Couchiching Conservancy unveils new Passport to Nature adventures

Ragged Rapids is shown in this file photo.Kathy Hunt for OrilliaMatters

From OrilliaMatters, April 22, 2023

NEWS RELEASE
COUCHICHING CONSERVANCY
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Happy Earth Day. The Couchiching Conservancy is excited to announce the launch of this year’s Passport to Nature program.

Our popular Passport to Nature program invites you to get out, connect and protect nature with a hybrid program of in-person events, virtual seminars and downloadable activities.

Hybrid events this year include the Family Fun Collection of downloadable activities, two self-guided road trips — Experience the Wildlands and Experience Carden Alvar — and three Mission Possible challenges designed to help people explore the conservancy’s reserves year round through the seasons.

New in-person events include Foraging for Fungi Photos, a Grassland Bird Walk, and a Children’s Story Walk through the woods, and returning events include a Paddle Party on the Black River, Painting in the Wildlands, and the Snowshoe/Books n’ Beer Club.

The first in-person event is the Grassland Bird Walk on Saturday, June 10 in the Carden Alvar — a globally rare landscape that is one of the conservancy’s key areas for protection.

Attendees will be joined by expert naturalist Ginny Moore to learn about the alvar and some of the species who call it home. To sign up for this event or to access other events, head to couchichingconserv.ca/passport-to-nature. Booklets will be available at our office at Grant’s Woods Nature Reserve (1485 Division Rd. W., Severn) and various businesses and organizations throughout the region starting in May.

A committee of volunteers and staff develop a new Passport to Nature program each year and, thanks to the outstanding and generous support of several sponsors, all activities are free to attend. Program sponsors include Raymond James (Executive Wealth Advisors), Cuisinart, Home Hardware Orillia, Lake Country Physiotherapy, Quayle’s Brewery, the Vincent and Rehhorn family, Parklane Landscapes, Scott Inc. Design + Build, and Sojourn Outdoors. Event sponsors and partners can be found on our website.

The Couchiching Conservancy protects thousands of acres of wilderness in the region and manages over 23 kilometres of trails and footpaths. It is a charitable non-profit land trust supported by individuals like you — people who want to ensure that special natural places are safeguarded for the future.

There is no cost to visit the reserves and although the Passport to Nature events are free to attend, the conservancy welcomes attendees to donate when they register for an event. All donations help the conservancy do even more for nature in our region.

To contact or find out more information about the Couchiching Conservancy, please visit couchichingconserv.ca or reach out to our engagement organizer, Madeleine, at enage@couchconservancy.ca.

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