CONTENTS

NEWS FROM MEMBER GROUPS

• Bird Study Group
• Galapagos: Darwin’s Zoo
• Oak Ridges Trail Association Discovery Night
• Thinking Like a Mountain
• Volunteers For Nature
• Long Point Outing
• And We Saw Bryophytes
• Peleemusic
• Trumpeter Swan Monitoring at the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre
• Explorer Sighting Software
• Seed Collecting Course
• Caring for Nature in Essex Region Factsheet Launch
• Oak Ridges Trail Association Receives Support from Joey & Toby Tanenbaum
• The Moraine for Life Adventure Relay
• Carden Nature Festival Conservation Awareness Starts with the Young

NEWS FROM NATURE NETWORK

• Nature Almanac
• Advocate for Nature
• IMBY (In My Back Yard) – I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas

NEWS FROM ONTARIO NATURE

• Celebrating an Anniversary!
• Ontario’s North Desperately Needs Planning
• Need a Reason to Visit Your Family Doctor in December?
• Ontario Nature’s 3rd Annual Youth Writing Contest

NEWS FROM OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

• Reduction in Landowner Tree Planting Costs
• Can you Host a Demonstration Project on your Property?
• The Search Continues for Healthy Butternuts
• Kids for Turtles Environmental Education - Invasive Species
• New Grant Program Being Launched by Royal Bank of Canada
• Wild Species 2005 Report Now Available
• Shoppers Guide to Ancient Forest Friendly Tissue Products

UPCOMING NATURE NETWORK NEWS DEADLINES

• Next Issue Of Nature Network News

NEWS FROM MEMBER GROUPS

This will be an informal meeting featuring a discussion of recent bird sightings, an identification session and a workshop or slides about some aspect of birding.

If you are a beginning birder, come out to learn more about birds. If you are an experienced birder, come out to share your knowledge and enthusiasm.

Topic: Bird ID Charts
December 17th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Shaklee Canada Inc.
952 Century Drive, Burlington
Contact: Arlene McCaw (905) 637-6004

The living laboratory of the Galapagos is full of bizarre fauna that exist totally free and fearless of man. Gord Cassidy’s slides of the fauna and flora of the Galapagos will please young and old!

January 10, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Owen Sound and North Grey Union Public Library
824 First Avenue West
Owen Sound
ofnc@ofnc.ca

Oak Ridges Trail Association (ORTA) Discovery Nights give you an opportunity to learn more about the Oak Ridges Trail, the Oak Ridges Moraine, hiking, nature and many other topics that interest hikers.

Garry Conway, speaking and teaching on Winter Outdoor Photography
January 17, 2008 from7:00-9:00 pm
Ballantrae Community Centre
Aurora Road 0.8 km east of Highway 48 (Markham Road).

$5.00 per person.
Refreshments provided. Please “lug-a-mug” for your coffee or tea! Members and guests are welcome.

Future speakers and topics will be:
February 21, 2008 - Garry Niece, Living in Japan
March 20, 2008 - Thea Jenkins, Linda Chopping & Lyn Tricker, Hiking in Australia and New Zealand

Contact: Harold Sellers (905) 833-6600 hikerharold@rogers.com.

Robert Bateman, internationally renowned wildlife artist and conservationist, spoke in Kingston in November through the Queens University Department of Geography Speaker Series. His topic was Thinking Like a Mountain. His advice to a large audience was that we need to think more about paying to be green: we should expect to pay more for the things we believe in from buying locally to supporting public transport. He also advised voting for the right politicians whatever party they stood for. Mr. Bateman emphasized the importance of young people being able to be out of doors enjoying and appreciating natural spaces in order to experience first hand that which we need to care for and protect. He mentioned Anne Robertson, who has coordinated the local Junior Naturalist program since 1972.

The substantial proceeds from the talk went towards children’s nature education in Kingston. It was shared by the Geography Department Explore Summer Day Camp and the Kingston Junior Naturalist program.

