This presentation was to the Kashwakamak Lake Association at the Annual General Meeting on July 9, 2011. The proposal was accepted to being the first stage of the lake sustainability plan.
"The Statue Builders of Easter Island In 1722, western ships first anchored off this remote South Pacific island. Dutch Admiral Jacob Roggeveen recorded what he found in a journal. He saw islanders bowing down and worshipping gigantic stone figures called moai. Hundreds of look-alike moai-some as tall as 10 meters (32 feet) and weighing 81 metric tons (89 tons) - faced inland, as if watching the island's people. Because the island was treeless and without any material to make sturdy ropes, the admiral couldn't imagine how the statues were erected onto their stone platforms. About fifty years later, Captin Cook landed on Easter Island and found far fewer people - most of them hungry - and many of the moai toppled. By the early twentieth century, only 111 native Easter Islanders survived. Archaeologists have tried to piece together what happened. They believe the island was uninhabited until about 40 A.D., when Polynesians landed in dugout canoes. The settlers brought seeds to plant, chickens for eggs, and rats for meat. From studying old pollen grains, scientists know that when the Polynesians arrived, the lowlands were covered with huge palm forests. It was a tropical paradise. People fished in the sea, harvested eggs from seabird colonies, cut trees, and grew crops. They carved thier moai from the walls of an extinct valcano and used tree trunks to roll the statues around the island. By 1550 A.D. there were over 10,000 people on Easter Island and over 900 Moai. Soon, most of the seabirds became extinct - no more bird eggs to eat - and the forests were gone. The introduced rats loved eating palm nuts, so the trees did not reseed after logging. Without trees to hold the topsoil, much of it washed into the sea and the crops began to fail. Without trees, people could not build boats to fish offshore. They became hungry, warred among themselves, and toppled thier moai. The populations declined sharply and some islanders resorted to cannibalism. Then slave ships arrived and kidnapped many of the survivors. Without trees, people could not build boats to escape their lost, wasted paradise. " Trash Action by Ann Love, 2006, p6-7
"The Statue Builders of Easter Island In 1722, western ships first anchored off this remote South Pacific island. Dutch Admiral Jacob Roggeveen recorded what he found in a journal. He saw islanders bowing down and worshipping gigantic stone figures called moai. Hundreds of look-alike moai-some as tall as 10 meters (32 feet) and weighing 81 metric tons (89 tons) - faced inland, as if watching the island's people. Because the island was treeless and without any material to make sturdy ropes, the admiral couldn't imagine how the statues were erected onto their stone platforms. About fifty years later, Captin Cook landed on Easter Island and found far fewer people - most of them hungry - and many of the moai toppled. By the early twentieth century, only 111 native Easter Islanders survived. Archaeologists have tried to piece together what happened. They believe the island was uninhabited until about 40 A.D., when Polynesians landed in dugout canoes. The settlers brought seeds to plant, chickens for eggs, and rats for meat. From studying old pollen grains, scientists know that when the Polynesians arrived, the lowlands were covered with huge palm forests. It was a tropical paradise. People fished in the sea, harvested eggs from seabird colonies, cut trees, and grew crops. They carved thier moai from the walls of an extinct valcano and used tree trunks to roll the statues around the island. By 1550 A.D. there were over 10,000 people on Easter Island and over 900 Moai. Soon, most of the seabirds became extinct - no more bird eggs to eat - and the forests were gone. The introduced rats loved eating palm nuts, so the trees did not reseed after logging. Without trees to hold the topsoil, much of it washed into the sea and the crops began to fail. Without trees, people could not build boats to fish offshore. They became hungry, warred among themselves, and toppled thier moai. The populations declined sharply and some islanders resorted to cannibalism. Then slave ships arrived and kidnapped many of the survivors. Without trees, people could not build boats to escape their lost, wasted paradise. " Trash Action by Ann Love, 2006, p6-7
