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About Muskoka
Muskoka has a strong tradition of offering a high quality of life, from the times when the sick sought refuge from all kinds of illness in Muskoka through the heyday of the steamship era and on to the present. Today, a vibrant, culturally rich permanent population, a socially-involved seasonal population and a growing number of temporary visitors and tourists share this sensitive landscape. Many people look to Muskoka for personal recreation, spiritual renewal, unique social activity and as a family retreat. Many factors affect the quality of life of Muskoka's stakeholders. Physical, psychological and spiritual well-being, physical and social belonging, and the potential to reach full potential as a human being all effect a person's quality of life (Quality of Life Research Unit, undated). Muskoka characteristics contributing to quality of life might include peace and quiet, air quality, biodiversity, and an active social atmosphere. Whereas all of these factors and many others are very important, the quality of the area's surface water is perhaps the most important factor of all, because nearly all aspects of life in Muskoka are related to it. Click here to find out more about government policy governing development and the protection of Muskoka's lakes and waterways.The Value of Place
A place is valuable when it is unique. A place may be valuable if it has a unique history that many people identify with. Or, it may be valuable if there is a unique physical feature, like a rare stand of trees or habitat for an endangered species. A place may be very valuable to a family or group of friends if they have special personal memories of that place.The place we call Muskoka is unique, and valuable, thanks to our magnificent water bodies, and the rich ecosystems they support. In fact, our economic, cultural and social well-being rest on the quality of our water. This is why the MLA has decided to take a leading role in protecting and improving the quality of Muskoka's waters.
"A single drop of water in the uplands of a watershed may appear and reappear as cloud, precipitation, surface water in creek and river, lake and pond or groundwater; it can participate in plant and animal metabolism, transpiration, condensation, decomposition, combustion, respiration and evaporation. This same drop of water may appear in considerations of climate and microclimate, water supply, flood, drought and erosion control, industry, commerce, agriculture, forestry, recreation, scenic beauty, in cloud, snow, stream, river and sea. We conclude that nature is a single interacting system and that changes to any part will affect the operation of the whole." - Ian McHarg. Design with Nature, 1967.
