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Conservation updates for member groups. Please pass this newsletter on to other members of your club.

Ontario Nature grants permission for use of the information below in member group newsletters. Please credit either Ontario Nature or the member group.

If you are interested in joining Ontario Nature, which includes a subscription to award winning ON Nature magazine, visit www.ontarionature.org

News from Ontario Nature

Another Successful Youth Summit!

Submitted by Sarah Hedges, Ontario Nature
On the weekend of September 23-25, 80 young people from across the province joined Ontario Nature and other youth mentors for the 2011 Youth Summit for Biodiversity & Sustainable Living. The event was held at the YMCA Cedar Glen just north of Toronto, and included workshops on Ontario's species at risk, green transportation, and sustainable food & agriculture. Participants also learned how to make their own eco-friendly cosmetics and fly fishing lures. A fun and educational time was had by all! The Ontario Nature Youth Council has already begun planning for next year's Summit. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

Thank You to Our Youth Summit Sponsors!

Submitted by Sarah Hedges, Ontario Nature
We'd like to extend our warmest "thanks" to everyone who helped make this year's Youth Summit for Biodiversity & Sustainable Living such a wonderful success! In particular, we'd like to thank those groups and individuals who sponsored one or more youth to attend the Summit: Toronto Field Naturalists, Thunder Bay Field Naturalists, Lambton Wildlife Inc., West Humber Field Naturalists, Orillia Naturalists Club, Guelph Field Naturalists, Muskoka Field Naturalists, Friends of McGregor Point Park, Thunder Bay District Stewardship Council, Bethany Armstrong, Joan Rosebush and John Ambrose.  

2011 Greeting Cards Now Available

Submitted by Lisa Richardson, Ontario Nature
The 2011 greeting cards, featuring the Common redpoll, are now available. The cost for Ontario Nature member clubs is $5.50/package HST (10 cards/package). If you would like to place an order, please contact Sonia Croasdaile at soniac@ontarionature.org or 1-800-440-2366 ext. 224.

Ontario Nature Office Moving

Submitted by Lisa Richardson, Ontario Nature
Ontario Nature's tenure at 366 Adelaide St. West is coming to an end. This fall our head office will be moving around the corner to 214 King Street West. The move is scheduled to take place November 24. Staff telephone, fax, and email contacts will remain the same.

Tree Planting Along the Don River

Submitted by Lisa Richardson, Ontario Nature
The final Nature Guardians event of 2011 wrapped up on October 1 with a tree planting in Windfields Park in Toronto. Seventy-five volunteers from IBM and the YMCA Newcomer Youth Leadership Development program joined Ontario Nature, Friends of the Don East and the City of Toronto to plant 250 native saplings in this popular park. The species planted include silver & sugar maple, alleghany serviceberry, trembling aspen, white pine, sumac and dogwood. This event was created for IBM in thanks for their generous donation to the Nature Guardians program - we look forward to hosting more events with them in the coming year.

Fall, 2011 Regional Meetings

Submitted by Lisa Richardson & Barb MacKenzie-Wynia, Ontario Nature
The Fall, 2011 session of regional meetings is just around the corner. These twice-yearly gatherings are a great way for you to connect with other Nature Network members in your region and share the great work that your group has been doing throughout the year. For a full list of all the spring, 2011 regional meetings, visit www.ontarionature.org/discover/member_groups/
regional_meetings.php. We hope to see you there!

News from the Nature Network

Social Marketing for the Conservation Crowd: Pledges, Prompts & Pilot Projects Workshop, October 20

Submitted by Bronwen Buck, Carolinian Canada Coalition 
Are you interested in stewarding a smarter public to make better choices? If so, this workshop on October 20 is for you. We'll explore social marketing pilot projects to foster good stewardship behaviour covering horticulture, reptile persecution, local food and CCC's Biodiversity Awareness Trail. Discussion will focus on how we can develop cohesive and effective communication across the zone for biodiversity & species-at-risk conservation. For more information, contact woodland@carolinian.org.  

Advocate for Nature

As an Advocate for Nature, you will receive important conservation action alerts by e-mail when your help is urgently needed. Each alert includes a summary of an environmental issue and a recommended action. Ontario Nature has recently issued alerts on the Endangered Species Act, reforming the Mining Act and the Far North Act. Visit our website to add your name online.

News from Other Organizations

Bring Food Home Conference, October 27-29

Submitted by Ravenna Nuaimy-Barker, Sustain Ontario-the Alliance for Healthy Food & Farming 
Bring Food Home is Ontario's biennial conference connecting people and groups who are working towards a sustainable food system. The 2011 conference will be held in Peterborough, October 27-29. This 3-day conference will include dynamic keynote speakers, hands-on workshops, inspiring presentations, action planning sessions, tours, a celebrity feast and a trade show. For more information, visit www.bringfoodhome.com.

Bird Studies Canada is Looking for Information on Bank Swallows in Ontario

Submitted by Kathy Jones, Bird Studies Canada  
Did you see a colony of swallows this summer? Were they bank swallows? Bird Studies Canada's Ontario Region is looking for information on bank swallow colonies. These highly colonial birds nest in eroding vertical banks along shorelines, rivers, and gravel/sand pits. If you know of a bank swallow colony, we ask that you submit this information (including location, colony habitat type & number of burrows observed) at www.surveymonkey.com/s/bankswallow. For more information on bank swallows and the Bird Studies Canada Ontario Bank Swallow Project, visit www.birdscanada.org/research/speciesatrisk/bans/.     

• For more details on each event, visit www.ontarionature.org/discover/member_groups/
  NN_calendar.php.

Upcoming Nature Network News Deadlines

The next issue of the Nature Network News will be sent on November 15, 2011. The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2011.

Submissions can be sent to naturenetwork@ontarionature.org.

Please note that events can be listed up to two months in advance - allowing others to put it on their calendar well in advance.

Ontario Nature publishes the Ontario Nature Network News every month with contributions from its member groups and staff.