The project aims to enhance collaborative efforts for biodiversity protection, habitat connectivity, and resilience of species at risk in eastern Georgian Bay. Key goals involve addressing landscape threats such as road mortality of reptiles, habitat fragmentation, and invasive species removal. Specific objectives include identifying areas for road mortality mitigation, implementing actions like fencing and eco-passages, and restoring habitat connections.

The initiative emphasizes partnerships with local indigenous communities, building their capacity for SAR monitoring and incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in surveys. Focusing on the greater Killbear Makwa Nayoshing Park area and the Moose Deer Point region, areas crucial for eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes, the project undertakes tasks like assessing road mortality threats, developing best management practices, and working with local partners for mitigation measures.

In the Killbear Makwa Nayoshing area, this project has supported the installation of 4 ecopassages and roughly 500 metres of wildlife fencing. GBB and Laurentian University are monitoring these mitigation measures that includes: pre- and post-mitigation assessments, behavioural studies, and identifying maintenance needs. In addition, partners are currently evaluating additional road ecology mitigation options on highway 559 and on the main road in Killbear Makwa Nayoshing Provincial Park.

In the Moose Deer Point region, road mitigation strategies for identified hotspots are recommended for Twelve Mile Bay Road, aiming to engage local stakeholders for wider implementation. And in 2023, GBB and MDP First Nation’s Lands Department conducted road ecology monitoring along 7 km of community roads. A second year of monitoring is required in order to confirm preliminary hotspots identified in this first year.