Did You Know Trees Can Help Reduce Cyanobacteria?
- Healthy riparian buffers rich in natural vegetation help limit water warming.
- Cyanobacteria grow less efficiently in cooler water conditions.
- Planting trees and shrubs—and adding vegetation along shorelines, rocks, and retaining walls near waterways—are simple, effective ways to improve water quality.
Why is it important to control cyanobacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae?
Because blue-green algae—and the toxins they produce—can pose serious risks to human health when present in high concentrations. These toxins may affect the liver (hepatotoxins), the nervous system (neurotoxins), and the skin or digestive system.
Across Canada and worldwide, studies have documented health issues linked to exposure—either through poorly treated drinking water or through recreational contact with contaminated water. In rare but severe cases, exposure has even led to fatalities, such as those reported in Brazil at a hemodialysis centre. Dogs (including cases in Lake Champlain, Vermont, and in Ontario) and livestock in Western Canada have also died after drinking water or contacting surface scum containing high levels of cyanobacteria toxins.
