In the Wake of the Flood Released on DVD

If you're a fan of Margaet Atwood and her recent novel, The Year of the Flood, you'll want to check out In the Wake of the Flood, a documentary by Ron Mann released last week that chronicles her unique approach to the traditional book tour.

For those of you who weren't there at her Canadian stops, the tour was a creative blend of book reading,  interpretation, and hymnal singing. The performances drew crowds and glowing reviews across the country and internationally. 


In the Wake of the Flood (Teaser) from filmswelike on Vimeo.

It's been described as a major international literary event - each tour stop saw local actors and singers perform a script based on The Year of the Flood, with Atwood as narrator. The novel, which melds science, religion and nature, explores Atwood’s vision of an environmentally blighted, plague-ridden, and genetically altered future. It follows the 2003 publication of her dystopian novel Oryx and Crake, expanding on the storylines and characters in this post-apocalyptic world.

At four of her Canadian stops she used the spotlight to raise awareness about Nature Canada and its regional partners in bird conservation, saying:

"Conserving our precious migratory birds requires a united international effort. With partners like Nature Canada located along the world's many bird flyways, BirdLife is providing a safer journey for our endangered globetrotters, but it needs more support."

Donations made at Atwood's Year of the Flood performances went directly to support conservation work in Important Bird Areas in Canada. See photos of those tour stops here.


Nature Canada is the Canadian co-partner, with Bird Studies Canada, of BirdLife International, a global alliance of conservation organizations working together for the world's birds and people. As BirdLife in Canada, Nature Canada delivers the Important Bird Areas Program, which aims to identify, conserve and monitor a network of sites that provides essential habitat for bird populations. Margaret Atwood is the Joint Honorary President of BirdLife's Rare Bird Club with her husband, Graeme Gibson.

The Year of the Flood performances have been a terrific opportunity to raise awareness about Nature Canada and our partners engaged in bird conservation. It's a tremendous honor to have support from as tireless and dedicated an advocate for nature as Margaret Atwood.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of In the Wake of the Flood DVDs will go directly to Nature Canada. Buy your copy from Sphinx Productions!

In his review for Macleans magazine, Brian D. Johnson wrote: “Taking us behind the curtain of Margaret Atwood’s travelling medicine show, ‘In the Wake of the Flood’ offers a candid, revealing portrait of the author as activist oracle - Atwood is the ultimate camp counseller, mounting a pageant to save the planet with a birdsong in her heart and a silent spring in her step.”

We've enjoyed watching it and we hope you do too!

Update from the Field: Nature Canada's Ted Cheskey Reports from Peawanuck

Cheskey stayed with the kind owners of this Northern store in Peawanuck, Ontario

 Ted Cheskey, Nature Canada’s manager of bird conservation programs, is in Peawanuck, Ontario this week, a Cree community located near the confluence of the Winisk and Shamattawa Rivers, about 35 km from the shores of Hudson Bay. Population, 139 souls. Ted is there to explore opportunities to work with the Cree to protect migratory birds of the Ontario and Quebec boreal region, by identifying shared conservation priorities around birds and Important Bird Areas. He took a moment to send us this post:

It’s 9am on Friday, January 28th and I’m in Peawanuk, Ontario.

The sun is barely rising over the south-eastern horizon behind the banks of the Winisk River. It is dead cold – a chilling minus 38. A raven squawks in the distance, and the quiet is broken by the chainsaw-like sounds of snowmobiles starting up. Other than the raven and the family of Gray Jays that sit still atop stunted spruce trees like Christmas ornaments, no other birds appear to be around. This is in sharp contrast to the spring, summer and fall when birds abound – tens of thousands of Snow Geese and Canada Geese nest closer to the Hudson Bay Coast. 

Peawanuck is a relocated community. The community of Winisk experienced severe flooding about 25 years ago, and as a result, residents formed the new community of Peawanuck, further upstream. The Community is preoccupied here with cleaning up old military and radar bases. The military legacy here is hundreds of rotting barrels filled with PCBs and other contaminants.
 
The Cree of Peawanuck, and other communities along the coast, are very connected to the land. They hunt snow geese in the spring, geese in the fall, as well as other wildlife such as caribou and sturgeon.

Numerous globally significant Important Bird Areas (IBAs) are located along the coast, and many are recognized as staging areas for thousands of shorebirds on their epic migrations to South America.  Other IBAs on the Hudson Bay and James Bay coasts are recognized for the waterfowl – mainly geese and some species of ducks – that they support.  These birds breed, molt and feed there, fattening up for their long migrations – they also provide an essential source of food to many families in the coastal communities.


