2025 Funded Projects

In 2025, the EGBI supported a diverse slate of projects bringing together First Nations, conservation organizations, academic institutions, and municipalities to protect SAR and the habitats they depend on across the region.

Reptile conservation remained central to this work. Field teams surveyed and protected at-risk turtles and snakes, protected nests, moved reptiles safely off roads, and confirmed breeding activity at long-term monitoring sites, supported by a regional reptile hotline and a growing base of trained volunteers. The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre complemented this fieldwork with emergency care, rehabilitation, and headstarting for injured turtles, while training veterinarians and engaging the public at its new facility. At HIFN, Blazing Star Environmental continued tracking how SAR reptiles are responding to past wildfire and wind energy development, including testing artificial overwintering habitat.

Habitat restoration and species monitoring also advanced elsewhere in the region. Fleming College made strong progress restoring pine-oak barrens habitat through native seed collection and planting, and GEI Consultants continued monitoring Kirtland’s Warbler, at one of Canada’s few known breeding sites, working to define the critical habitat it needs.

The Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere advanced two complementary initiatives: an open-source habitat mapping database developed with First Nations and academic partners under Indigenous data sovereignty principles, and extensive public outreach through its Maawaanji’iwe for Species at Risk program, including turtle nest protection, a turtle hatchery program, and species awareness training for municipal staff.

Together, these projects reflect the breadth of collaborative conservation in the Eastern Georgian Bay region spanning fieldwork, veterinary care, habitat restoration, research, and community stewardship, with several continuing into 2026 to build on this year’s progress.