Add your voice to the David Suzuki Foundation‘s initiative to tell Ontario that it’s time to take caribou survival serious.

Ontario and Canada have been working to create a conservation agreement, defined under the federal Species at Risk Act as a voluntary agreement “to benefit a species at risk or enhance its survival in the wild.”

In the framework, Ontario continues to pat its own shoulders about its so-called “robust provincial framework that includes laws, policies and processes to protect and recover caribou and their habitat in Ontario.”

It doesn’t mention that the forest industry has been exempted from the Endangered Species Act, that the insurance plan to protect caribou outlined in the Caribou Conservation Plan has never been implemented and that the Range Management Policy, in place since 2014, has led to ongoing caribou declines.

Science has been available since 2008 that outlines a risk-based approach to caribou management by applying disturbance thresholds. The 2012 federal recovery strategy required provinces to apply it to every caribou range, but Ontario has failed to do so.

The framework for the conservation agreement as presented will pave the way for more business-as-usual forestry operations in the province. It must not be finalized unless it is significantly improved.

Please take a moment to let the provincial and federal governments know that funnelling money into status quo operations that will continue to fragment caribou habitat flies in the face of commitments to halt and reverse nature loss.

Add your voice.

On February 28, 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report on climate “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.” It’s a lot to take in, so Jodi Stark, Public Engagement Specialist for Climate Solutions, breaks down what it means in an article on the David Suzuki Foundation’s website.

An urban forest management plan is a massive document which outlines a city’s strategy for both maintaining and improving its urban forest. Although important information like tree canopy targets, biodiversity goals and tree by-laws can be found within their pages, locating the information can be difficult if you don’t know what to look for.

Register for one of Nature Canada’s webinars to learn what to look for in these documents and how they can be used by your community to bring back biodiversity and much needed habitat to your region. The webinar will also cover information on the federal government’s 2 Billion Trees program so you can ensure your city is taking advantage of available funding!

Register for the March 22 webinar

Register for the March 23 webinar

Whether you feed birds throughout the winter or year round, it’s important to practice good bird feeder and bath hygiene.

Dirty feeders and baths not only expose birds to potential toxic molds and bacteria, they can also spread diseases and viruses that are harmful to bird and human health.

The Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre has produced this great article on Bird Bath and Feeder Care.

Plastic remains in our environment for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, damaging our society, the environment and the economy. The lifetime cost of plastic produced in 2019 alone will be US$3.7 trillion, more than the GDP of India. Learn more and sign the petition.

Sign the WWF’s petition.

Did you know? Red foxes are found in all of Canada’s provinces and territories, making them one of the most widespread mammals in the country. Read more in the Nature Canada article.

Bird photography can seem daunting at first. How do you “gain an audience with birds” and capture that close up shot? In this article, award-winning photographer Melissa Groo shares four professional strategies she uses to get great photos, even in everyday settings like the comfort of her own backyard.

Read the full story.

Reduce your carbon footprint through switching to clean energy sources, changing the way you travel, and reducing your consumption by recycling and reusing everything! The WWF presents five changes you can make. Read more on the WWF’s web page.

How do birds cope with cold winter temperatures? How do they find food in the snow, and how do they make it through long, freezing nights? Check out some of their secrets in this article from Living Bird magazine.

This is a big deal: Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is tasked with establishing 10 new National Parks and 10 new National Marine Conservation areas over the next five years by working with First Nations and the provinces/territories, and 15 new National Urban Parks by 2030 (the 7910 hectare Rouge National Urban Park in Toronto that protects important tracts of highly endangered Carolinian ecosystems is the first example of this new designation).

Currently there are 47 national parks, 5 national marine conservation areas, and 1 national urban park in Canada.

Of any major protected area designation in Canada, National Park units are generally the largest (which is key to sustain the long-term ecological integrity of their ecosystems) with the highest protection standards and the greatest investment in conservation resources.

The federal government is also aiming to expand/create 22 National Wildlife Areas across Canada by 2030 (some current examples this type of designation include Vaseux Lake-Bighorn and Widgeon Slough in BC; Last Mountain Lake in Saskatchewan; and Long Point in Ontario).

These federal protected areas are part of the federal government’s plan to ensure the protection of 25% by 2025 and 30% by 2030 of the land and marine areas in Canada (currently 12% of Canada’s land area is protected and 14% of the marine waters have different levels of protection).

However, to reach these targets, most protected areas must be established by the provinces (which will generally be Provincial Parks and Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, such as Provincial Conservancies in BC), since even the establishment of all the aforementioned federal protected areas designations (which still need provincial buy-in) will come up far short in meeting Canada’s protected areas targets.

That is, the key stumbling block to expanding the protected areas system in Canada are the provinces (with the exception of Quebec, whose commitments match and in some ways exceed those of the federal government) who generally have not embraced the federal protected areas targets and agenda nor have they provided their share of key funding to make it happen.

The federal government is currently using “carrots” ie. federal funding, to try to help foster provincial buy-in to expand protected areas – but the time is coming that the provinces need to be strong-armed to hurry up now after years of being conservation laggards and to get on board the national and international conservation momentum, as the protection of nature is a key remedy to the extinction and climate crises that none of us will escape.

We will be playing an important role in that effort to bear-down pressure on the provinces shortly, and will need YOUR help! Watch for upcoming calls to action!

Read the full story on RMOToday.com.