Nature Canada would like to see these important habitats protected from all types of industrial development that we believe will one day be eyeing this coastline.

Right now, life goes on as usual, and issues such as the clean-up of the old bases, remain the priority.



Our bird conservation efforts in the James Bay and Hudson Bay region are supported by The Ivey Foundation.

Two years later: Canada still silent on gas drilling in National Wildlife Area

Today marks the two year anniversary of the release of recommendations of the Joint Review Panel assessing a proposal by EnCana Corporation (now Cenovus) to drill 1,275 shallow gas wells in the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Suffield National Wildlife Area. As we have done previously, the Suffield Coalition today wrote a letter to the Ministers of Defence and Environment to inquire about the government’s response to the Panel report, which we still await two years later.

The Suffield Coalition comprises seven groups who actively participated in the Joint Review Panel process. The members are: Alberta Wilderness Association, Nature Alberta (formerly Federation of Alberta Naturalists), World Wildlife Fund Canada, Nature Saskatchewan, Southern Alberta Group for the Environment, Grasslands Naturalists, and Nature Canada.

In today's letter we once again called on the federal government to close the door to any further industrial development in CFB Suffield National Wildlife Area and to ensure the long term conservation of Suffield as one of the most important areas of native grasslands remaining in North America.

Two years ago the Suffield Coalition concurred with the Panel’s findings that the Cenovus/EnCana project would likely interfere with the conservation of wildlife, the core purpose of the National Wildlife Area. As the Panel pointed out, avoiding such interference is a requirement of the Wildlife Area Regulations. We therefore believe that federal permits to proceed with additional drilling in the NWA under the Wildlife Area Regulations or the Species at Risk Act should be denied.

In their Report, the Panel recognized the importance of the NWA as one of the few large blocks of dry mixed-grass prairie remaining in Canada, and that the NWA was created to protect the ecological integrity of this land and the species that occupy it, including at least 15 species listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern under the Species at Risk Act.

Sixteen of the Panel's 27 recommendations are prefaced by “should the project proceed”. They demonstrate the considerable challenges and uncertainties involved in mitigating the risk of significant adverse effects from the proposed drilling as well as from current activities on sensitive soils, native grassland, wetlands, ungulate winter range, five species of snakes and fifteen species at risk. Taking the risk implied within these recommendations is not appropriate within a National Wildlife Area. We believe it is not in the public interest to approve the project.

The other 11 Panel recommendations are designed to address major deficiencies in environmental management within the NWA and CFB Suffield overall, whether or not the project proceeds. These recommendations include working with stakeholders like the Suffield Coalition. We are ready, willing, and able to help. But we await a response from the federal government.

January Photo of the Month: Great Grey Owl

This stunning photo of a Boreal Forest resident that doesn't head south for the winter was sent in by Hamilton, Ontario resident Jean Crankshaw. Thanks for sharing this with us, Jean!

The Great Grey Owl is the provincial bird of Manitoba, as well as the largest North American owl in overall size. With its copious covering of feathers, it is particularly adapted to the extreme cold weather of the Boreal region.

Distinguished by its grayish brown color, white throat and black chin, it conspicuously lacks ear tuffs. The Great Grey’s breeding range covers a large swath of the Boreal Forest from the Pacific coast to as far east as the Great Lakes.

Its hunting style, characterized by deep plunges into the snow to capture scurrying voles and mice, is particularly suited to the lighter and colder snow of the far north. These hunting dives can be spotted in the snow by the tell-tale imprint of the Great Grey’s large head framed by its wings. Its deep, booming hoot, which can drift several kilometers on a still evening, signals the territory or home of this magnificent species.

Do you love this photo? Put it on your desktop!

And why not share your photo with us for the chance to be featured as Nature Canada's photo of the month.

Connect with Nature: Get Outside and Get Active

Skating on the Rideau Canal. Photo by Xiaozhuli via Flickr

According to a recent Statistics Canada study,

"just 15 per cent of adults are meeting the latest proposed guidelines in Canada for averaging 2 1/2 hours per week of moderate to vigorous activity. For children, just seven per cent are achieving the benchmark of at least one hour of activity per day."

Spending time outside is an easy way to increase your physical health. Even as the cold and snow of winter have a firm grip on most of the country, there are many fun activities to do in nature.

Skiing, snowboarding, skating and sledding immediately come to mind as favourite winter sports, and we can't forget about hockey! But you don't need much equipment to enjoy everything that nature has to offer this season. What about something as simple as a winter wildlife walk or building a snowman in your yard? Just make sure you dress appropriately for the activity you are doing and the weather forecast for your area.

