Ontario Nature Blog

In Ottawa, municipal politicians are backing a project that would build a multi-lane artery across a section of the city’s Greenbelt, fragmenting habitat and impacting the edge of a wetland complex known as Mer Bleue. Alternatives exist, but city officials favour this one due to a purportedly lower construction cost. The landowner is the federal ...

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The former mayor of Toronto, David Crombie, once gave me invaluable insight about how we view nature. He said, “We look at green spaces and nature as places with potential. Potential for housing, potential for strip malls, potential for highways – not as if they already have a purpose. We need to recognize they aren’t ...

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On April 1st, the Government of Ontario announced it would establish a working group to identify opportunities to protect and conserve more natural areas that would “enhance the province’s natural diversity and provide more recreational opportunities for people to enjoy the outdoors.” This was welcome news for conservation groups like ours. In January, we published ...

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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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If you have any doubt about the importance of the Greenbelt, take a moment to listen to the voices of Ontario Nature’s Youth Council in their new video. They clearly spell out the Greenbelt’s many benefits, including local food, clean water, climate resilience, wildlife habitat, jobs, financial security and more. Hearing from these young people, ...

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