Volunteers Needed for Water Quality Monitoring
The Cognashene Cottagers Association (CCA) is participating in a new water quality monitoring program led by the Township of Georgian Bay Water Quality Working Group.
With support from neighboring associations, we will be collecting water samples across the Cognashene area this summer and are looking for community volunteers to help.
What volunteering involves
- Sampling five times between May and September
- Attending a training session in mid-May (date and location TBD)
- Collecting samples at 8-10 designated locations in the Cognashene area
- Most sampling is done by boat
Who can volunteer - we are looking for 6–8 volunteers who can:
- Commit to all five sampling dates
- Access and operate a boat in the Cognashene area
Volunteer schedules may be coordinated or rotated if needed. Youth aged 10+ are welcome when accompanied by an adult.
If you would like to participate, please reach out through CCA channels or contact us directly. This is a great opportunity to contribute to the long-term health of Cognashene's waters.
Environment Day
Join the CCA on Saturday, August 15, for Environment Day. This year's event focuses on the Massasauga rattlesnake and how to safely live alongside this important species in the Georgian Bay ecosystem. Representatives from the Georgian Bay Biosphere will share insights on snake identification, safety, and best practices for cottage country. This is a great opportunity to ask questions, learn more about the species, and discover how our community can coexist with this unique part of the local environment.
More information to come!
Learn more before the event with these helpful resources:
- Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake - Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere
- Who am I? Similar Snakes... - Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere
- Working in Massasauga Habitat
- Living Alongside Zhiishiigweg - Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere
State of the Bay
To gain a comprehensive understanding of the CCA's approach to addressing and adapting to our changing environment, we must be aware of the major indicators of ecosystem health and climatic influence. Placing Cognashene within its larger environmental context involves acknowledging its position within the UNESCO Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve and the broader Great Lakes watershed.
UNESCO defines the Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve as “The largest island archipelago of the North American Great Lakes”. A UNESCO designation of “Biosphere Reserve” legitimizes and promotes critical sustainability frameworks and integrated social and environmental objectives. According to UNESCO, Biosphere Reserves are “sites for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention and management of biodiversity. They are places that provide local solutions to global challenges”. It is important to note the end of this definition. Although many of these environmental challenges we face are played out on a broad spatial and temporal scale, the solutions we apply are uniquely local and interdisciplinary. UNESCO sees the eastern shore of Georgian Bay as a place worth protecting - by developing community-based protections that hinge on our values and decisions.
Stretching from the Severn River to the French River, the arbiter and steward for our Biosphere Reserve is the Georgian Bay Biosphere Mnidoo Gamii (GBB). GBB's State of the Bay Report is a crucial report on the health and status of our Biosphere. I encourage you to explore GBB's website to learn more about its amazing work.
Explore the document here: State of the Bay 2023 - State of the Bay
All Too Clear
Originally from the Black and Caspian Seas, the quagga mussel arrived in the Great Lakes in the late 20th century through ballast water discharged by transoceanic ships. Since then, their populations have exploded, carpeting lakebeds by the billions and filtering enormous volumes of water each day. While this filtration has made waters like Georgian Bay strikingly clear, it has also shifted nutrients to the lakebed and reshaped the food web from the bottom up. The fascinating—and sometimes unsettling—story of how these tiny invaders transformed the Great Lakes is explored in the TVO documentary All Too Clear: Beneath the Surface of the Great Lakes.
All Too Clear Documentary: All Too Clear | TVO Today
Learn more about our environment through the links below.
Organizations
Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere - Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere
Council of the Great Lakes Region
Community Links
