Ontario Nature Blog

Turtles, often referred to as modern day dinosaurs, with their distinctive domed, bony shell, are easy to recognize. This unique armoured architecture provides turtles with protection from predators. However, despite their protective shells, seven of Ontario’s eight species of turtles are currently listed as species at-risk under the Ontario Endangered Species Act, 2007, and face ...

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I spent my summers catching frogs with my sister on a small lake in Seguin, Ontario. We did other things too – like swim to the jumping rock and canoe to the island for overnight camping adventures. In the winters we skiied on the lake, marvelling at the giant icicles that formed on the rock ...

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The provincial government is proposing a new approach to getting species off the Species at Risk in Ontario (SARO) list. And it’s not by addressing threats, preventing further declines or implementing recovery measures. Nothing that involves real, on-the-ground improvements. Rather, it would simply require basing species assessments on how our most vulnerable plants and animals ...

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The provincial government’s proposed omnibus bill makes Ontario a very worrisome place to be. Funding for flood mitigation across the province is disappearing and a critical tree-planting program will soon end. The Government of Ontario is proposing a drastic overhaul of Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA) through changes put forward in Schedule 5 of ...

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In February 2019, we sounded the alarm about the provincial government’s plans to amend the Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA). Well, their proposed amendments are in and it’s worse than we predicted. On April 18, 2019, Ontario’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) posted an overview of its proposed changes to Ontario’s ESA. These changes ...

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