September 15, 2007

European buckthorn took a beating September 15th as nearly 30 Volunteer for Nature participants worked at the southern edge of Queenston Heights Forest removing invasive buckthorn trees that were crowding out the forest’s native species. By mid afternoon, the roadside was lined with nearly 0.5 km of unwanted brush that was soon reduced to woodchips by staff from the Niagara Parks Commission (NPC).

The volunteer group was made up of students from Michelle Purchase’s class in Ecological Restoration at Niagara College, concerned citizens from the GTA, NPC staff and by Rhonda Armstrong, Janet Damude, Robin and Iris Dohr, Sachiko Istok and Kal Laar of the Niagara Falls Nature Club. After the buckthorn trees were removed, NPC staff applied Garlon 4 to the exposed stumps to kill the plant and eliminate the sprouting of new growth. This cooperative effort between Ontario Nature’s Volunteer for Nature program, Niagara College, the NPC and our club shows how well different groups can work together to have a positive impact on our natural environment.

October 14, 2007

A bright autumn day greeted twelve Niagara Falls Nature Club members as they assembled in Fonthill, for an outing to Long Point Provincial Park. Under the guidance of Rick Young, the group left promptly at 9:00am with a no stopping rule in place to ensure arrival before the station's noon closing. While traveling however attention was given to overhead raptors and also a flock of wild turkeys. Bird banding was in full swing on arrival at the Banding Station. The staff was very busy examining and banding the many migratory birds which included Purple Finch (a lifer for Paula), Myrtle Warbler, Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-throated Sparrow, Brown Creeper, Nashville Warbler and many others. The staff was very patient answering questions and explaining the examination, weighing and banding process. The group walked the trails behind the station and viewed the many nets in place. Picnic lunches were enjoyed while seated in bright sunshine on the nearby BSC building patio overlooking the marsh. Red-winged Blackbird and Killdeer were observed. After lunch the areas of Big Creek, Lee Brown Conservation Pond and the West Quarter Line were visited with sightings of Great Blue Heron, Bluebird, Harrier, Kestrel, Mallard, and Phoebe. On the return trip a brief walk into Backus Woods afforded identification of Sassafras, Red Oak, White Oak, Partridgeberry, Wintergreen, White Baneberry, False Nettle, Clearweed, Indian Cucumber-root and Maple-leafed Viburnum.

November 3, 2007

Armed with cameras, hand-lenses and a healthy lack of knowledge about mosses and such, ten naturalists met Roman Olszewski at Heartland Forest on a brisk but bright morning. Mosses, including sphagnum, and liverworts were on the menu, according to the Peninsula Field Naturalists (PFN) brochure, and who better than Roman to lead such an outing? Fortunately for us, Roman had pre-scouted the location, and had prepared a tablet with 20 or so specimens of the most likely species of mosses that we would be searching for. It was good to have the cheat-sheet along with us. We were also reminded that the moss species we were seeking are not vascular, unlike the higher plants and the fern-relatives such as the Clubmosses (Lycopodium). They also seem to have a complex sexlife!

It was fairly evident, after a few yards of walking into the woods, that Heartland Forest is a bryologist’s idea of the Promised Land. Anyone who has discussed non-vascular plants with Roman will know that mosses and lichens tend to lack common names. Thus we were quickly introduced to a diet of Latin binomials when we asked the name of each new find. We (Roman) quickly found Fissidens, Climacium, Polytrichum, and Tetraphis, with Climacium dendroides aka Tree Moss being one of the few that had a common English name. A common liverwort and a Cladonia lichen (species unknown) were also noted. Most of us had heard of Sphagnum, so that genus was not an unfamiliar name when Roman finally showed it to us. Even more awesome, we actually began to recognize the different genera when we next encountered them. The digital cameras received a workout as some of us tried to snap absolutely sharp closeups of mosses with identifying features that were best viewed with a 10X hand-lens. The morning passed too quickly, finishing with an enjoyable walk through the woods, with commentary by Paul Philp about the varieties of trees, shrubs and critters that would normally inhabit this slough forest. Unfortunately, the summer drought had dried up the vernal pools and left few wet areas for amphibians. Not even his favorite salamander was hiding under its usual shelter of a large cable-reel and Woody Woodfrog was absent. It is to be hoped that this winter and next spring will replenish the water table in Heartland Forest.

The Friends of Point Pelee, with support from the Essex County Stewardship Network, have released Peleemusic, an entertaining documentary highlighting the many species at risk at Point Pelee National Park. Perfect for the classroom, this film captures the unique beauty of Canada's southernmost National Park. Peleemusic can be purchased at www.friendsofpointpelee.com.

Now that the Wye Marsh is in the monitoring phase of the Trumpeter Swan Re-introduction Program it is important to report any sightings. To report sightings please visit www.wyemarsh.com click Trumpeter Swan and select Report Swan Sightings or give them a call at (705) 526-7809.

Important information to report: date, location, total number of swans, if tagged the assigned numbers, and how many untagged. They would also like to know how many cygnets, how many are young swans, which are grey in colour and up to 3 years old.

The Guelph Field Naturalists (GFN) are pleased to announce the launch of the GFN Birder and Dragonfly Watchers Sightings Explorer Software. This new and innovative software is a listing program with a twist: location mapping! Not only will it keep your bird or dragonfly list, it will map the exact location on a fully integrated Ontario map.

Containing full street-level detail of the entire province of Ontario, and water features and major highways for the rest of Canada, no matter where you go, you’ll know what you saw and when and where you saw it.

Use the integrated reporting features to generate a seasonal checklist, a monthly bird checklist or a number of more traditional reports. Share your sightings with the internet-based database and contribute to a comprehensive regional sightings list from all other participating users of the software. Use this large regional list or your own personal list and either explore all sightings or generate frequency maps based on the sightings for the entire province!

For more information, please refer to the Sightings Explorer major features list at http://www.naturesbestcreations.com/explorer.htm, or for a more in-depth review, see the on-line version of the help file at http://www.naturesbestcreations.com/sehelp. To explore recent sightings logged using the software, refer to the sighting explorer web at http://jonbrierley.dyndns.org/explorer.

The Sightings Explorer software is available for Microsoft Windows on Compact Disk from the Guelph Field Naturalists for a minimum donation of $40. Make cheques payable to: Guelph Field Naturalists and mail to P.O. Box 1401, Guelph, Ontario N1H 6N8 or pay by credit card on-line. Credit card donations are also accepted on-line through CanadaHelps, and you will receive your charitable donation receipt immediately by e-mail. Log on to www.guelphfieldnaturalists.org.

The seed collecting course (September 28th and 29th) was a great success with a full enrolment of 23 participants attending. We were tightly packed into our classroom at the Lorne C. Henderson Conservation Area, but it worked out just fine. There were many seed samples to work with as well as leaves from a variety of trees and shrubs to be used for teaching identification techniques.

Brian Swaille instructed participants on the details of forecasting seed production, when to collect, how to collect, how to test for quality and how to recognize and rectify disease and pest problems. Brian is an engaging teacher and related many entertaining stories throughout the workshop. The program is intensive with a significant amount of material to cover. However the opportunity to work with actual seed (cut, cut, cut…) helped keep people captivated. An outdoor walkabout was included on Saturday afternoon and we were lucky enough to enjoy beautiful weather as we explored the Henderson C.A. identifying trees and shrubs (from Chinquapins to Arrowwoods) and searching for seeds.

Participants were given a test to complete and mail in and all who pass will become certified seed collectors.

In future the new seed collectors can be called upon to help reforest Lambton County with locally collected, source identified, quality seed. Hopefully, the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority will benefit from this program as well as local landowners. It’s an important task.

On December 6th, Carolinian Canada will be launching Caring for Nature in Essex, a factsheet detailing the natural gems in Essex County and promoting private stewardship on the landscape. The Essex Factsheet will be launched at the Sanson Estates Winery near McGregor in Essex County. The Essex County Caring for Nature Factsheet is now available for download http://www.carolinian.org/Publications_FactSheets-Caring-for-Nature.htm. This is the fourth in a series of Caring for Nature factsheets. Previous factsheets are also available http://www.carolinian.org/Publications_FactSheets-Caring-for-Nature.htm.

