photo: Jill at the Ontario Nature Youth Biodiversity Summit
Every Year Ontario Nature holds their Youth Summit which brings young leaders together to connect, inspire, and learn from each other and experts in the fields of biodiversity and environmental justice. This year, Carolinian Canada Coalition is proud to have sponsored one youth participant to attend the summit at the YMCA Geneva Park in Orillia, Ontario. Read about this year's sponsorsip bellow:
To the Carolinian Canada Coalition,
Thank-you for the incredible opportunity to attend the 2012 Youth Summit for Biodiversity and Environmental Justice. Throughout the weekend I got to meet many new friends. Everyone was very nice and it was great to be with like-minded individuals who all care about our environment. The venue was located in Orillia at the Geneva Park YMCA camp. I was able to discover thrilling reptiles and amphibians and learn so much. I look forward to sharing with my peers and local Scouting group.
photo: Jill on Lake Couchiching
The experience I will never forget was when Jeff from Scales Nature Park visited. He taught us all about snakes and turtles and even brought his friends along (the snakes and turtles). After the presentation I got to hold my first snake, a garter snake. It was very exciting. The snake skin had an incredibly smooth texture that I did not expect. When I held it in my hands I could observe its body expanding and contracting due to it inhaling and exhaling. I observed and received a better understanding of how snakes move while it slithered along my arms. Other facts I learned about snakes are that they are cold-blooded, hibernate during the winter, swallow their prey whole, have a protective scale over their eye and use their forked tongue to help with taste and smell.
My favorite memory was canoeing on Lake Couchiching. Saturday morning, just after sunrise we set out to explore the shoreline in the fog. The water was spectacularly clean and clear which enabled me to see the lake bottom. One of my friends was able to capture an amazing silhouette canoeing picture which I hope to frame.
Thanks again for making this experience of the 2012 Ontario Nature Youth Summit for Biodiversity and Environmental Justice possible.
Cordially,
Jill from Windsor
Find out more about the Ontario Nature Youth Summit for Biodiversity and Environmental Justice online:
Here