Turtle Guardians
All of Ontario's turtles are now on the Species at Risk list! Our slow moving friends are incredibly important to aquatic ecosystems and help to keep our waters clean and healthy. Become a Turtle Guardian today to help our shelled elders prosper!




Saving turtles and conserving wetland habitats
Turtles are a link to our past and essential for our future survival.
Turtles take around 60 years to replace themselves once in nature. More than 90% of nests are predated in The Land Between region. Therefore, each adult is important for the continuation of the population and is precious. But also each hatchling needs to be kept in the wild and given a chance to make a spatial memories to navigate their territories for the rest of their lives (something that do best as juveniles).
The largest threat to turtles is from road injuries and mortality. However, habitat loss, pet trades and poaching are issues, as are people mistakenly thinking that snapping turtles are threatening, which can result in displacement or harm to these ancient souls.
Meanwhile, turtles are eco-heros and agents of biodiversity; they move seeds around creating new habitats that support fish and other wildlife, and which plants also filter water. They also cycle nutrients and are the best cleaning crews for our waters, as they remove dead carcasses which are sources of harmful bacteria. The best janitors and gardeners are our wonderful snapping turtles!
Snapping turtles too, like all turtles, only react out of defense and are not offensive- and they are not known to snap under water where they feel safe and comfortable.
If you are interested in helping these most innocent creatures, please register on the Turtle Guardians website. Once registered you can choose a workshop and access the training tools on the associated linked website pages. When you look for an online training event to attend, if there isn't If you don't find a suitable date, watch the training videos online first, and contact us with questions or to book a phone/online meeting for more support!