Ontario Nature Blog

The Lake Simcoe Protection Plan is now up for its required 10-year review. The question is whether the provincial government will take this opportunity to strengthen or weaken the plan – or do anything at all. The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks has not revealed its intentions. Rather than proposing specific amendments for consideration, ...

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Designated as internationally important under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Minesing Wetlands are one of the largest and most diverse in southern Ontario.

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Stratford is one of the many communities across Ontario struggling with the unwelcome imposition of a Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) to fast-track development. In Stratford’s case, the MZO is to make way for a glass factory on 175 acres of prime farmland at the edge of the city. Issued by the Minister of Municipal Affairs ...

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When Ontario’s Endangered Species Act (ESA) was brought into force in 2007, the Ministry of Natural Resources granted a one-year exemption to the forestry industry on the premise that industry needed time to develop a compliance framework. Since then, the forestry industry has claimed that the provincial Crown Forest Sustainability Act (CFSA), under which it ...

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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:  Marked on the map above are natural areas in Ontario that call out for protection. Click each point on the map to learn more about these ...

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