Ontario Nature Blog

Climate change poses a serious challenge to human society. The root cause is human actions. The global carbon balance has been shifted through the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, and removing natural ecosystems through urbanization and expansion of agricultural lands. While significant reductions of carbon emissions are essential to avoiding the most damaging effects ...

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Located on Pelee Island, Ontario Nature’s Stone Road Alvar Nature Reserve is part of a larger complex of conservation lands that are also owned by the Essex Region Conservation Authority and the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Its unique habitats support a diverse array of rare flora and fauna, such as Downy Wood Mint and Blue ...

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It’s October 2017. I’m in Vancouver, British Colombia for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) International’s General Assembly (GA). One forester colleague had warned me to get lots of sleep, drink water and do yoga in the weeks preceding the assembly. He warned it would be like running a marathon. That was an understatement. FSC holds a ...

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How does the destruction of precious habitat and the decimation of Ontario’s Conservation Authorities assist in our recovery from COVID-19? They don’t. Yet, in the omnibus budget measures bill (Bill 229, the Protect, Support and Recover From COVID-19 Act), the Government of Ontario seems to be proposing exactly that. As explained by the Canadian Environmental ...

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On September 28th, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada’s commitment to protect 25 percent of our lands and waters by 2025, and 30 percent by 2030. Here’s why these new targets matter and a look at progress to date:  The new targets are intended to drive an intergovernmental effort to address the interrelated crises of biodiversity loss, ecological degradation and climate change. Canada has signed onto the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature and joined the High Ambition ...

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