Friends of Oliphant Coastal Environments

The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation has released the “Coastal Stewardship Plan for Oliphant”.

The full 79 page publication is too large for this site to host but available in pdf format at the Coastal Center’s site. Click here to obtain a copy.

The Coastal Center’s press release concerning this document appears below.

“Media RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A Plan to Protect Oliphant’s Coast

July 5, 2010  -   The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation, a non-governmental organization dedicated to the conservation of Lake Huron’s environment, has just released a new report entitled “Coastal Stewardship Plan for Oliphant.” The plan is in response to concerns about human impacts to the shoreline, and the degradation of a once pristine environment. With low lake levels in recent years, the flat open shorelands have attracted vehicle traffic, which is particularly destructive to the wetlands.

The shoreline at Oliphant is part of a coastal wetland complex that is home to many rare and at-risk species. The coastal wetlands at Oliphant, commonly called coastal fens, are particularly rare, and support a wide range of land and water species. Wetlands are also important water filtration features that provide clean water for people to swim in.

The Plan is intended:

1)      to educate and inform the community about beach and wetland processes, their sensitivities to human impacts, and how to minimize those impacts;
2)      with this information, empower the community to care for these resources, and enact insightful stewardship over the long term;
3)      to guide stewardship efforts that will help the shoreline heal itself, and restore the ecological balance to this shoreline area.

The Stewardship Plan describes some of the necessary measures needed to begin the healing process. “Controlling vehicle access to specific areas, and putting an end to driving over the shorelands will be absolutely key to the success in protecting Oliphant’s coastline,” noted Geoff Peach, Coastal resources Manager with the Coastal Centre, and main author of the plan. “Of course, the second main threat to Oliphant’s coast is invasive species, notably the highly invasive Phragmites australis.”

The Plan provides the municipality, local agencies and the public with a set of “best stewardship practices” aimed at improving the health of the coastal environment at Oliphant. “We are excited to be implementing, with the help of other community groups and the municipality, stewardship measures identified in the Plan that are based on sound coastal science principles and conservation approaches,” said Donna Stewart, chair of the local Friends of Oliphant Coastal Environments. “This is so important to the long term health of our shores.”

Funding for the plan was provided through Ontario’s Species at Risk Stewardship Program, Bruce Stewardship Resource Network, and the Town of South Bruce Peninsula. For a digital copy of the Plan, contact the Coastal Centre at coastalcentre@lakehuron.on.ca

For more information contact:

Geoff Peach, Hons. B.A., CCEP
Coastal Resources Manager
The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation”