 c o n s e r v a t i o n u p d a t e s f o r m e m b e r g r o u p s |
| Ontario Nature Network News - October 16, 2006 |
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To view a copy of this newsletter online or to subscribe to receive a copy of the Nature Network News by email visit www.ontarionature.org/resources/nnnews.html. Please pass this newsletter on to other members of your club. As of October 25, 2006 Ontario Nature will have a new home. We are relocating to: 366 Adelaide Street West, Suite 201 Ontario Nature grants permission for use of the information below in member group newsletters. Please credit either Ontario Nature or the member group. Feature! Join us to celebrate 75 years of protecting nature in Ontario! NEWS FROM THE NATURE NETWORK NEWS FROM ONTARIO NATURE
NEWS FROM MEMBER GROUPS Southern Ontario News Eastern Ontario News NEWS FROM OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
UPCOMING NATURE NETWORK NEWS DEADLINES |
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Feature: Join us to celebrate 75 years of protecting nature in Ontario! Join us at the Royal Ontario Museum's Currelly Gallery for Ontario Nature's cocktail gala to celebrate our 75 years of protecting nature. We look forward to reflecting on our collective accomplishments, paying tribute to our founding clubs and sharing our vision for the future with you at this special gathering. Entertainment and a silent auction featuring outstanding artwork and unique items – such as Charles Sauriol’s walking stick and the signed artist's proof of Roger Tory Peterson's Puffin – will highlight the evening. Distinguished speakers include the Honourable David Ramsay, Minister of Natural Resources, and the Honourable Jim Bradley, Minister of Tourism. Tuesday, November 14, 2006 Tickets are $85 A limited number of tickets are available. Avoid disappointment - order yours today. Kindly RSVP to Chemayne D'souza at 416-444-8419 / 1-800-440-2366 ext. 271 by October 20, 2006 (tickets may still be available after this date). Download an invitation (PDF 1.8M) and reply card (PDF 41k) if you wish. A $55 charitable receipt will be issued for a portion of the ticket price under Charitable Registration #10737 8952 RR0001. |
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NEWS FROM THE NATURE NETWORK |
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The Ontario Nature fall regional meetings are coming to your area soon. Please mark the meeting dates in your calendar and encourage representatives from your group to attend! Agendas will be going out one month before the meeting. If you have any questions please contact your Regional Coordinator listed below.
Southern Region Central Region Northern Region Eastern Region |
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NEWS FROM ONTARIO NATURE |
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Ontario Nature helping to present at Film Festival This year Ontario Nature is co-presenting a documentary at the Planet in Focus Film Festival being held in Toronto from November 1 - 5. Join us on Sunday, November 5 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) for the airing of The Chances of the World Changing - a haunting story documenting two years in the life of Richard Ogust, a writer and obsessive collector. His life takes a turn to the worse, when he finds himself struggling to save hundreds of endangered turtles that he has amassed over the years in his New York apartment. A truly amazing race. Planet in Focus is Canada’s most acclaimed International Environmental Film and Video festival. The annual film fest showcases compelling documentaries, animation, dramatic features, shorts, and experimental works that celebrate, question, and establish varied ways of viewing the state of our world. For more information about the film festival please visit www.planetinfocus.org. |
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Canada’s boreal forest is a globally important ecosystem that contains vast intact forests with clear, clean waters that are rich in wildlife. This broad band of forest lies across northern Canada and covers more than 50 million hectares in northern Ontario – close to half the province. The boreal forest provides numerous ecological, economic and cultural benefits, including helping to protect against global warming by trapping and storing carbon, supporting large, naturally functioning ecosystems that provide habitat for 23 species at risk, and playing a key role in moderating temperatures and increasing atmospheric moisture throughout the year. Without the boreal forest, Ontario would be hotter and drier, affecting everything from food production to water supplies. The boreal forest north of the Great Lakes is already developed, with extensive road networks, cities and towns, and industrial infrastructure, including lumber mills, mines and hydro dams. Due to lack of proper planning and management, these activities are having devastating impacts on wildlife, especially caribou and wolverine, which have all but disappeared from this part of the province. Millions of songbird nests also have been cut down. North of an invisible line at around 51 degrees latitude, the roads end, the logging stops and the rivers flow free. This is the northern boreal forest and it has been either officially or practically off-limits to most industrial development – until now. The line of development is quickly shifting north, and will bring with it an advancing line of extinction for species at risk like wolverine and caribou, and will destroy nests for breeding birds. There are already 4,400 mineral claims staked in the north and plans for roads, hydro transmission lines, logging, and open pit mines. Ontario Nature is working with other conservation partners and First Nation communities to urge the provincial government to protect the northern boreal forest. We want to ensure that conservation-based planning is in place before industry comes into the northern boreal forest. Updates to the Boreal Forest Project There are several exciting announcements about Ontario Nature’s boreal forest project with more to come over the next few months.
For more information about the Boreal Forest Project please contact Jen Baker at 1-800-440-2366, ext. 224 or jenniferb@ontarionature.org. |
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Volunteer for Nature is Wrapping up for 2006 2006 marked the fifth year of the Volunteer for Nature (VfN) program, and what a year it’s been! We began in January with a new multi-year funding deal from the McConnell Family Foundation, and a Volunteer for Nature pilot project in Alberta. A partnership between Ontario Nature and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), VfN is a hands-on conservation program that offers Canadians unique opportunities to take an active role in biodiversity protection. As the 2006 VfN season wraps up, we have much to be proud of. Events took place across the province, from Canada’s most southerly point on Pelee Island to the wilds of northern Ontario. The season began with a cleanup at a globally significant alvar habitat on the Bruce Peninsula, and continued with butterfly and dragonfly counts on NCC reserves in Central Ontario. As well, work at Ontario Nature’s Altberg Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Reserve resulted in a brand new footbridge and enhanced visitor access to this 960-acre protected area. Planning for the 2007 Volunteer for Nature field season is in full swing. Check out our Schedule of Events in the new year to see the great trips we have available. Hope to see you next summer! |
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2006 A.D. Latornell Conservation Symposium Ontario Nature is a member of this year’s A.D. Latornell Conservation Symposium Steering Committee and invites you to attend this premiere conservation event. The theme of this year's 13th Annual A.D. Latornell Conservation Symposium - Creating a Climate for Change - refers to the actions that conservationists are taking in order to meet the challenges of our changing environment. One of the greatest challenges today is climate change because it affects all aspects of our lives - our environment, economy and ultimately, our lifestyles. It compels all of us to consciously reduce our footprint and move more quickly towards greater sustainability. The A.D. Latornell Conservation Symposium will once again provide delegates with exciting opportunities to learn new strategies, assess innovative technology and debate leading-edge approaches. Some of this year's program keynote speakers include provincial ministers and climate change specialists including:
A special session for student posters is also being featured as part of this year's program, which will be followed by the annual Dream Auction. Also featured is Johnny Bagpipes Johnston, as part of Thursday afternoon festivities and evening banquet. Visit the symposium website at www.latornell.ca for more information including the Program-at-a-Glance, student posters, information on grants for non profit organizations and availability for exhibitors. Should you require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Barbara MacKenzie-Wynia, Ontario Nature’s member on the Steering Committee at barbaraw@ontarionature.org. |
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Job Posting for Manager, Nature Network and Regional Programs Ontario Nature seeks a creative and goal-oriented individual for the position of Manager, Nature Network and Regional Programs. The Manager will lead an enhanced initiative to increase Ontario Nature’s presence and effectiveness across Ontario. S/he will manage all aspects of communication and support for the more than 140 local groups that make up the Ontario Nature Network and manage the regional delivery of Ontario Nature programs with a staff of up to three regional coordinators. The Manager, Nature Network and Regional Program reports to the Executive Director and works closely with the Director, Conservation and Science and the Director, Development and Communications to plan and deliver Ontario Nature’s conservation and education programs. This is a full-time, permanent position which can be based full-time at Ontario Nature’s new headquarters at 366 Adelaide Street West or from a home office outside the GTA with 1-2 days at the downtown Toronto location. Please apply by mail with your résumé, three references, and cover letter addressing your qualifications and experience by October 23, 2006 to: Chemayne D’souza For the complete job posting please visit www.ontarionature.org. |
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NEWS FROM MEMBER GROUPS |
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SOUTHERN ONTARIO NEWS |
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AUTRCA Community Forestry Projects Funded by the Spencer And Helen Inch Bequest Funds These projects were carried out by the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) on four dates in spring 2006, in partnership with the McIlwraith Field Naturalists. The Spencer and Helen Inch Bequest Fund is money left to the McIlwraith Field Naturalists. In total, 425 students and community members planted 893 native trees and shrubs of 23 different species. The goal for all sites was to naturalize areas that would then provide many benefits. Some obvious benefits include:
One of the most important benefits of the Community Forestry Program is to provide hands-on education to hundreds of students and members of the community. Often this experience is the very first opportunity a child has had to plant a tree. Care is taken to choose schools close to the planting site to further instill a sense of ownership, pride, and protectiveness towards the trees. Thank you McIlwraith for helping to make a difference in many ways! |
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EASTERN ONTARIO NEWS |
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Prince Edward County Field Naturalists Celebrate Ten Years And Counting We were surprised! The Picton Town Hall was completely full. Terry Sprague and I had advertised a public meeting to start a Birding Festival and Field Naturalist Club and we were taken aback by the enthusiasim. The year was 1997 and as we celebrate our 10th anniversary it is amazing and gratifying to look back at the long list of our accomplishments. For example, the Prince Edward County Birding Festival has informed people from Canada and the US about our unique, but little-known, ‘hotspot’ for migrating birds. Across the south shore and around the wetlands of our island are crucial feeding areas for migrating birds that are accessible for people. Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area became the home of the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory which we helped to establish. Then we requested that Bird Studies Canada declare it an Important Bird Area (IBA), an international program to conserve areas vital to bird populations. The IBA has since been extended across the south shore to Gull Island and Point Petre. Our projects to conserve and educate the public about the County’s environment are many, and can be viewed along with our newsletter and information on upcoming outings online at www.pecfn.ca. Mark your calendar and consider making the trip to the October 24 meeting, when the speaker will be Bob McDonald of CBC’s Quirks & Quarks. |
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NEWS FROM OTHER ORGANIZATIONS |
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Grave Consequences for Environmental Neglect, Warns Environmental Commissioner Ontario's fundamental neglect of the environment will have grave and long-lasting consequences, warned Gord Miller, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO). Miller, who monitors compliance by provincial ministries with the Environmental Bill of Rights, released his 2005/2006 annual report, "Neglecting our Obligations", to the Legislature this morning at the Queen's Park Media Studio. "In the past year I have come to the discouraging realization that there is just too much left undone in too many areas of environmental protection," said Miller, "When we neglect our obligations to the natural environment, we are also forgetting our responsibilities to future generations. They will be dealing with the consequences of our actions, and especially our inaction, for years into the future." Miller pointed to this year's report for examples of government inaction in almost every area of environmental management - water and air pollution, waste diversion, landfills, aggregate extraction, and climate change. Ontario's climate is changing, said Miller, because of the build-up of greenhouse gases, yet the province has not developed a strategy for adapting to the changes. Unpredictable weather in the future, including intense rain storms, heat waves and droughts, will affect not only the built environment - bridges, dams and sewage treatment plants - but will also bring threats to the health or even survival of local plant and animal species. The Environmental Commissioner also urged the government to develop a strategy to reduce the major environmental impacts of the transportation sector, impacts that include degraded waterways, fragmented ecosystems, the massive demand for gravel and sand, and the contribution of almost one-third of the province's greenhouse gases. The demand for aggregate also means the province is left with thousands of hectares of unrehabilitated pits and quarries, often in areas of significant natural heritage such as the Niagara Escarpment and the Oak Ridges Moraine. Rates for diverting waste away from landfills are still far behind the 60% diversion goal set for 2008 by the Ministry of the Environment, especially for apartment buildings and the commercial, institutional and industrial sectors. It's also clear that the ministry lacks the monitoring data needed to assess whether existing landfills pose a risk to the environment or to human health. Moreover, only six years after the Walkerton tragedy, changes to the Nutrient Management regulation may make key aspects of the regulation unenforceable. The ECO's 2005/2006 report also deals with air issues. While commending the Ministry of the Environment for reforming air quality rules for industry, the ECO cautions that the effectiveness of the reform will depend on the capacity of the ministry to enforce compliance with new regulations. Today, because of reduced resources, the ministry is able to inspect only about 1-2% of industrial facilities a year. In his report, the Commissioner calls on the government to make the Ministry of Education subject to the Environmental Bill of Rights, including the ministry's decisions about curriculum. "Ontario was once a leader in the field of environmental education, and now we have fallen far behind other provinces and the U.S.," said Commissioner Miller "Education is the key to shaping the values that will lead to a world where humans and other species can survive and flourish." |
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Upcoming Event – “A Medicine Walk with Trees” The Thames Talbot Land Trust is pleased to announce that we will be hosting a lecture and slide presentation by Diana Beresford-Kroeger, celebrated author of Arboretum America, on Friday October 20 in the Wolf Performance Hall, beginning at 7:30 p.m.. Diana Beresford-Kroeger will discuss how diverse tree groups can help to counteract the effects of global warming and pollution. She will go into detail about the history of trees in Native American cultures and the traditional medicinal uses of trees. Additionally, Beresford-Kroeger will offer tips for ideal tree planting locations and organic tree care. This free admission event is open to all and we hope that you will join us for an inspiring evening. Information and preferred seating registration is available from our website www.ttlt.ca. Please help us make this evening a success as we hear a positive message about how trees and forests can save the world. |
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UPCOMING NATURE NETWORK NEWS DEADLINES |
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Next Issue of Nature Network News The next issue of the Nature Network News will be sent on December 15, 2006. Submissions will be accepted until December 1, 2006. Please send articles to jenniferb@ontarionature.org. Ontario Nature publishes the Ontario Nature Network News every other month with contributions from its staff and member groups. |