FRIENDS OF SECOND MARSH (Friends) is a not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to encouraging the protection and appreciation of Second Marsh, other Great Lakes wetlands, our natural heritage system, and to promoting a healthy environment through education, communication, developing partnerships and fostering connections with all sectors of the community (Charitable Number 89793 2091 RR 0001).

For the past thirty-five years, Friends (formerly the Second Marsh Defense Association, credited with protecting Second Marsh from harbour development) has provided leadership in the community-based movement to secure a future for this unique wetland.

Today, this leadership is actively engaged in going forward with a new focus - building the Great Lakes Wetlands Centre at Second Marsh.

Friends success has been consistently demonstrated through leadership and responsibility in carrying out numerous projects and programs throughout the years. It is this success that led to Friends being given responsibility for the delivery of all educational and stewardship programs through the City of Oshawa's Second Marsh Management Model. This model is overseen by a management committee and includes representatives from the City of Oshawa, Environment Canada, the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ducks Unlimited, the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority and Friends.

Friends Vision

To lead the protection and appreciation of Second Marsh and to promote the conservation of other Great Lakes wetlands and a healthy environment using Second Marsh as a premier example.

Friends is dedicated to:

• The development and delivery of high quality educational programs about Second Marsh, Great Lakes wetlands and the environment,

• The development of a state of the art Great Lakes Wetlands Centre,

• Engaging and involving all sectors of the community, in particular developing partnerships with the business community, for the delivery of projects and programs, and in the development of the Wetlands Centre,

• Developing partnerships with universities, research institutions and corporations to promote wetland and environmental research.

In addition to our various sponsors and partners that are recognized throughout the website, Friends of Second Marsh would like to extend a special thank-you to our major sponsors, who provide operational and program funding.

Friends of Second Marsh would like to thank EDS for the development of this site, the past maintenance, and for their work in redesigning the site. We also want to acknowledge Jeffery Rank and Durham College’s Business Information Systems Program who helped with the architecture of this site.

We are very grateful to Thomas Hu and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology for currently hosting the site. Updates and maintenance of the site have been carried out by Karen Arbour.