What are you doing this winter to get outside and get active? Let us know about your favourite winter activities in the comments.

Aflockalypse: What It’s Really Trying to Tell Us

Photo: Steve Kulak

When 5,000 red-wing black birds dropped from the Arkansas sky earlier this month, the media sat up and took notice.

In the following days, reports of other mass die-offs in the animal kingdom surfaced. From Vietnam to England, birds were falling from the sky, crabs were washing up dead on beaches, and the world was spinning on its head.

But in the weeks since that sorrowful start to 2011, lurking in the shadows of the media hysteria, the question about what it all really meant, remained unanswered.

What can we make of the ‘Aflockalypse’?

What we do know is that animal deaths happen regularly. These mass deaths often go unnoticed by the general public, but not unrecorded by watchful researchers and citizen scientists. An average of 167 mass events are reported to the Geological Survey every year, and their wildlife specialists know of at least 16 cases over the past 20 years of large numbers of blackbirds dying all at once.

Many of these deaths are caused by storms, disease, and human activity.

According to Mike Parr, president of the American Bird Conservancy, billions of birds die every year due to human activities. Cats account for close to half a billion deaths alone. Collisions with buildings bring down between one hundred million and a staggering one billion birds every year. It’s also estimated that 15 million birds succumb annually to pesticide poisoning.

Closer to home, tens of thousands of Common Loons along with some ducks and Cormorants have been killed in the past 10 to 15 years from avian Type E Botulism. The deaths were likely caused by a combination of human-related activities and a particular set of circumstances. Undoubtedly, certain human activities threaten wildlife. As a result, we have an ethical responsibility to ensure that our actions are not endangering other forms of life and if they are, we should change them so that they don’t.  

So while the recent animal die-offs reported in the media are not really that uncommon, they can be seen as an extension of a greater problem: extinction.

Experts say that worldwide, 17,000 plants and animals are threatened with extinction. The over-riding cause is human ‘progress’, which often results in significant habitat loss. And increasingly, climate change will drive the disappearance of wildlife. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that 20%-30% of the world’s plant and animal species will be at increased risk of extinction if global temperatures continue to rise.

A major study last year raised alarm bells over dramatic declines in biodiversity on the planet; 20% of the world's vertebrates are threatened, and an average of 52 species of mammals, birds and amphibians move closer to extinction annually.

Canada’s latest and most comprehensive survey of biodiversity shows that in this country 20% of amphibians are at risk of extinction, 17% percent of freshwater fish are endangered or threatened, 40% of grassland birds have been lost and there has been a 50% decline in the 35 shorebird species found in Canada.

At Nature Canada, we’re working to prevent the extinction of plants and animals by:

• Informing the public about the plight of Canada’s threatened wildlife
• Understanding the nature of human-caused threats to wildlife 
• Pushing for effective laws and supporting programs to protect endangered species and their habitats, and keep common species common.

While the intense media focus on the Aflockalypse may have been nothing but a curious media meme, it is certainly true that these days, it’s harder for many species to survive and thrive, and much work is needed to avoid the current extinction trends.

Study Outlines Steps to Protect Declining North American Landbird Populations

Crested Wood Partridge by Nathan Rupert

A recent study carried out by scientists from Canada, Mexico and the United States found that of the 882 native landbirds shared across borders, 17% (148 species) need immediate conservation action.

The report, Saving Our Shared Birds, an initiative of Partners in Flight, assessed the status of all 882 shared landbirds, and used their findings to rank the vulnerability of each species.

The 148 species identified as most vulnerable include:

• 44 species having limited distributions
• 80 tropical species which depend on deciduous, highland and evergreen forests in Mexico
• 24 species that occur in temperate-zone forests, grasslands and aridland habitats during the breeding season.

Hawk-eagles, wood partridges, Cyanolyca jays and macaws are some of the birds included in the list of 148 species. As is the case for biodiversity, habitat loss is the greatest threat to these birds.

The report concludes with six steps that Canada, Mexico and the United States must take to reverse the trend of declining North American landbird populations:

1. Protect and recover species at greatest risk by establishing protected areas and fully implementing endangered species laws.

2. Conserve habitats and ecosystem functions through policy changes that result in more sustainable agricultural, forestry and urban planning practices.

3. Reduce bird mortality by adopting measures that are effective in reducing bird mortality from collisions with windows or tall buildings, poisoning from pesticides and unsustainable hunting and trapping.

4. Expand our knowledge base for conservation by acquiring a better understanding of bird distribution patterns; connectivity between locations; population responses to management practices; and the cumulative effects of human-caused bird mortality.

