Our Mission

The Maitland Valley Conservation Authority is a community based organization dedicated to providing leadership to protect and enhance our water, forests and soils. We're working for a healthy environment!

About MAITLAND VALLEY CONSERVATION AUTHORITY

The purpose of the MVCA is to protect water and related resources for present and future generations. Conservation Authorities are established by the provincial government at the request of municipalities.

The MVCA covers the watershed, or drainage area, of the Maitland, Nine Mile and Eighteen Mile Rivers, along with smaller watersheds along Lake Huron.

The activities of the MVCA are driven by local municipalities, landowners and community organizations. We are committed to providing effective community-based conservation services in a cost efficient manner.

MVCA priorities:

To strengthen the capacity of Flood and Erosion Safety Services: This will help reduce the risk of loss of life and community disruption from flooding and erosion events.
To strengthen Watershed Stewardship Services: Our focus is to work with landowners to keep soil and nutrients on the land and out of watercourses. This will help to protect soil health while improving water quality and aquatic habitats.
To ensure our Conservation Areas are safe for visitors and to demonstrate best management practices on our lands.

There are several funds that donors are welcome to contribute to:

Footprints to Forests - We're excited to be launching Footprints to Forests, a new fund that enables donors to calculate their carbon footprint and then compensate for annual Green House Gas emissions by planting trees. Trees help to reduce the impacts of climate change and also provide benefits such as biodiversity and improved water quality. Donations to the Carbon Footprints to Forests program will be used to plant trees in Conservation Areas in the Maitland watershed. Visit www.footprintstoforests to calculate your carbon footprint. Donors are welcome to compensate for their whole carbon footprint or a portion of it. We welcome smaller donations, every tree counts! In May 2015 the first Footprints to Forests trees were planted at Lake Wawanosh Conservation Area. Thank you to all our 2020 donors who helped mitigate the impacts of our changing climate.

Middle Maitland Restoration Campaign - This project involves restoring floodplain and valley lands along the Middle Maitland River. Efforts are underway to plant stream buffers with native trees and shrubs, reduce soil erosion and improve habitat. These efforts will improve water quality and stream health. We're working in partnership with landowners, agencies and local municipalities on these projects.

Conservation Areas - We own and manage 28 properties encompassing over 1,800 ha. Donations to our Conservation Areas are used help ensure the properties are safe for public use and to implement best management practices. Recent initiatives include trail improvements at Naftel's Creek Conservation Area, the installation of a new privy at Lake Wawanosh and the removal of invasive plants at Wawanosh Valley and Gorrie Conservation Areas.