by Monica Seidel, Communications and Fundraising Manager at Watersheds Canada 

Have you ever had the moment where you are out for a walk and you see the magical glint of a spider’s web? You go out of your way to avoid it, only to find yourself somehow still with a strand attaching itself to you. The spider’s web was much larger than you thought and each string was depending on the others to stay in place. A few weak links, and the spider’s web falls apart…onto your arm.

Things within the natural world are never as simple as they seem. No organism is truly working in isolation. In fact, as you zoom out from that one organism, complex webs of connection appear within the biotic world and the abiotic factors. Ecologists, biologists, engineers, chemists and many others seek to create frameworks to classify, group, and understand species and the needs and roles those species have within an ecosystem. If humans can understand what typically is and is not found in an ecosystem, we can lead our lives in a way that respects and upholds these interconnected webs. On a larger scale, environmental organizations can ensure their programs are impactful and relevant based on what is happening “on the ground” to their webs.

There are an increasing number of organizations and community groups forming to protect and steward different aspects of the natural world. How do these groups determine the scale and scope of their work? Some focus on a single strand of the web and work to protect one specific species. These often are well-known species that have a high emotional value for people, such as the giant panda. This approach for program delivery has clear advantages like being able to tangibly measure success stories as a population increases in size. In this case, one strand in the web gets longer and stronger. Focusing on only the species gets a bit tricky, though, because the species requires many other things to thrive long-term besides having more individuals. The single strand has to be supported by the larger web.

Rather than focusing on a particular species, some organizations instead look at the whole web. For example, what are the different strands made of, how long does it take to make and strengthen them, and which are found close to each other in the web and should be grouped together in a restoration project? Watersheds Canada is a national charity that sees the whole spider’s web — that is, a holistic, science-backed, ecosystem approach. We do not stop at the individual species, at an individual lake, tributary, or river, or even at a sub-watershed. Instead, our focus is on the watershed as a whole.

A watershed is an area of land that water flows through or across on its way to a particular water body, like a stream, river, wetland, lake, or coastline. It is the land where precipitation falls and flows to a common, watery place. Canada is home to 25 watersheds and 167 sub-watersheds. Looking at those numbers, it is clear the volume of interconnected webs that exist and the many entities and factors that are needed to keep these webs resilient and strong. 

Restoration at a watershed level takes time and immense collaboration. Making up some of the web’s strands are the different stakeholders: shoreline property owners, municipalities, Indigenous communities, small business owners, anglers, students, and community groups. Everyone has a place on the web and we are all connected to each other. Everyone is tied to freshwater health and protection, whether they go to a lake every day in the summer, or they are land-locked in a major urban centre. All life depends on freshwater abundance and quality, meaning all of us need to work together to ensure this precious resource is restored, enhanced, and protected for generations to come. 

This is where Watersheds Canada steps in to strengthen strings within the web. The organization’s wide gaze allows it to step in as groups and individuals see pieces of their web — the watershed — about to break. Many things threaten Canada’s freshwater, like nutrient loading and eutrophication, invasive species, climate change, and perhaps worst of all, apathy. When groups and individuals need ground-level shoreland and fish habitat restoration projects, tools to increase their knowledge and stewardship actions, and opportunities to engage their community with local nature, they can turn to Watersheds Canada, their friendly neighbourhood spider-charity. 

By powering through apathy, our collective actions can rebuild and brace webs across Canada. We cannot accept a state where people do not care how many strands they walk through. Together, we can protect freshwater health, not just today on World Water Day, but anytime we find ourselves near a web. We need to appreciate their beauty and protect them. After all, no one wants the web to break and stick to their clothing. 

—

Take action this World Water Day by making a donation to Watersheds Canada! All donations receive a Canadian tax receipt.