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The Blue Lakes Program

An Ecolabel of Stewardship Excellence

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bluelakes@thelandbetween.ca
(705) 457-4838

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  • The Blue Lakes Forum
    • The Lake
    • The Docks
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  • Join the Forum

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bluelakes@thelandbetween.ca
(705) 457-4838

  • Home
  • About
    • What is Blue Lakes?
    • Program Benefits & Risk Reduction
    • BL Charter / Performance Areas
      • Performance Areas
        • Shoreline Health
        • Citizen Science Monitoring
        • Nutrient and Input Management
        • Habitat Management, Conservation and Improvement
        • Invasive Species Management
        • The Blue Lakes Database
      • Blue Lakes Score Card
    • Is the Program Right for You?
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • The Land Between Region – Cottage Country
    • The Charities – Label Administration
    • Project Impact Assessment
    • How to Enroll
  • Lake Stewardship
    • Lake Health Basics
    • Shoreline Health
    • Fish and Fish Habitat
    • Guides and Resources
  • Lake-based Research
    • Conservation and Human Behaviour
    • Connecting with Nature
    • Nature and Human Health
    • Lakes and Economic Health
    • Shoreline Ecology
    • Algae, Benthics, Zooplankon
    • Nutrients and Water Chemistry (Oxygen, Phosphorous, Calcium)
    • Project Impact Assessment
  • Workshops & Activities
    • Blue Lakes Programs and Workshops
      • A Turtle-y Cool Workshop
      • Bugs in the Mud
      • Good Birding Mornings
      • Land Between Wildlife Bingo
      • The ABCs of the Land Between Presentation
      • Design Your Own Shoreland Garden
    • Citizen Science Monitoring
      • Water Quality and Benthics Monitoring
      • Birds, Butterflies, Reptiles, and Wildlife Monitoring
    • Site Visits
      • The Natural Edge
  • Blue Lakes Blog
  • Blue Lakes Database
  • Home
  • About
    • What is Blue Lakes?
    • Program Benefits & Risk Reduction
    • BL Charter / Performance Areas
      • Performance Areas
        • Shoreline Health
        • Citizen Science Monitoring
        • Nutrient and Input Management
        • Habitat Management, Conservation and Improvement
        • Invasive Species Management
        • The Blue Lakes Database
      • Blue Lakes Score Card
    • Is the Program Right for You?
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • The Land Between Region – Cottage Country
    • The Charities – Label Administration
    • Project Impact Assessment
    • How to Enroll
  • Lake Stewardship
    • Lake Health Basics
    • Shoreline Health
    • Fish and Fish Habitat
    • Guides and Resources
  • Lake-based Research
    • Conservation and Human Behaviour
    • Connecting with Nature
    • Nature and Human Health
    • Lakes and Economic Health
    • Shoreline Ecology
    • Algae, Benthics, Zooplankon
    • Nutrients and Water Chemistry (Oxygen, Phosphorous, Calcium)
    • Project Impact Assessment
  • Workshops & Activities
    • Blue Lakes Programs and Workshops
      • A Turtle-y Cool Workshop
      • Bugs in the Mud
      • Good Birding Mornings
      • Land Between Wildlife Bingo
      • The ABCs of the Land Between Presentation
      • Design Your Own Shoreland Garden
    • Citizen Science Monitoring
      • Water Quality and Benthics Monitoring
      • Birds, Butterflies, Reptiles, and Wildlife Monitoring
    • Site Visits
      • The Natural Edge
  • Blue Lakes Blog
  • Blue Lakes Database

About

Download the Blue Lake Brochure (link) 

The Blue Lakes ecolabel is a program that provides a template for action and education. It is a label and a portfolio of tools, resources, and activities that can be tailored to your lake’s needs. For instance, the program provides educational opportunities, forums, and funding for naturalization and lake-wide projects to improve lake health. The program also provides access to a comprehensive database and app that tracks lake health. 

An ecolabel is a voluntary method of environmental certification that recognizes the adoption of stewardship principles or practices. Ecolabels are found around the world. A similar label is the Blue Flag program that certifies beaches and marinas across the globe (www.blueflag.global) 

Blue Lakes is not a political initiative, but rather a community of practice. 

The label and program is delivered by third party charities of The Land Between and Watersheds Canada to ensure impartiality, and fairness while providing start-up services, resources and support. 

The Blue Lake is a voluntary commitment to achieve and advance stewardship goals, with no minimum threshold of participation. 

The Blue Lakes Charter (stewardship goals) focuses on six areas of performance: 

1. Shoreland health 

2. Citizen Science Monitoring 

3. Nutrient and Input Management

4. Communications and Social Outreach 

5. Habitat Management 

6. Invasive Species Management

Blue Lake committee members can include numerous participants, from landowners to businesses to local governments. An individual can become a Blue Lakes participant, but a group of people (lake association) is ideal.

The process for becoming a Blue Lake includes: collecting a group of participants that become a committee responsible for program delivery and assessment, filling out a basic application, agreeing to the Blue Lakes charter (goals/code of conduct), and to providing data to the Blue Lakes database. Once these tasks are completed, you can contact a representative at The Land Between to begin your journey.

Program participants will receive a self assessment scorecard to track all of their accomplishments and success each year. This is submitted annually to maintain the label. This adds a fun little twist for community members to celebrate their success and see where they rank on the Blue Lakes scoreboard year after year! 

In addition to self assessments, and in order to maintain quality, the program completes audits to ensure participants are actively working towards stewardship practices. Success will be measured by a group’s or individual’s ability to improve and advance each year.

The Blue Lakes Program also offers ways to learn, network and grow. Get your passport to Blue Lakes events, workshops, webinars and other resources. 

Blue-Lakes-Summer-OffersDownload
Blue-Lakes-PresentationDownload

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact: 

The Land Between Charity, Blue Lakes Program Department 

Box 1368 , Haliburton, ON, K0M 1S0

info@thelandbetween.ca

705-457-1222

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We respectfully acknowledge that The Land Between is located within Williams Treaty 20 Mississauga Anishinaabeg territory and Treaty 61 Robinson-Huron treaty territory, in the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg. The Land Between respectfully acknowledges that these First Nations are the stewards and caretakers of these lands and waters in perpetuity and that they continue to maintain this responsibility to ensure their health and integrity for generations to come. 

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