The take-home message from the 2012 Ontario Wetland Conference, hosted by Ontario Nature and partners, is: Strong policy, good science and dynamic communication strategies will improve the state of Ontario’s wetlands. And yes, despite the loss of more than 70 percent of southern Ontario’s wetlands in the last 150 years, there’s hope.
Will Ontario make good on its promise to stop the losses of our native wildlife and sensitive habitats?
By James Paterson
Garter snake CREDIT: Tim Zurowski
As discussed in an earlier post on this blog, we get lots of questions from people asking for advice about their day-to-day encounters with nature. I joined Ontario Nature this summer and am thoroughly enjoying fielding some of those queries.
When Ontario Nature’s staff ecologist, John Urquhart, asked if I (the new guy) could spare a couple days out of the office to help with some field work at our Lost Bay Nature Reserve, I didn’t hesitate. John’s “second office” is a quiet lakeside cabin in eastern Ontario with no electricity or running water, a true escape to nature. We figured we’d undertake a turtle inventory and some plant identification in the reserve as part of Ontario Nature’s At-Risk Species Inventory and Habitat Assessment. We were especially focused on finding northern map turtles, a species at risk in Ontario.
In these last weeks leading up to the provincial election, a coalition of Ontario-based environmental organizations (www.greenprosperity.ca), which includes Ontario Nature, submitted a series of questions to the Liberal party, the Progressive Conservative party, the NDP and the Green party.
By Ron Reid
After my recent article in ON Nature about the cooperation between Ontario cattlemen and conservationists to save the bobolink, readers contacted me to find out if there was a way of actually locating the nests in hay/grass fields. Some had watched their hayfields for years, and had always seen bobolinks, but never been able to find the nests of this rare species. The farmers wondered if they would need to change how they cultivate an entire crop if birds are believed to be nesting a particular section of their fields.
People often ask Ontario Nature staff for advice about how to deal with situations that they encounter in nature. Whether putting out a bird feeder, planting native flowers or grasses, or choosing not to cut down the trees on your property, people are on the front lines of local conservation efforts more often than you might realize.
We’ve posted a picture taken of a mock funeral for caribou organized by Greenpeace in protest of MNR’s proposal that industries be exempted from regulations under the Endangered Species Act.
Caribou can’t vote. Nor can they take part in the consultations the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) is holding this week to solicit feedback concerning the animal’s survival.
Question: How is it that the Ontario government can include snapping turtles on the provincial endangered species list while at the same time allowing — and even encouraging – the hunting of these long-lived reptiles?
Staff ecologist John Urquhart wondered this too, and put the issue to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) last December. The response, which we received earlier this week, raises tough questions about MNR’s commitment to species protection.
Even though I work at a conservation organization, I don’t get out much during the work week. It is not for a lack of desire – I’ve always loved nature. But mine is predominantly a desk job and I am more apt to be spreading news about the adventures of our conservation staff, than going on those adventures myself. Such is normally my plight.