The Moraine For Life Adventure Relay, an annual team race event held on the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail, has received a generous sponsorship from Joey and Toby Tanenbaum.

The Adventure Relay was first held in June of 2007 and attracted seven teams, including participation by former Olympic rowing champion Marnie McBean. The course of 160 kilometers, from Rice Lake to King City, had to be completed in 24 hours by means of canoeing, cycling and running. The first place team crossed the finish line in 12 hours and 15 minutes.

In 2008 the event will take place on June 14 and 15. The Tanenbaums have contributed $35,000 to stage the relay as a fundraising event for the Oak Ridges Trail Association and to raise awareness of the Oak Ridges Moraine.

“The support of the Tanenbaums, who have a long-standing interest in the Moraine, is foundational for the Adventure Relay, and is greatly appreciated.” said Harold Sellers, Executive Director of the trail association.

www.moraineadventure.com

On the weekend of June 14-15, 2008, the Oak Ridges Trail Association will host the second Moraine for Life Adventure Relay. This 24-hour race will challenge teams to complete a 160-kilometer course along the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail. Participants will complete 14 stages by canoeing, running and cycling.

The course will begin with an 8 km paddle on Rice Lake and end at Seneca College’s Campus at King City.

Recreational, Corporate and Elite Team categories. Volunteers to assist at checkpoints are also welcome.

Visit www.moraineadventure.com for complete details.
1-877-319-0285
info@oakridgestrail.org

Today’s students are tomorrow’s decision-makers. Wise decisions about our world can only be made by people who are aware of the importance of the environment to our existence. As adults struggle to make life style changes to help improve the environment, it will be very encouraging to know that there will be a new generation of environmentally conscious citizens to carry on with the work that needs to be done. As an organization that is based on awareness of the environment, it is our responsibility to make sure that we have a healthier planet in the future. This is one small step towards that goal.

The Festival plans to encourage a large number of young artists from many of the local public and separate elementary schools to show off their artistic skills by participating in an environmental art competition. Art from students between the ages of 5 and 14 will cover walls and tables at the festival. Come to the Festival and see for yourself. The level of their creativity and ability is amazing.

The students are challenged to develop a poster or a three-dimensional display that depicts man living in harmony with the environment. Another option is to create a freestanding model of an object using only items from their recycling bins. Prizes will be awarded to the winning students in each category at the festival dinner on Saturday evening.

www.CardenGuide.com/Festival.

NEWS FROM THE NATURE NETWORK

Looking for something to do or trying to make something happen? Ontario Nature’s Nature Almanac will keep you posted on upcoming events and activities from our groups across Ontario.

One of Ontario Nature’s key goals is ‘Connecting People with Nature’ and with that in mind, we are launching a calendar called Nature Almanac for member groups’ activities on the Ontario Nature website. This is being offered to the 140+ clubs across the province as a way to promote their events. Being listed in Nature Almanac will allow Ontario Nature member groups the opportunity to promote their activities with other Nature Network clubs and a wider general audience.

We welcome events related to nature, environment, conservation, sustainability, green living and related topics such as climate change, renewable energy, youth and outdoors education. Events must be open to the general public and be free or of nominal cost.

Before events are listed on Ontario Nature’s website, organizers must provide event details and contact information. The earlier you can provide this information the sooner we can promote them on the website. Events will begin to be posted in January 2008.

For additional information contact your Regional Coordinator.

Help spread the word! You are welcome to include any or all of the Nature Dates listings in your e-mails, websites and newsletters.

Thank you to the individuals who have had added their names to our Advocate for Nature list. Please help to spread the word about the Advocate for Nature email list - you could post this in your newsletter, share it with your members at the next meeting, announce it at your next Board of Directors meeting or make a presentation at your Annual General Meeting. Every little bit helps!

In October 2007 we had 70 new subscribers to our Advocate for Nature email list. We now have 1657 Advocates for Nature.

To add your name online, copy and paste this link in your web browser or click here http://www.ontarionature.org/news/archive.php?type=action.

