An animal that lives hundreds of years needs to help of locals.
The Land Between, an organization dedicated to conservation from Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay, announced that it is hosting several “Turtle Walks” including one here in Haliburton.
On June 8th, people are encouraged to get involved in the walk. According to the Land Between, the idea behind the second annual walk is to raise funds and awareness for turtles and hopefully reduce the mortality rate.
At the free to the public affair, people can meet live turtles and get involved in crafts. The theme for the walk this year is the Tartan Turtle in honour of the Highlands. Anyone that attends the walk is encouraged to show up in “turtle-y gear or themed gear”.
Leora Berman, the COO of the Land Between and the Coordinator of the Turtle Guardian Program, says “It is a chance for people to support nature in their own backyards, in Ontario. In that
way, it is breaking new ground. It is really a first for this province and a new opportunity to contribute.”
The walk itself is always the first weekends in June to coincide with peak nesting season for turtles. During this time, turtles are most at risk because they are travelling across or near roads where they can be injured or killed easily.
According to the Land Between, turtles have survived for generations and can live for hundreds of years, but as it is now turtle populations are facing “imminent threats to their survival”.
In 2017 The Land Between charity declared an emergency for turtle populations in Ontario because more than 10 times the amount of road mortalities were counted across the Highlands, representing a long-term and devastating loss to Ontario’s populations. Each year, turtles are killed on roads and these animals cannot rebound from these losses easily.
Visit www.turtlewalk.ca for more details.