Biological diversity, or biodiversity, refers to the variety of life, as expressed through genes, species, interactions and ecosystems, and is shaped by ecological and evolutionary processes. The full spectrum of biodiversity is essential to maintaining the ecological functions, processes and connections that sustain us and provides many economic and social benefits.

The biodiversity of the Lake Huron watershed is under stress from a number of factors, including invasive species, habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, rapid residential and industrial growth, incompatible agriculture practices, pollution of tributaries and open waters, altered hydrology, poorly-managed aggregate extraction and incompatible harvest of fish and forests. Natural resource management agencies and organizations around the watershed are responding to these threats by recommending the development of a Lake Huron Biodiversity Conservation Strategy.

This project will answer that call and in keeping with the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA), will advance efforts to rehabilitate, maintain and protect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the waters of Lake Huron and provide long-term conservation strategies for biodiversity in the watershed. This project will expand on existing initiatives such as the Lake Huron Binational Partnership, the Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem, Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s Environmental Objectives for Lake Huron, Lake Huron-Georgian Bay Watershed Framework for Community Action, the Michigan Wildlife Action Plan, and other conservation efforts around the watershed.

The Canadian and U.S. partners involved in the Lake Huron Biodiversity Conservation Strategy will use the Conservation Action Planning (CAP) process developed by The Nature Conservancy, and experience gained from its use in the development of the Lake Ontario Biodiversity Conservation Strategy. The CAP process specifically focuses on:

   1) identifying biodiversity features (components of biodiversity),

   2) identifying threats to biodiversity features, and

   3) developing strategies to abate the threats within the watershed.

This process will clarify linkages between specific conservation actions and Lake Huron ecosystem health. Working with a multitude of partners, the development of the Lake Huron Biodiversity Conservation Strategy will focus on compiling and integrating information about ecological systems, natural communities and species in both Canada and the United States into an international strategy for conserving the biodiversity of Lake Huron.

The Lake Huron Biodiversity Conservation Strategy will be led by representatives from government agencies, university scientists, stakeholders, Aboriginal groups, and non-governmental conservation practitioners. The project will include a series of workshops to engage conservation partners in both countries.

 

This collaborative process will work to:

• Identify, assess status and viability of biodiversity features (e.g. species, natural communities, ecological systems, or processes) for planning and conservation action

• Define threats and develop strategies to alleviate threats to the biodiversity features • Integrate results from existing initiatives and planning processes

• Strengthen partnerships and increase stakeholder engagement in conservation

• Develop a biodiversity conservation strategy (including basin-wide maps of the ecological systems, protected areas, land use and biodiversity values) to help agencies, organizations, Aboriginal people and stakeholders around Lake Huron to meet conservation challenges

• Increase awareness of Lake Huron biodiversity, its importance, associated issues and threats, and actions to help protect the biodiversity of the lake