John Riley addresses turnaround in Great Lakes Country at Community Lecture
Sense of Place series draws audience of more than 200
“Great Lakes country was, at one time, an earthly paradise, abundant with fish and wildlife, forests and grasslands but what followed was an era of disease, warfare, resource depletion and land development.”
This was the message John Riley, Nature Conservancy of Canada’s chief science officer and national director emeritus, told a crowd of over 200 guests at Market Hall on January 14 during the third of four lectures in the Kawartha Land Trust (KLT) and Trent University speaker series, A Sense of Place: Perspectives on Relationship to Land and Water in the Kawarthas.
In his address, Mr. Riley provided an historical overview of the Great Lakes country, how it was, how it has changed, and where it is headed.
“It is nothing like the original paradise, but there are many new and ambitious environmental policies and pursuits, restoring some of the region’s ecological integrity, even while we intensify development in some parts of it,” Mr. Riley said.
In his lecture and in his book, The Once and Future Great Lakes Country: An Ecological History, Mr. Riley makes a comparison to a century ago and explains that the area has in fact started to benefit from increased nature protection and re-wilding, even while it is experiencing climate change, globalization, invasive species, and the impacts of new global city-states. Today, he says there is now more forest cover in the Great Lakes country, cleaner water, recovering native biota, and an improved quality of life.
“It was a powerful, fantastic lecture,” said Dr. James Conolly, an Anthropology professor at Trent University who has wanted to hear Mr. Riley speak since reading his book. “I enjoyed Mr. Riley’s analogy between long ago newcomers to the region and invasive species. As a regional archaeologist, I have an interest in the long-term relationships between people and their landscapes.”
To watch Mr. Riley's full lecture, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ1YGHucoVg&feature=youtu.be