Even though there might be snow on the ground, it is still possible to have a green Christmas!

Buy a locally grown tree and plan to recycle it after the holiday season. A good solution is to set your tree outside and decorate it with winter food for the birds. These may include pine cones coated with sugarless peanut butter and rolled in bird seed, popcorn, cranberries, apple peelings or balls of suet and seeds. Mulching is frequently available through municipal councils.

Buying a fake tree is also an option as with care they can last for years.

If you are unable to completely give up lights on your tree, select those with LEDs (light emitting diodes). If you set the lights on a timer or switch off the lights before you go to bed you will save a lot of energy (not to mention, money on your next electricity bill).

Nature provides unlimited items that can be used for decoration - pine cones, berries, dried seed pods, twigs, feathers. All of these items can be composted when you are finished with them. Edible decorations can also be used - gingerbread cookies, cranberries, popcorn strings, candy canes, dried apple rings, and cinnamon sticks would make a very tempting Christmas tree.

Whether it’s your office party or family get-together, make arrangements to carpool. You’ll reduce the amount of air pollutants and get to sing carols on the way there!

Make the wrapping part of the gift. Depending on the gifts choose complementary wraps; kitchen items in colourful tea towels, baby items in receiving blankets, tools for the handyperson in a bright red toolbox. Instead of a ribbon or bow, why not decorate the present with a handmade decoration that will become a keepsake and last for years.

Last year's Christmas cards can be turned into gift tags. Natural items like a sprig of evergreen or pine cones attached to a present are very attractive and can be composted after unwrapping.

At Christmas – especially with large crowds – resist the temptation to use disposable dishes, glasses and napkins - opt for ceramic dishes, actual glasses and cloth napkins. You’ll also decrease the amount of garbage produced.

Going green is an every day commitment, but you can make a start during the coming holidays.

Enjoy a green Christmas and give a gift to the planet and everyone who lives on it by being ecologically conscious.

NEWS FROM ONTARIO NATURE

2008 marks the tenth anniversary of Ontario Nature’s Volunteer for Nature program. Volunteer for Nature began life as Working for Wilderness, and held its first conservation event season in 1998. Since that time, field excursions have taken conservation-minded Ontarians from southernmost Pelee Island to the north shore of Lake Superior and all points in between.

To mark this program milestone, Volunteer for Nature will be expanding its suite of events to include projects tailored for youth and family participants. Children, teens and their parents are invited to participate in such diverse events as wildflower plantings and freshwater shellfish counts. Come out and spend the day exploring Ontario’s great natural areas while learning about the wildlife and plant species that call our province home.

The 2008 Volunteer for Nature Schedule of Events will be available in the new year. For more information about the Volunteer for Nature program, visit www.ontarionature.org/action.

Ontario’s environmental watchdog’s new annual report highlights the ‘desperate’ need for land use planning across northern Ontario. In fact, Gord Miller, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO), says that, “without better protection for the Boreal forest, ‘irreparable harm’ will be done to Ontario's north."

The report also focuses on the need to reform the Mining Act and concerns about the rapidly disappearing woodland caribou. The ECO warns that without policy change they could quickly disappear from Ontario’s Boreal forests.

Information about the ECO’s report has appeared in many northern papers, including on the front page of the Chronicle Journal in Thunder Bay. The media focus the report has been getting across northern Ontario points to the increasing acceptance of a change in the status quo of piecemeal development with little regard for the environment.

Ontario Nature feels this is a positive step towards the conservation of our northern landscape, thanks in part to your help. The Nature Network’s conservation voice has demonstrated that people from across Ontario want conservation planning before development in the Boreal region. It is an exciting time in the campaign as the government is listening. We’ll need your continued help in making sure the Boreal region is conserved. Stay tuned!

If you have any questions, please contact Jen Baker at jenniferb@ontarionature.org or at 416-444-8419, ext. 224.

“Environmental Quality,” the first publication in the “Your Greenbelt, Your Health” information series, will arrive in your family doctor’s office located within the Greenbelt region in early December. The series highlights the health links between you and the Greenbelt. Volume 1: “Environmental Quality” focuses on how the Greenbelt provides essential services like clean air, clean water and healthy soils. Be sure to keep your eye out for them next time you visit your doctor.

