Bonnechere River Watershed Project » Workshops

Riverwatch Future Scenarios Workshop II – Working Landscapes

riverwatch — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:12:08 +0000

Participants place themselves along a sketch of our watershed, in a place of personal significance

On Saturday November 21^st 2009 at the Legion in Eganville, the BRWP Riverwatch Program hosted its second Future Scenarios Workshop. Participants of this event were those who make a living directly from the land and its natural resources. Interests represented here included those of forestry, agriculture, first nations, trapping and power generation throughout the Bonneche Valley. The event proved to be quite thought provoking for both BRWP facilitators and attendees.

Lunch at this event featured food that was grown and produced locally. Hot beverages were available all day which consisted of coffee from the Neat Coffee shop located in Burnstown (who also provided fresh bread), as well as Sacred Blend Tea from The Algonquin Tea Co. A stew was put together by the Legion ladies. Ingredients included beef from Stone Farms, and potatoes, carrots, and turnip from the gardens of the legion ladies themselves. An apple crisp was made from apples donated by Dobson Farm outside Cobden, and served with real whipped cream from Brums Dairy. The Dairy also provided milk, coffee cream, and butter as well. Needless to say, everything was delicious!

Participants were asked to rank major issues and concerns regarding the Bonnechere River Watershed.

At the end of the event, participants left with a renewed sense of connectedness to other individuals whose livelihood depends on the sustainability of the Bonnechere Watershed. As a bonus, locally crafted duck nest boxes were made available to any interested persons. Installing a duck nest box on your property can help to increase the population of desirable waterfowl species such as Wood Ducks. For more information or to take part in our duck or bluebird nesting box program, please contact the Riverwatch coordinator at riverwatch .

The outcome of this endeavour was four interesting and plausible future scenarios with both positive and negative aspects. These scenarios will be added in with those collected at the Shoreline Resident Future Scenarios Workshop to be further developed upon completion of the final scenarios workshop which will take place in early in the new year. Stay tuned for more information on the Scenario process!

Riverwatch Shoreline Resident Future Scenarios Workshop – Very Educational!

riverwatch — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:38:57 +0000

Workshop participants learn about the scenario process from presenter Allyson Quinlan.

On August 15^th 2009, the BRWP’s Riverwatch program held the first of what is to be a series of community engagement workshops focused on drafting up scenarios that represent possible futures of the Bonnechere River Watershed may face. The event took place at the Sands on Golden Lake and featured guests who reside on or near water throughout the Bonnechere River watershed.

At the beginning of the workshop, attendees were asked to identify a place in the watershed that matters to them most, and then to list their main values related to this place. Afterwards they were also asked to identify ecosystem services in this region, as well as issues and change drivers. The most popular responses were then used to create a scenario matrix, which was then used to help draft up possible future scenarios within three different participant groups. The event was very informative and it was inspiring to share thoughts and ideas with concerned residents of our watershed. Great thanks are extended to all who participated!

Scenarios were created in small groups and then shared with all in attendance.

Two more scenarios workshops are still to come. The target group for these will be working landscapes in November, and Youth in February. Scenarios from this workshop and the two to follow will be used to create scenarios in the spring, which will then be conceptualized by local artists. In April 2010, a grand affair will be held to showcase these scenarios to the community and invited officials from groups such as local government, municipalities, and hydroelectric power generation, just to name a few.

For more information on these scenario workshops, or to express interest in attending any of our planned events, emails can be directed to riverwatch .

Naturalizing Your Shoreline

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:16:45 +0000

On Wednesday August 13th at the Eganville Legion, the BRWP hosted an evening of learning about the benefits of Naturalized Shorelines. Suzanne McFarlane the Community Relations Coordinator at
Mississippi Valley Conservation presented on the specific benefits of a natural shoreline focusing on keeping the enjoyment in your shoreline while increasing the shoreline health. The presentation given on species that could be used is posted below as is a list of fairly local nurseries where you could purchase the plants needed to complete your shoreline transformation.

Thanks given to Erin Gallagher from the Gamiing Center for Sustainable Lakeshore Living (Lindsay, ON) as she provided the pictures included in attached presentation.

Native Plants Presentation

Native Plant Nurseries

Moonlight Crofters – North of Dacre

Connaught Nursery and Garden Center – Coben

Fieldstone Nursery – Foymount

Make it Green – Stittsville

Ferguson Forest Center – Kemptville

Stewardship Workshop Series

admin — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:16:07 +0000

To increase public understanding of resource management issues and to develop an appreciation of our environmental heritage, the Bonnechere River Watershed Project sponsors workshops.

Potential topics for 2007 include, Healthy Shorelines and a Tour of Farm Water Quality improvement projects.

Information on our events will be posted on the Meetings page when available.