To strengthen our knowledge on current environmental conditions in the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON)-South Bruce area, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is asking for participation in a new community questionnaire on American badgers and cougars in the area.

Results of the survey, which has been mailed to residents, will deliver foundational data to the NWMO’s ongoing biodiversity studies. 

Larger carnivores are essential for regulating and maintaining ecosystems by keeping down herbivore populations. Since the American badger and cougar are difficult-to-detect species, the NWMO relies on local knowledge, along with other available public data sources, to help design targeted studies.

“Every survey that we receive helps us learn about existing environmental conditions and contributes to decisions to protect biodiversity in the area,” said Katie Langdon, Assistant Scientist, Environmental Assessment at the NWMO. “This research is key to understanding how the implementation of the project will aim to improve existing conditions and mitigate any potential negative impacts—and we cannot complete it without the partnership of the community.”  

The environmental baseline program was co-designed with local communities, conservation authorities and experts through a series of workshops to ensure that the NWMO is monitoring what local residents consider important. All the data collected will be made publicly available for use by any interested individuals or organizations.

The NWMO will use this research as part of our ongoing environmental baseline monitoring program. The environmental baseline monitoring program encompasses environmental features such as surface water, shallow groundwater, air, soil, farm products, plants and animals, and their habitats around the potential repository site and the surrounding region. This work will contribute to the organization’s eventual impact assessment process, which we will enter once a single, preferred site for a deep geological repository is selected.

This initiative builds on three environmental research projects that the NWMO launched last year in the South Bruce area to enhance our understanding of ecosystems in the Saugeen watershed and support ongoing environmental protection efforts across the region.

Residents who would like to learn more and/or express interest in completing the questionnaire can email the NWMO at sbenvironment@nwmo.ca or visit the NWMO’s South Bruce office at 12B Clinton Street, Teeswater, ON.