Join our April webinar with guest speaker, Laura Thomas! Date: Tuesday, April 16th, 2024 Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Location: Zoom platform (link sent after registration) To register, email Camryn at info@muskokaconservancy.org Discover the benefits of having native plants in your Muskoka garden. Learn which native plants are best at supporting wildlife in Muskoka as well as the plants best suited to your Muskoka landscape. From shallow rocky soils to shorelines and tree-shaded gardens, you will learn which plants will thrive in your garden. Learn design and maintenance tips that will ensure your native plants look great and will thrive regardless of your style of garden. Laura operates, Hidden Habitat, a native plant nursery that grows wildflowers, grasses and shrubs native to Ontario. They sell Ontario native wildflower seeds, sustainably harvested from their cultivated fields in Muskoka and offer ecological landscaping and garden design services.

Join our March webinar with guest speaker, Dr. Neil Hutchinson! Date: Tuesday, March 19th, 2024 Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Location: Zoom platform (link sent after registration) To register, email Camryn at info@muskokaconservancy.org Dr. Neil Hutchinson has been working as a water quality scientist since 1976 and has observed changes in the nature, the geographic scope and sources of the pollutants and problems that have emerged and been tackled in that time. We have moved from an awareness of highly toxic synthetic pollutants being discharged from relatively few sources to non-toxic pollutants (some of which, like phosphorus and carbon dioxide, are essential to life) being discharged on a planetary basis. As our pollutants of concern become less toxic, the management complexity required to address them becomes more complex and involves more people and more levels of organization. There has also been a recurring theme of scientific enquiry, blissful ignorance or denial and predictions of economic mayhem until scientific persistence galvanizes public attention, politicians are forced to act and the environment responds. These will be illustrated with several examples which lead to the failure to address the problem of climate change and can inform the approach to road salt management.

Join our Winter Tree ID Webinar Hey buds, want to learn how to identify the trees of Muskoka in their winter conditions? Join Conservation Coordinator, Amanda, to learn the tips and tricks for identifying trees by only their twigs, buds, and bark! Plus, you’ll get a copy of Muskoka Conservancy’s Key and Guide to Winter Tree ID! Date: Tuesday, February 27th, 2024 Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Location: Zoom Platform (link will be sent after registration) Email Camryn at info@muskokaconservancy.org to register.

Join Guest Speaker, Peter Love, to learn about Climate and Energy Conservation! Peter will speak about climate change as the most important environmental issue to face mankind and the role of man made greenhouse gas emissions in creating this problem. He will highlight the fact that 81% of Canada’s man-made greenhouse gas emissions come from the production of use of energy. He will also note that about 60% of the energy consumed in Canada is wasted in conversion. Based on this, he will summarize the importance of energy conservation, the benefits of conservation and its challenges. He will refer specifically to what you can do at home, at work and in school as well as the role for businesses and governments. This presentation will highlight the close relationship between energy conservation and nature conservancy. Peter Love provides strategic and policy advice on energy policy issues and serves on several corporate and non-profit boards. For the last 12 years he has been teaching university courses on energy efficiency and recently updated his free on-line textbook. Previous roles have included Chief Energy Conservation Officer of Ontario and member of the team at Pollution Probe in the 70’s that developed the 3 R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle. He currently serves as Chair of the Centre for Community Energy Transformation as well as Toronto 2030 District. He has had a cottage in Muskoka for more than 50 years and currently serves as volunteer Treasurer of Muskoka Conservancy. Date: Tuesday, January 23, 2024 Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Location: Zoom Platform (link will be sent after registration) Email Camryn at info@muskokaconservancy.org to register.

Join our December webinar featuring Guest Speaker, Christina Hunter! The holidays can bring about a lot of unwanted waste. But it doesn't have to! Join Christina Hunter for tips and tricks on how to cut back on waste this holiday season - from decorating to stocking stuffers, to meal prep and more. Christina is the Chair of Little Sprouts Eco Club and a former Director at Muskoka Conservancy from 2015-2020. She co-created Reusable Revolution, a community group that promotes zero-waste living, and highlights local companies that help to make it easier on our own journeys to zero-waste. You'll leave with the knowledge of how to create a zero-waste holiday, and the determination to see it through. Date: December 19th, 2023 Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Location: Zoom platform (link will be sent after registration) Email Camryn at info@muskokaconservancy.org to register

May 30, 2023 – Join Laura Gilmour, owner of Wild Muskoka, for Muskoka Conservancy’s May Webinar “Deepening Relationships with Muskoka Native Plants” Laura will cover the interesting ecology and the relationships between native plants, fungi, wildlife, and humans. She will share also stories about some of her favorite species she works with as a professional forager and ways to respectfully and sustainably work with them as food and medicine to build deeper relationships with these local kin. Laura Gilmour is the owner of Wild Muskoka a small artisan foods and drinks company based in Dwight that uses sustainably harvested local plants in their unique products. She is a dedicated naturalist, forager, herbalist and homesteader who strives to live in good relationship with the land and her more-than-human neighbours. To receive the Zoom link for this webinar, please register by emailing info@muskokaconservancy.org or call at 705-645-7393 ext.200.

Join us for a Vernal Pool Party! April’s Webinar will cover all things amphibian as these creatures are waking up from their winter slumber and beginning to breed. Learn about the salamanders and frogs of Muskoka and what is going on during their “Vernal Pool Parties”. If you have questions about upcoming webinars or outings, please email info@muskokaconservancy.org or call the office at 705-645-7393 ext 200.

Are you curious about how you can tell which trees are which during the winter months before leaves sprout in Spring? Watch this March Webinar from March 2023 to learn how to identify common Muskoka trees by only their twigs and buds! If you have questions about upcoming webinars or outings, please email info@muskokaconservancy.org or call the office at 705-645-7393 ext 200.

Tuesday, Feb 28th at 10:00 - Guest Speaker Hope Freeman discusses the trails and tribulations of the Grundy Lake Turtle Monitoring Project! From educating park visitors to protecting baby turtles, there is never a dull moment. The staff at Grundy Lake are keen to do all they can for the turtles that call the park home and to help inspire the next and current generations of turtle conservationists! Guest Speaker – Hope Freeman, Senior Park Naturalist, Grundy Lake and Sturgeon Bay Hope Freeman is the Senior Park Naturalist at Grundy Lake Provincial Park. She recently received her Masters of Science from McMaster University on turtle overwintering habitat! Hope has over five years of experience working with Ontario’s native turtle species. Hope loves hiking, canoeing and camping and when she’s not out in nature, cooking for her friends and family. If you have questions about upcoming webinars or outings, please email info@muskokaconservancy.org or call the office at 705-645-7393 ext 200.