2008 Watershed Report Card
How we use the land can impact the health of our ecosystem, including our rivers and lakes. In urban areas, water can run across hard, impervious surfaces such as roads, parking lots and rooftops, and carry automotive fluids, pesticides and other pollutants directly into rivers and lakes. In agricultural areas, water can also run across surfaces and carry animal wastes and other agricultural runoff into surrounding surface waters. 
Forests and other naturally vegetated areas help improve water quality by reducing erosion and filtering the water that passes through them. The significant forests in our watershed are indicated on the map in black.
Forests also provide important habitat for native species of plants and animals. Their quality and quantity can impact greatly on biodiversity and the ability of wildlife to thrive. Biodiversity is the ability of a system to support many different kinds of plants and animals.
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When considering forest cover, we looked at the amount of forested area and the amount of interior forest. Interior forest is the portion of forest remaining after a 100 metre border has been subtracted from any edge or defined break in the forest.
Small, fragmented forests have smaller interiors. As a result, they support fewer sensitive species of plants and animals than larger, continuous forests.
We based the grades on both the amount of total forest cover and the amount of interior forest. For the scope of this report card, however, we did not consider forest health, including invasive species and forest quality.
Subwatershed grades for forest cover and forest interior mainly ranged from “C” to “A,” with only the Scugog River subwatershed receiving a “D.”
Many subwatersheds have good forest cover, but the forests are often fragmented with little or no interior forest and cannot be classified as good habitat for sensitive wildlife species. As we look into the future, it is important to maintain large tracts of forest to encourage and protect healthy ecosystems.