December also marks the release of Ontario Nature’s new website www.greenbeltforhealth.ca, which features in-depth information on the Greenbelt’s health connections and contains PDF versions of all our brochures. So if you do not live in the Greenbelt area or would like to download your own copy, please visit www.greenbeltforhealth.ca.

How is Climate Change Affecting You and Your Community?

Sponsored by Waste Management, this annual writing contest is open to Ontario grade 7 and 8 students. It can be an essay, a story, or a piece of creative writing, with a maximum count of 700 words, typed and double-spaced.

The top three entries will be published in ON Nature magazine, receive cool prizes and be honoured for their achievement at Ontario Nature's Annual General Meeting in Kirkfield on June 7, 2008.

Send your original entries by March 3, 2008 to:

Youth Writing Contest
Ontario Nature
366 Adelaide Street West, Suite 201
Toronto, ON M5V 1R9

Make sure you have a title page telling us your name, address, phone number, email address, your parent’s or guardian’s name, what grade you’re in, and the name of your school. For complete contest rules or to learn more about Ontario Nature visit our website at www.ontarionature.org/events/challenge.html or you can download a copy of the 2007 Contest Flyer.

NEWS FROM OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

Trees Ontario Foundation (TOF) has reduced landowner tree planting costs. TOF is Ontario’s central coordinating agency for private land tree planting and its goal is to increase tree planting from 2.5 million trees to 10 million trees per year. Landowners planning to plant trees in 2008 should contact their local Conservation Authority or Community Stewardship Council. www.treeontario.on.ca or www.treeontario.on.ca.

The Large Woodlands Conservation Cooperative (LWCC) is looking for landowners who are interested in hosting demonstration projects on their property especially in forest complexes straddling the Trent River. If you are interested please contact LWCC at lwcc@trentu.ca.

The LWCC consists of landowners, naturalists, foresters, and biologists with an interest in forest management and a concern with the fragmentation of Ontario's forests. The LWCC provides forest management resources to the many woodlot owners, whose properties collectively make up very valuable, unfragmented, large forests in the four counties of Peterborough, Northumberland, Durham and the City of Kawartha Lakes. With support for Ontario Trillium Foundation, the LWCC is able to organize workshops, forest hikes, provide newsletters and fact sheets, and refer landowners to appropriate organizations.

The LWCC is a group of volunteers and stewardship organizations who want to help woodlot owners make the most of their forested properties. More specifically, the LWCC works with woodlot owners, whose properties, large or small, together make up large, relatively unfragmented forests in south central Ontario. The LWCC wants to make sure forest management assistance and stewardship programs are available and easy to access for these landowners. The LWCC links landowners with local forest management and conservation organizations. We do this through free workshops, newsletters, factsheets, a website, referrals to stewardship programs, and site visits and consultations.

(705) 748-1011 Ext. 5068
www.trentu.ca/org/woodlands

Butternut trees are disappearing throughout eastern North America due to a non-native fungus disease called butternut canker.

Butternut is listed as federally and provincially endangered but it is not protected on private land. Education and stewardship approaches are the key to protecting this species on private land in Ontario. There is a very high canker infection rate in eastern Ontario. We encourage landowners to maintain their healthy butternut trees.

Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) is pleased to announce a generous contribution of funding from the Government of Canada Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk to support the ongoing Regional Butternut Recovery Program in eastern Ontario. With landowner permission and assistance, RVCA has visited hundreds of private and public sites and have over 380 healthy trees in their database as potential seed sources for future seed collection. Twenty-five of those trees show signs of resistance to the canker disease. Leaf samples have been sent to the Ontario Forest Research Institute for DNA testing to determine whether they are hybrids or pure butternut species.