5. Engage people in conservation about birds, and encourage the participation of local communities through citizen science programs and programs that promote the benefits of conserving birds to those who depend on them for their well-being.

6. Increase the power of international partnerships by sharing and transferring information and knowledge through partnerships such as regional alliances, international joint ventures and community-based partnerships, as well as develop new mechanisms to engage business, industry, and NGOs.

We hope the Government of Canada will adopt these recommendations, and by doing so, make significant progress towards the conservation of North American landbirds.

Nature Canada Calls for Stronger Commitment to Protect Canada’s Species at Risk

Unfortunately, it has come to this.

We have decided to withdraw our complaint with the Commission on Environmental Cooperation that alleges the government of Canada has failed to enforce laws to protect at least 197 native at-risk species. By doing so, we’re sending the message that there needs to be a stronger commitment from both international bodies and national governments to protect species at risk.

Why are we doing this?

When Ecojustice, on behalf of Nature Canada and 13 other Canadian and U.S. organizations, filed the complaint nearly four years ago, we expected that it would result in an independent assessment of our allegation that Canada is not enforcing species protection law. What we got instead was cherry-picking that would have conveniently concealed Canada’s continuing inaction.

This became painfully clear when it was announced last week that the complaint, filed in 2006, would be investigated by the Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC), a body created by NAFTA to oversee environmental issues tied to the trade agreement. Unfortunately, the CEC said it would only look at 11 species, greatly narrowing the scope of its review.

These are not just any 11 species.

The biased sample happens to include those exceptional cases that would give the impression that Canada is doing a much better job than is true. In light of this limited approach, we have withdrawn our complaint, since excessive delays and political interference in the investigation’s scope have made the investigation meaningless at best, and more likely counterproductive.

What is worse, is that Canada’s record on implementing the Species at Risk Act has anything but improved since our original 2006 complaint. That means species at risk are languishing without government plans to rescue them, without the required identification of their habitat, and without protection.

Echoing our thoughts on the CEC’s recent decision, Joe Scott of U.S.-based Conservation Northwest says: “The NAFTA review process is being shown to be nothing but smoke and mirrors. We are pulling our complaint so that such a government green-washing process doesn’t get a reputation for credibility it doesn’t deserve.”

The silver lining to this cloud is that, in the years that the governments delayed responding to our complaint, Ecojustice has been successful at advancing our case through Canadian courts. Judgements in a number of cases have confirmed that Canada has failed to live up to the obligations of its species protection law. The true test of the federal government’s commitment to conservation will be its response to a parliamentary committee studying possible improvements to the implementation of the Species at Risk Act. We expect that report later this year.

Displaying Unusual Behaviour: Polar Bears Observed Preying on Bird Nests

Polar bears are known to consume a wide range of marine mammals, with chicks and bird eggs not featuring prominently in their diet.

So when scientists observed a group of polar bears feeding on a colony of arctic birds in Hudson Bay, they took note. Reporting their findings in the scientific journal, Polar Biology, the researchers speculated that the unusual behavior could be the result of sea ice breaking up earlier in the year, among other factors.

Rising arctic temperatures have caused sea ice, used by polar bears to hunt for seal and other mammals during the winter months, to break apart up to a month earlier than 20 years ago. The early break up happens to coincide with the period when arctic birds, such as snow geese and thick-billed murres, build their nests. Polar bears, finding themselves on shore earlier in the year, have been spotted feeding on chicks and bird eggs on Coats and Southampton Islands. An Environment Canada news story highlights the potential for the bears to increasingly depend on birds as a food source.

Should we be alarmed? Keep in mind that these observations are anecdotal, but they do point to the potential for climate change to impact the delicate balance in the north. As the arctic environment continues to change, complex ecological interactions are being played out with potentially troubling results for birds.

Connect with Nature in 2011

If you're still looking for something to make 2011 a year to remember, why not join your local naturalists' club? These groups organize wildlife hikes, bird identification, and nature seminars among many other activities.

Whether you already have a passion for nature or are just starting your connection with our natural world, a naturalists' club is a great way to learn more about the world around us.

Not sure how to find you local naturalists' club? There are far too many to list here, but you might want to start with our regional partners, or search the internet for "local naturalists club" + your city.

And don't forget to tell us about your adventures in nature in the comments. There's no time like the present to make the commitment to connect with nature!

The Great Southern Exodus

“Imagine your lawn crawling north away from your house at a speed of about five and a half feet per year.”

It’s a powerful image Dr. Lawrence Smith uses to describe the impact of climate change in his recent book, The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilization's Northern Future, which has garnered him media attention.

