it-yourself project to do this summer? Would you love a solution to the amount of pesky mosquitoes in your backyard? Are you passionate about creating habitats for wildlife? If you answered yes to any of…
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Driftwood: shaping shorelines and completing communities
For a while, park staff have been wondering: why do some of our guests who come to visit natural environments feel compelled to leave their mark on that beach, waterfall, or lookout after they’ve left? At MacGregor Point Provincial Park, we’ve noticed some changes being made to our shorelines by well-meaning sun-seekers who visit our…
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Can you teach an old naturalist new tricks?
Today’s blog comes from Tim Tully, Discovery Coordinator at Awenda Provincial Park. That is the question. After decades of doing things a certain way, can I rally the forces of change and adopt a new way of recording species data? Should I submit species data to iNaturalist or not? I decided to empirically investigate in…
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#ForTheLoveOfParks: 5 ways to help keep parks clean and safe this year
Last year, Ontario’s protected areas experienced record-breaking demand. Ontario Parks received 11 million visits, and Parks Canada reported over 2 million visits. That’s 13 million visits to Ontario’s provincial and national parks in one year. That’s roughly equivalent to the population of Ontario!
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Help us protect Lion's Head Provincial Park's sensitive species and ecosystems
Lion’s Head Provincial Park needs our help! This summer, the park has experienced high use, which is putting stress on this amazing habitat. What you may not know is that Lion’s Head Provincial Park is open for day use only, and has limited parking and no facilities or camping.
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Forever protected: why MacGregor Point belongs
Our “Forever Protected” series shares why each and every park belongs in Ontario Parks. In today’s post, Kathleen Houlahan Chayer tells us MacGregor Point’s story. I worked as the Discovery Leader at MacGregor Point Provincial Park for four years, but it wasn’t really until I started working at Pinery (another park that I’m glad is…