WELLINGTON COUNTY – Wellington Turtle Guardians (WTG), a local organization committed to the preservation and protection of turtles, has been making waves in the conservation community for its innovation and dedication.
“Our mission is to protect as many adult turtles as possible and to increase the turtle population because it’s declining very rapidly,” said WTG organizer Sandy Snickles.
“And it’s declining at a point where it’s just not sustainable, we’re going to lose the species unless we do something.”
The organization began in 2017 as a Facebook group for those interested in preserving turtles, but soon blossomed into a dedicated team of 18 official organization members.
Four members have received protection and recovery permits from the Ministry of Natural Resources, which allows them to handle, transport and capture turtles for the purpose of species preservation.
WTG is a branch-off organization of Rare, a charitable urban land trust and environmental research institute.
Snickles began her turtle preservation journey as part of Rare’s turtle program.
The WTG Facebook group is now 841 members strong and allows those interested to follow along and get involved in the organization’s initiatives.
WTG has two initiatives running currently: the nest cover and fishing line initiatives.
“Everyone on our team can identify a snapping turtle nest, verify if there’s eggs and then cover it with one of the nest covers,” said Snickles.
Each nest cover is 20 inches by 20 inches and is made using two-by-fours and mesh wire.
Each cover features a nine-inch hole in one of the side walls, which is pointed in the direction of the nearest body of water, allowing the hatchlings to find their way.
Previous designs saw four separate holes, one on each wall of the cover. However, this proved to be less effective due to the nature of new hatchlings.
“We had four exit holes so the turtles would hatch out and go in all different directions,” Snickles told the Advertiser.
“The turtles don’t innately go to water all the time. Sometimes they’ll go toward the highway or the roadway so we’ve redesigned it … and we point it [the opening] toward the water and we’ve had way better success.”
WTG’s latest initiative involves the construction of a fishing line collector. Each collector is made from PVC pipe and is mounted to a post in popular fishing spots.
Above each collector is a sign explaining the contraption’s usage and urging those fishing or simply taking a stroll to discard any fishing line to prevent the unnecessary harm or death of wildlife, including but not limited to turtles.
“This is our newest initiative and I’m very happy with the results that I’ve gotten so far,” said Snickles.
Aside from nest covers and line collection, WTG is not shy when it comes to challenging road developments and council initiatives.
“On Downey Road in Guelph … they tried to resurface a part of Downey Road and I stopped them,” said Snickles. “I said, ‘not unless you put in some tunnels for turtles.’ I asked for four and got two, and that’s okay.”
Snickles says local municipalities need to invest in more turtle friendly infrastructure.
“They have to consider that they need to put in mitigating measure for turtles on all future road work that bisects wetlands, it’s just common sense.”
Asked about threats to turtles locally, Snickles listed road mortality and habitat loss as the main culprits.
“Road mortality is number one, and habitat loss is number two,” she said. “And that’s only going to get worse … we’ve lost the Environmental Species Act with Bill 5 [and] that’s going to make things a lot worse.”
Turtles are what Snickles calls “a keystone species”, meaning they play an important role in the health of wetlands. And with human threats and a slow biological clock, turtles are disappearing faster than they can reproduce.
“It takes almost two decades for a snapping turtle to be able to reproduce and it takes about 15 years for a painted turtle to be able to reproduce,” Snickles told the Advertiser.
WTG does not fundraise for its initiatives, but building supplies, monetary donations and donations of time are all welcome and much appreciated, officials say.
To support WTG or to become involved, visit the Wellington Turtle Guardians Facebook Group.