Finding trees that exhibit signs of resistance to the canker is the main focus of the program. We are asking for help from landowners and interested persons to inform us of locations of apparently-healthy butternut trees so we can assess these trees for possible resistance. We’re concerned that we will lose some of these trees to human activity or natural causes before we get a chance to collect seed or scions from them. The importance of locating these promising individuals cannot be overstated as these trees will be used to propagate seedlings to replace the many butternut trees that have been and continue to be lost to this very virulent disease.

If you have butternut trees on your property that you would allow us to assess for seed source potential and disease resistance or you know the location of healthy butternut trees, please contact the RVCA Landowner Resource Centre at (613) 692-3571 ext 1128 or 1132 or contact Rose Fleguel at rose.fleguel@rideauvalley.on.ca.

When it comes to invasive species that threaten to harm Lake Simcoe there is a new player added to the list every year. Most of these have been introduced by people either intentionally for food or by accident in ballast water from ocean liners coming from Europe and Asia. Aquatic invertebrates can also attach themselves to the hull of ships coming from various locations around the world. Today, aquarium supply centres, pet stores and garden centres offer a wide array of aquatic plants, invertebrates and fish. Recreational boaters can spread these species from one body of water to another by not cleaning their boats and equipment. Anglers should not release live bait into the water when they are finished fishing for the day. Exotic fish should not be used in fish farms for the fish food trade or in garden ponds. There are thousands of exotic or introduced species originating from all parts of the world available for purchase. Unfortunately some of these species, which are highly invasive, become established in our environment with devastating impacts. They spread to wetlands, rivers, streams, lakes, and natural areas and compete with native species. These invasive species usually have no natural predators and control so spread quickly overcoming other native species. Aquatic species can form dense floating mats which that restrict swimming, boating, and recreation uses like fishing. These dense mats of vegetation decompose in the fall and degrade the water quality for fish and other wildlife by depleting the oxygen levels. Introduced animals prey on native species or change the ecosystems which impact the survival of native animals and plants. Exotic pets are often escape or are released into the wild when the owner becomes tired of caring for the pet. Hundreds of the red-eared slider turtle are released into local wetlands every year by people who have purchased them in pet stores but no longer want them. You should never release exotic pets into the wild since they are not natural to the area and can effect our local populations.

We can all help prevent the spread of these exotic species into our environment by becoming better educated and learning to identify them before they get established. To learn more about exotic species and how they affect our local environment contact Kids For Turtles Environmental Education info@kidsforturltes.com.

RBC has announced the RBC Blue Water Project(TM), a 10-year, $50 million grant program to support projects dedicated to water conservation, watershed protection, access to clean drinking water and other water-related issues in Canada and around the world.

"Lack of access to clean fresh water is considered to be one of the major threats to human health and economic development around the world" said president and CEO, Gordon Nixon.

The RBC Blue Water Project will have three grant streams:

• Visionary Grants: multi-year grants to global organizations;
• Leadership Grants: annual grants to organizations that are leaders in providing regional programs within North America, determined through a 'request for proposal' process; and
• Community Action Grants: ongoing grants given to community-based organizations in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean to support local water conservation projects.

A panel of experts will be assembled to develop the overall granting strategy and guidelines. The RBC Blue Water Project will be fully operational in April, 2008. More information is available at www.rbc.com/responsibility/environment/20071024news.html.

Wild Species reports are released every five years by the Canadian Endangered Species Conservation Council. The newest report, Wild Species 2005, has been released and can be downloaded in English or French from the Wild Species website www.wildspecies.ca.

The report provides general status assessments for over 7500 wild species in Canada, using results from provincial, territorial and federal monitoring efforts.

Greenpeace has published a Shoppers Guide To Ancient Forest Friendly Tissue Products.

If each household in Canada replaced 1 roll of toilet paper cut from ancient forests with 1 roll of recycled toilet paper, we could save 47,962 trees in a year.

Imagine how many trees would be saved if every tissue product Canadians purchased was made from recycled paper? For more information http://tissue.greenpeace.ca/browse.php.

UPCOMING NATURE NETWORK NEWS DEADLINES

The next issue of the Nature Network News will be sent on January 15, 2007. Submissions will be accepted until January 4, 2008. Please send articles to clarem@ontarionature.org.

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