The Great Lakes Basin Conservancy welcomes donations to support the protection of land, water, and wildlife in Canada.
Our primary focus has been on the Georgian Bay region. Although, during our early years, we helped fund academic research projects carried out in this area, our current focus is on the work of three organizations: Georgian Bay Biosphere, Georgian Bay Forever, and Georgian Bay Land Trust.
Our Impact
Georgian Bay Land Trust
Grants over the last fifteen years include contributions to cover staff costs for procuring and overseeing the inventory of new properties, to purchase environmentally significant properties, and to support Georgian Bay stewards overseeing these properties. Major purchases include land in MacGregor Bay, Pointe au Baril, North Go Home Bay, and Honey Harbor. See more below:
PROTECTING ECOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT LAND
Georgian Bay Land Trust has contributed to the protection of over 41,000 acres of ecologically significant land in Eastern Georgian Bay. The protected area encompasses wetlands, forests, rock barrens and islands and is home to more than 50 species at risk.
Georgian Bay Forever
Over the last fifteen years, we have shifted focus from research on the changes in water levels, water quality, and the health of wetlands to phragmites eradication, microplastics diversion and capture, and wetland restoration. See more below:
MICROPLASTIC DIVERSION
GLBC funds have gone toward supporting Georgian Bay Forever’s microplastic diversion initiative. Plastic Free Georgian Bay (PFGB) comprises businesses that commit to reducing or eliminating their distribution of single-use plastics. The program also enlists schools and employers to inventory their lightly-used plastic consumption and works with them to reduce their plastic use.
Photo credit: Laura Thipphawong for Georgian Bay Forever
PHRAGMITES REMOVAL
Georgian Bay Forever works with local communities to restore balance to areas affected by invasive phragmites. This initiative maps stands of dense, invasive phragmites and then cuts them below water level.
Georgian Bay Biosphere
During the last decade, grants have funded State of the Bay programs and environmental education projects in the MacTier Public School. See more below:
STATE OF THE BAY PROGRAM
GLBC funds have supported Georgian Bay Biosphere’s long-running State of the Bay initiative, which gathers available research about water, wetlands, fisheries, and habitats and shares the findings with those who care about Georgian Bay.
BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
Georgian Bay Biosphere’s biodiversity conservation program monitors and researches at-risk species and educates the community about them through school visits and information sessions. As part of the program, Georgian Bay Biosphere also provides species at-risk training for public works departments and other organizations.
Conferences
The Great Lakes Basin Conservancy has also hosted several Canadian-American conferences in the Cleveland area on the state of the environment in the Great Lakes Basin to update American donors on environmental research and land acquisitions.
Great Lakes Basin Conservancy 