Paul Grinnell's Colleagues at Friends of the Muskoka Watershed
Paul Grinnell's Contact Details
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Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Friends of the Muskoka Watershed
Paul Grinnell's Company Details
Friends of the Muskoka Watershed (FMW) is launching Canada's first non-industrial wood ash (NIWA) recycling program designed to solve the calcium decline problem in Muskoka's forests and lakes.In the first two years of study, five to ten tonnes of ash will be spread in test plots located in sugar bushes in Muskoka. (Sugar maple trees are particularly prone to calcium loss and tend to respond very quickly when calcium levels are restored). Graduate students and research scientists will monitor the sites, studying the impact of the ash on tree growth, bird populations, water quality, and a wide range of other factors. In the final year of the study, FMW aims to have 1,000 Muskoka residents share up to 100 tonnes of ash (believed to be 1/3 of the annual wood ash production in the District). The ultimate goal is to have a province-wide ash collection system, sufficient to supply hundreds of tonnes of ash every year.Why? Because a century of acid rain and historically poor logging practices have flushed calcium from the soil and from the lakes and rivers. Most of Muskoka's lakes have lost 25% to 50% of the calcium they need. Even though acid rain has largely stopped, and forestry practices have improved, without intervention it will take centuries for calcium levels to rebound.All life needs calcium. In Muskoka, forests are about 2% calcium by weight, and when calcium isn't available, the trees and other forest plants can't grow as quickly or efficiently. Many aquatic creatures are even more dependent on calcium. When trees aren't growing as quickly, they can't capture carbon as efficiently, impacting their ability to help fight climate change.Wood ash is about 1/3 calcium by weight, and also contains many other key nutrients. Much of it is absorbed into the soil and quickly taken up by trees and other plants. What isn't absorbed by the plants will make its way into the lakes.