THE CWF Eastern Ontario Turtle Project

The Eastern Ontario Turtle Project launched in 2017 and is being delivered by Canadian Wildlife Federation staff based in Ottawa. Our turtle egg incubation program has resulted in the release of almost 7,000 hatchlings into the wild.

The CWF Eastern Ontario Turtle Project continues to work in the greater Ottawa area. We focus on reducing threats to turtle species and their habitat by:

• Protecting wetland habitat: We conduct wetland surveys to find new locations with endangered Blanding’s Turtles.
• Reducing road mortality: We conduct road surveys to locate areas with significant road mortality and work to get road mitigation measures installed.
• Boosting declining turtle populations: We collect and incubate turtle eggs from high-risk nests.

The Ontario government is implementing dramatic changes to habitat protection for threatened and endangered species. Previously, a confirmed observation of a Blanding’s Turtle resulted in the protection of multiple wetlands, recognizing that individual turtles made use of nearby wetlands. Under the draft guidelines, a confirmed observation will only protect a single wetland, and only part of a large wetland. Ongoing surveys to confirm the presence of Blanding’s Turtles in more wetlands is more important than ever.

Part of our work in the Ottawa area involves identifying important nesting areas for turtles. Protecting turtle nests is critical for two reasons. Firstly, nest predation can be extremely high in certain areas so locating these nests and protecting them either by installing nest protectors or excavating and incubating eggs is of great benefit to the population. Raccoons and other nest predators dig up and eat many of these eggs. In some areas Raccoons consume almost all of the eggs, threatening the survival of turtle populations. Caging these nests can keep out predators and protect the eggs until they hatch. Secondly, nests of Threatened or Endangered turtles result in more stringent legal protection in the immediate vicinity of the nest.

We have found more than 2,000 dead turtles on roads in eastern Ontario over the past nine years.

Roads are a major threat to turtles, which is why we are conducting road surveys to identify areas with high concentrations of road mortality. While we all depend upon roads to get where we want to go, we can also make roads safer for wildlife. Fences and crossing structures under roads can allow turtles and other wildlife to get where they want to go. We tested the effectiveness of turtle signs and found they did not reduce road mortality. Wildlife fencing has been installed at four of the worst areas for road mortality as a result of our work.

Everyone can play a role in turtle conservation. We can all help save turtles.

• Drive slow and watch the road carefully when driving near wetlands – particularly during the month of June, which is turtle nesting season.
• Report your turtle observations to iNaturalist Canada, and while there join our turtle project called HelpTheTurtles. The project will continue to engage the local communities through awareness campaigns, presentations, community events and Turtle Blitz events.

Click here to listen to our radio announcement about turtle road mortality.