After a bit of searching, I found numerous credible sources citing scientific papers that back up his startling prediction. It falls in line with research findings that have been years in the making. I might add that to understand the full impact of Smith’s analogy, you’d also have to imagine that your south-facing backyard is shrinking, drying up, and losing lustre. 

But we’re not just talking about your lawn and backyard vegetable patch. Smith paints a picture of a very real and extensively documented phenomenon that will have wide-ranging effects. As global temperatures rise, plants and animals will be pushed north and up in to higher altitudes.

Animals and plants are sensitive to changes in temperature, with several studies showing that some have adapted to regional warming by shifting their range to the north. Global-scale models predict a continuous northerly shift in both plant and animal distributions. 

But keep in mind that even if species have the flexibility to adapt and keep up with a changing climate, physical barriers such as mountains and human settlements could stand in the way. Other factors like food availability and soil types could also prevent a range shift.

Animals and plants that are already under considerable stress are least likely to make the move north, a point that is highlighted in an assessment by the European Environmental Agency.

In a recent interview with Bob MacDonald, host of CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks, Dr. Smith updated his original analogy to something a bit more dramatic in scale. 

“It's five and a half feet per day," Dr. Smith told host Bob McDonald. "And this number refers not to the spread of agriculture, but to the mass migration of biological life that is already happening on our planet and has been for several decades. On average the world's plants and animals have been moving northward to higher latitude at a rate of about six kilometres per decade."

Climate Change Linked to Shrinking Birds

Photo: Scarlet Tanager.
Courtesy of TheMarvelousInNature from Flickr

Certain birds in North America are getting smaller, according to a paper published last year in the journal Oikos and covered in the October issue of The Scientist.

Researchers from the University of Zϋrich found that more than 100 bird species have shrunk in size over the past half of a century. This appears to be driven by climate change, since smaller body size and wing length provide an advantage in a warmer climate. What that advantage may be, is still unknown. However, it is well known that animals that live in warmer climates tend to be smaller. The changes observed could be the result of bird species adapting to a warming earth.

About half a million birds were weighed and measured in the study. On average, a species’ body mass shrunk by 1.3%. Some species, like the rose-breasted grosbeak, lost 4% over the 46-year study period. The most affected bird species were North American songbirds, but the pattern was also found in birds that spend the winter in the Caribbean and South America. The BBC’s coverage of the study includes more details and is worth checking out.

While it’s not easy to say whether these changes will have long-term effects on the bird populations studied, they have raised concerns about the consequences of a warming planet for birds.

“The fact that this selection seems to be favoring small birds and that the birds are getting smaller both suggests that the decrease in size is an adaptive response . . . But the problem is to what extent can you keep adapting in that way? If it keeps getting warmer, and you keep having to select for small size, then eventually you are going to see the consequences of that,” said Ary Hoffmann, commenting on the paper in The Scientist.

Welcome Peter Kent, Minister of the Environment

Nature Canada congratulates Peter Kent on his appointment as Canada's new Minister of the Environment. We welcome Mr. Kent to a portfolio that offers many opportunities for success in 2011.

The first opportunity will be to build on Jim Prentice's legacy and maintain the momentum towards completing Canada's systems of terrestrial and marine parks and protected areas. Mr. Kent will be able to draw on his experience as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Americas) to follow through on Canada's commitment to tri-lateral cooperation with the United States and Mexico on continental wilderness conservation. Examples of immediate do-able steps include working with the Dehcho and Tlicho Dene to formally establish the Edehzhie National Wildlife Area in the Northwest Territories, and working with the Oikigtani Inuit Association to negotiate boundaries for Lancaster Sound National Marine Conservation Area.

Secondly, the Minister will need to work with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to improve and accelerate the federal government's performance in implementing protection for Canada's ever-more-numerous species at risk. To date Canada has recognized over 600 species as being at risk of extinction, but has approved an action plan for recovery for only one species. The Minister should act quickly to ensure that the Government of Canada finally adopts a much-delayed suite of policies guiding implementation of the act.

Thirdly, the new Minister will face the challenge of convincing his cabinet colleagues to end the federal government's inaction on climate change. This will require a tidal shift to policies that effectively reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. Related policies are also needed to rein in the many environmental impacts of the tar sands, and avert the looming environmental disasters associated with unconventional oil and gas development.

Finally, in the context of the UN decade for biodiversity and the international year of the forest, we at Nature Canada hope to work with the Minister and both Environment Canada and Parks Canada on the development of an ambitious national conservation plan.

We look forward to meeting with Mr. Kent and helping Canada seize the nature conservation opportunities that we are so fortunate to have.