© Lora Denis
As fireworks explode on December 31st flocks of wintering birds also explode into the air in panic. They become disoriented, bang into windows or trees, fly too high and too long wasting energy and warmth. Concern for birds and elk on the Bow River has caused Banff, Alberta to replace fireworks with low-altitude, low-noise pyrotechnic ...
Cedar, 2021 Youth Summit © Arlo W
The 2021 Youth Summit for Mother Earth connected over 100 youth across Ontario through a weekend-long event held online, providing a meaningful platform to engage youth across cultures to protect nature in the spirit and practice of reconciliation. As part of the Youth Summit, challenges planned by youth, for youth gave participants the chance to spend time ...
December 15, 2021–Jenna Cardoso
Climate Change•Indigenous Relations•Protected Places•Stewardship and restoration•Wetlands•Wild Species
James Bay peatlands © Ray Ford
Ontario’s peatlands store the most carbon in the country – more than all the other natural ecosystems in Ontario combined – making these terrestrial wetland ecosystems an essential nature-based climate solution. Yet, only 10% of peatlands are protected in Canada. What Are Peatlands? Peatlands are wetlands such as bogs and fens. Peat is created in ...
December 9, 2021–Graeme Smith
Boreal Forest•Climate Change•Habitat•Land-use planning•Wild Species
On the heels of the recent 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) and Canada’s commitments to natural climate solutions and ending deforestation, it is imperative to take a critical look at Canada’s current emissions and the ways in which they’re counted. A new report by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Nature Canada, Environmental Defence ...
December 2, 2021–Anne Bell
Habitat•Land-use planning•Species at Risk•Stewardship and restoration
Blanding's turtle, threatened © David Allen CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The Auditor General of Ontario’s report, Protecting and Recovering Species at Risk, is not reading for the faint of heart. Released on November 22, 2021 the audit sets out in excruciating detail the Government of Ontario’s abject failure to exercise its duty to protect the province’s most vulnerable plants and animals. The review spans the ...
Laurel Creek Conservation Area © Carl Hiebert / Grand River Conservation Authority