Immersive Conservation Training Program: Algonquin Provincial Park Canoe Trip

A few highlights of the trip:

• Learn about the ethical theories of conservation, and deepen your own relationship with nature
• Learning how to identify old growth trees compared to new growth
• Identify and classify an endangered species of moth
• Participating in a citizen science project to track the movements of wolves in Ontario based on their scat
• Learning to catch, prepare, and eat our own fish
• Learning to excel at flat water canoeing techniques
• Learning to read and follow animal signs, tracks, and trails
• Learning to identify plants as well as how to harvest edible plants
• Sharing our findings with a national environmental non-profit to help best continue the thriving of Algonquin
• Having a lot of fun while making lifelong friends! This is a canoe trip, not a high school biology class. Having fun is always at the forefront. Everything we learn and do is woven into the adventure of the canoe trip. You won't find any textbooks here!

Canoe tripping experience necessary: None. This trip is slow paced and suitable for all experience levels!

Program Details

Dates: July 26 - August 2 (8 days)

Ages:​ 12-15 (born 2010-2013) & 16-18 (born 2007-2009), co-ed (these two age groups run as parallel but separate trips)

Group size: 4 to 12 participants, and 2 to 4 leaders

Ratio: 1:6 leaders to participants, or better

Program cost: $1,640

Financial support: Sliding scale options of up to 50% reduced cost for families who otherwise could not afford to attend (payment and the sliding scale are completed at the end of the enrollment process)

​Drop Off and Pick Up Information

Drop off: Saturday July 26 between 10:00am-10:30am at the Smoke Lake Parking lot in Algonquin Provincial Park

Pick up: Saturday August 2 between 4:00pm-4:30pm at the same location as the drop-off

Address: Smoke Lake Access Point (#6), Highway 60 at km, 14 1 (south, Unorganized South Nipissing District, ON P0A 1E0

The Immersive Conservation Training (ICT) program is one-of-a-kind, part critical reflection, part naturalist skills, and part citizen science training. Dive deep into the world of conservation, investigating the theories, history, science, tools, and practices of wilderness and wildlife preservation. The best part? Do all of this while on an 8-day adventurous canoe trip in the heart of some of our province's most significant wild places! Through immersing ourselves into the wilderness we engage directly with the natural world, practicing the skills we're learning and gaining a new perspective on our relationship with nature.

A true experience of the head, the hands, and the heart, ICT program participants leave the trip with the knowledge and abilities to practice conservation. Perhaps more significantly, they also leave with a deeper understanding of the world and their place in it, having engaged in a transformative experience with a community of their peers which will forever change their perspective on – and relationship with – our natural world.

On the final night of the trip, we host a grand dinner and ceremony, recognizing and celebrating the journey that they've been on together. Following the trip, all participants will receive a certificate, marking their new status as Immersive Conservationists.

As Ontario's first and most famous Provincial Park, Algonquin holds a central role in the story of conservation in Canada, both past and present. This makes the park an ideal place to immerse into the natural world and contend with its conservation. As the only park in the province in which logging is still permitted, the layers and complexity of Algonquin run deep.

Home to a unique bioregion due to its location right on the edge of both the northern boreal forest and the southern Carolinian forests, Algonquin is ecologically unique, with many plant, animal, and bird species thriving together in a way not seen elsewhere. Larger in size than numerous European countries, Algonquin presents a lifetime of lakes, forests, and rivers to discover.

During the trip, we will be looking to identify old growth trees and cataloguing our findings. We will also be attempting to identify and classify an endangered species of moth. Following the trip, all of our findings will be shared with national environmental non-profit organizations with whom we partner. They will use our findings in their efforts to conserve and preserve Algonquin for generations to come. This unique opportunity gives youth the chance to learn about the natural world and conservation, practice new skills, and apply their abilities toward making a positive impact on the world, all while on a fun and adventurous canoe trip.

Going beyond social media campaigns and online activism, the Immersive Conservation Training program allows young people to form a real, personal relationship with a beautiful and complex landscape while also making an immediate and positive difference toward its thriving.