From www.lakeplan.com North America is endowed with many lakes, and lake-based tourism has been at the root of the economic growth and cottage enjoyment for many in-land lake communities. People are attracted to the clear waters, pristine shorelines, the natural environment, wildlife, recreational opportunities and social values derived from shoreline living, which has drawn many tourists and cottagers to set-up seasonal and permanent residency in these areas. Unfortunately, the increasing desire for development in cottage country has exuded pressures on a finite resource base. Our lakes are now ringed with residential and commercial development, and the very reason why people want to be on the lake could be in jeopardy. People are now realizing that lakes, like all ecosystems, have limits and that if a lake’s capacity is exceeded because of overdevelopment, the combined effects of pollutants and other pressures will cause a degraded environment from both an ecological and aesthetic point of view. The value of freshwater lakes goes beyond their economic and social importance. These systems maintain the health of human populations and ecological communities throughout the world. Generally, most people are becoming more knowledgeable and concerned about the environment, and through this awareness is a need for the public to feel that they are part of the solutions to environmental problems, as well as having a say in preventing new ones. Lakes have their own unique physical, biological, chemical and geographical landscape characteristics, which are reflected in local communities. The goal of lake planning is to identify, protect and restore the natural (chemical and biological), physical and social integrity of the lake’s ecosystem. Lake management is not so much about managing natural resources, as it is about managing the human activity that affects these resources.
Summarized from the Lake Planning Handbook Pg 10-11 (http://www.lakeplan.com/images/stories/lakeplan/Lake_Planning_Handbook.pdf) Promote discussion and action with all community members Identify and protect specific lake values Identify issues and impacts Set a future vision for the lake Set environmental and social targets Recommend stewardship actions Recommend land use policy Create a current inventory or snapshot of resources
Summarized from the Lake Planning Handbook Pg 11-12 (http://www.lakeplan.com/images/stories/lakeplan/Lake_Planning_Handbook.pdf) What are the benefits? Those associations involved in lake planning have initiated it for many different reasons. Some of the common benefits identified by these communities include: √ Identifies and vocalizes common values and concerns – a unified ‘community voice’ can be more effective than a mixture of smaller voices. √ Brings lake inhabitants together as a community – through workshops, surveys, meetings and planned actions, people will have a chance to work together and discover common values and interests… and become aware of different ones too! √ Engages and represents people beyond association members – this is an essential ingredient of a successful community plan. The process must provide opportunities for everyone (residents, businesses, non-association members, and even casual and day users) in the community to participate, if they wish to become involved. √ Identifies and develops partnerships – new partnerships and opportunities are created through discussions and the discovery of common values and concerns. √ Fills an information gap by synthesizing existing information (e.g. history, water quality) and context about the lake – there may be a lot of existing information regarding your lake and its community, and it is best to understand the ‘state of the lake’ based on a complete review of this existing information to identify gaps so that they can be filled to meet the priority needs. √ Engages people to think about the future – focusing people and discussion on what the lake should be in the future will help them to understand the actions that are required to ensure that the environment and the quality of life is maintained for future generations. √ Instils a sense of responsibility and accountability (which promotes stewardship) – responsibility and accountability is developed through awareness and a buy-in on the actions to be undertaken. The lake planning process requires committed people to initiate and run the process and to maintain the action plan. √ Engages and harmonizes multi-jurisdictions (e.g. municipalities, agencies, property owner associations) – there is no other process that brings multiple agencies to the lake community table, in a spirit of co-operation. √ Informs external agencies/organizations about the values and concerns of the lake community – can be used to shape by-laws, legislation, or judgements that may have an impact on the lake or the lake community. √ Builds awareness through communication and education – communication and education is the preferred approach for most lake concerns. √ Defines existing and future desired character – without a statement about what our future looks like, we have no common vision of where we are going. √ Provides a history of the lake community – to improve general awareness and to provide a legacy for future generations.