A Letter from the President

by Steve Hounsell, President, Ontario Nature

This letter is reprinted from the Winter 2005/06 issue of ON Nature magazine.

Ontario Nature is on the eve of its 75^th anniversary, an opportune time to pause and reflect on how far we have come, what we are today and where we want to be in the coming years.

Ontario Nature, still known to many as the Federation of Ontario Naturalists, has roots that run deep. A small group of enlightened individuals founded the organization in 1931 and it has grown in membership and influence ever since. Our legacy of accomplishments is truly impressive, thanks to the dedication and tenacity of many committed conservationists. Inspired leaders of yesteryear were the catalysts for the development of the Provincial Parks Act, the Ontario Endangered Species Act, the Niagara Escarpment Plan, the Wetlands Policy, Ontario's Living Legacy, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan, and the recent Greenbelt Act. These are just a few of the many remarkable accomplishments of which we can be proud.

Moreover, our organization has spawned these important organizations: the Bruce Trail Association, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the Coalition on the Niagara Escarpment and the Ontario Land Trust Alliance. The protection of nature in Ontario, and across Canada, has benefited greatly from Ontario Nature. This is a noble legacy upon which we will continue to build.

Ontario Nature has much to offer. As a grassroots, member-based provincial organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of nature, Ontario Nature is unique. We have grown considerably from the seven clubs and 28 members of 1931 to a current membership base of 25,000 and more than 140 member groups. We are also one of the oldest and largest not-for-profit conservation organizations in the province. We continue to be a credible, science-based voice for nature, one that decision makers hear.

What does the future hold for nature in Ontario? What will be the environmental consequences of 4 million people coming to Ontario over the next 30 years? What role should Ontario Nature play in the coming years and decades?

We need to appeal to people's sense of altruism to protect nature for nature's sake, and we also need to appeal to their enlightened self-interest. We need to envision a sustainable future in which healthy ecosystems, with their natural diversity of life, sustain healthy people and a healthy economy. We need to imagine the possibilities. Imagine an interconnected greenway of habitat cores and corridors stretching across the entire breadth of Ontario, capturing the full ecological diversity of Ontario's vast landscapes. Imagine that greenway system embedded in sustainable working landscapes. That is Ontario Nature's greenway vision for the future. This is just the beginning for a more focused Ontario Nature to help deliver that vision.

Join me in celebrating all our accomplishments. Together, we can continue to make Ontario Nature a leading voice for nature and conservation action. Let its make the nest 75 years as successful as our first 75 years. Let us make our founding members proud.