Program

Long Point Walsingham Forest Priority Place

Long Point Walsingham Priority Place

The Priority Place project gets local conservation groups working together to boost conservation outcomes in the Long Point Biosphere Region, one of Canada’s high biodiversity ecosystems.

There are five working groups that that governmental and non-governmental organizations are collaborating on: Road Ecology, Invasive Species, Agriculture Runoff, Open Country, and Forest & Treed Swamps

In the fall, we host the Priority Place Research Conference. The conference is a chance for conservation scientists from the five working groups to share their progress and engage local residents.

This project has a dedicated website. Please visit priorityplace.ca to learn more. The staff coordinator is Cynthia Brink. She can be contacted at cynthia.brink@longpointbiosphere.com.

The Biosphere was deeply honored to welcome Carolyn King, C.M., as the Elder leading the opening ceremony at the 2024 Priority Place Research Conference.

Carolyn is a member of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN) and has spent over four decades advancing Indigenous recognition, respect, and relationships across Canada. As a trailblazer, she served as the first woman Chief of MCFN from 1997 to 1999. Carolyn’s dedication to advocacy and community development has earned her many accolades, including the Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 and an appointment to the Order of Canada in 2020.

In 2011, Carolyn founded the Moccasin Identifier Initiative, a project that fosters awareness of Treaties, Indigenous connections to the land, and our collective responsibilities toward reconciliation. Her vision to “cover Canada in Moccasins” aims to ensure Indigenous heritage remains woven into the fabric of our shared spaces.

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OECM

Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECM for short)

 Canada has set a goal to protect 30% of its land and waters by 2030. Achieving this goal requires putting all land that is under conservation management, but not operated by the Federal Government, into a national database.

The Biosphere encourages program uptake by sharing the database with local governments and landowners. This involves creating educational resources, presenting at local council depositions, and meeting with landowners in-person.

If you live in Norfolk County and have land you want to add to the database please contact Sarah Emons at conservation@longpointbiosphere.com—being added to the database does not prevent you from using or selling your land.

Canada is committed to protecting nature through the 30 by 30 agreement, an international effort to conserve 30% of lands and waters by 2030. By safeguarding biodiversity and natural habitats and ensure a sustainable future for wildlife and people. The Long Point Biosphere Region supports conservation efforts by working with landowners and organizations to protect ecologically significant areas. 

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Wildlife Road Watch

Wildlife Road watch

Crossing roads is a risk wildlife must take to move through their habitat. In partnership with Eco-Kare International, the Biosphere coordinates a Wildlife Road Watch crew to protect these animals.

Wildlife Road Watch staff organize citizen scientists to record roadkill and animal crossings locations—these observations show which roads are collision hotspots. The team then encourages local governments to install turtle nesting mounds, wildlife underpasses and roadside fencing as part of their existing road maintenance master plan. 

In 2024, the Road Watch crew, in partnership Long Point Eco Adventures, also operated a turtle hatchery. A group of 31 Wildlife Road Watch volunteers raised and released over a thousand turtles that year.

The staff coordinators are Kari Gunson and Lauren Nightingale. They can be contacted at kegunson@eco-kare.com and lnightingale@eco-kare.com. 

Fences nudge wildlife away from unsafe road crossings and towards safe underpasses. A mink is pictured using one of these underpasses to safety move through its habitat.

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Beach Restoration

Beach REstoration

Human development and warmer winters mean that Long Point is in “sediment debt”—it’s losing more sand and pebbles to erosion that it receives. Over time, the entire spit (and all of its beaches!) will wash away. We’ve been given funding to organize a task force to prevent this fate. 

The task force is a partnership between 7 local governments, 3 conservation authorities, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and other conservation organizations. They monitor the region’s “sediment budget” and plant erosion-slowing native grasses on Long Point’s beaches.

This project has a dedicated website. Please visit northshoreresilience.ca to learn more. The staff coordinator is Sarah Emons. She can be contacted at conservation@longpointbiosphere.com. 

In partnership with homeowners and local governments, the Biosphere is planting native grasses to slow erosion.

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