The Zephyr Society is a scientific, non-profit, non-government organization concentrating on ecological research on the Lake Simcoe watershed in southern Ontario. Letters of Patent have been issued for the Society and designation as a registered charity has been confirmed.

The Board of Governors consists of a select group of socially conscious and ecosystem oriented research scientists. Board members are active in University-level research and all have national or international reputations in their fields of expertise. Active professionals with solid current research projects and publishing records will be involved in Society projects. Functional links between the Society and three Ontario Universities have been established to further the Society goals.

When asked about the relationship with government, Mr. Paul Harpley, the Zephyr Society Director said:

“The Society is an autonomous research organization. The Society will not be intimately working on issues motivated just by politics, although it will certainly communicate with and advise the different levels of government when necessary.”

“I also envision the Zephyr Society as a counter-point to traditional government programs. We will provide an objective review of Government plans and programs and broaden the scope of many government decisions and activities through our research”, he said.

The Zephyr Society foundation is not constrained by private development interests,
or the agendas of other organizations or individuals, including those of municipal, regional, provincial or federal government. The Society intends to work with these groups to ensure the best information is available to decision-makers. To this end, a large part of the Society’s mandate is to foster research on ecosystems and the role and impacts of humans on natural ecosystems in the Lake Simcoe basin.

In past, there has been considerable emphasis on phosphorus loading to Lake Simcoe by agencies such as the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. While the work done in this area has been invaluable in bringing public attention to some aspects of Lake Simcoe’s problems, there are many other aspects of environmental protection and ecosystem destruction in the Lake Simcoe basin that have not been addressed satisfactorily.

“Government coffers are continually drying up. We cannot rely on these agencies to do everything, because they simply do not have the staff and budgets to do everything that needs to be done” Mr. Harpley said.

Mr. Harpley went on to say that there are many more challenges, research needs and threats to the Lake Simcoe watershed that are in desperate need of attention.
The Society will undertake original research and communicate results of work in peer-reviewed publications and, as required, in the popular press.

Initially, Society research will concentrate on the health and sustainability of the south Lake Simcoe watershed. A key area of investigation and documentation will be landscape ecology and forest fragmentation in the watershed with emphasis on the forested river valleys, wetlands, wildlife corridors and the role of habitat buffers.

Mr. Harpley said “these investigations will concentrate on the three main river valleys and their tributaries - the Beaver River, the Pefferlaw River and Black River”.

“We are organizing our work along these major valley lands under the general heading of “Moraine to the Lake”, because these lands are oriented in a north-south direction from the Oak Ridges Moraine to Lake Simcoe and provide a variety of habitats unique to southern Ontario” he said.

The other area of Society interest is the remnant glacial Lake Algonquin shoreline, which is another east-west corridor that is almost entirely within the Town of Georgina on the south-east side of the lake. This landscape feature is relatively continuous over several kilometers, extending from south of Keswick to Deer Park to Sutton and eastward.

The ecology of these Lake Algonquin features is poorly understood, yet they are still relatively undisturbed but in jeopardy from Keswick and Sutton Secondary Plan developments. The unique features of this area represent the last remaining opportunity to protect a major east-west wildlife corridor in the entire south Lake Simcoe region.

The Society will undertake research in landscape ecology and forest fragmentation in both of these north-south and east-west regions. Emphasis will be on the ecology of breeding birds and mammals and in promoting additional biological inventories of other lesser known plant and animal communities and their habitats.

The Zephyr Society of Lake Simcoe is legally and constitutionally able to accept donations of money, land or other gifts and is actively pursuing research grant opportunities. Please contact us at our Web Site (http://www.zephyrsociety.ca).