IBA Caretakers: People Protecting Birds Across Canada – British Columbia

Across Canada, Canadians are engaging their communities to protect birds and their habitats by becoming Important Bird Area Caretakers.

As a Caretaker, they are part of the Important Bird Areas Caretaker Network, a nationwide initiative involving volunteers who watch over and protect natural spaces that are vitally important for breeding, migrating, staging and wintering birds.

Ted Cheskey, Nature Canada’s manager of bird conservation, recently met with Caretakers from British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

In this blog series, we follow Ted as he makes his way back east and discovers the many ways Important Bird Area Caretakers are making a difference on the ground to protect our birds.

Picking up where the last post left off, Ted pays a visit to the southern Okanagan Valley of British Columbia where he speaks with Doreen Olsen, an Important Bird Area Caretaker for White Lake IBA.

People join the IBA Caretaker Network for a wide range of reasons. For many, a love of birds and wild spaces in their communities drew them to the network and inspired them to become Caretakers. In this video, Doug Brown, a bird bander at Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory in south Okanagan Valley, briefly explains why he was motivated to become a Caretaker for Osoyoos Oxbows IBA.

Conservation of Important Bird Areas is a cornerstone of effective bird conservation in Canada and around the world. Caretakers – the eyes, ears and feet on the ground – make this important work possible. As a Caretaker, they channel their passion for nature and protecting birds by monitoring  birds, assessing habitats, and conducting conservation activities at Important Bird Areas. To date, there are Caretakers in every province in Canada.

Do you want to protect your local birds and habitat? Consider becoming an Important Bird Area Caretaker!

You can find out more about becoming a Caretaker and explore Important Bird Areas in Canada at ibacanada.ca

Next week, we’ll hear two Caretakers in Alberta talk about what makes the Important Bird Areas that they care for so special. Stay tuned!

Are you new to this blog series? Read the latest news on IBA Caretakers and watch more one-on-one interviews with Caretakers.

Important Bird Areas: "Wild Places, Full of Life"

Keith Riding is a retired surgeon who volunteers his time to monitor birds and habitats in remote coastal Important Bird Areas off Vancouver Island. In this short video, Keith joins our bird conservation manager Ted Cheskey on an overcast, windy day at the Boundary Bay Important Bird Area, where he talked about being a Caretaker in these "wild places, so full of life."



Community stewardship of local bird habitat is essential for the health of the Important Bird Area system - and for the birds. These natural spaces are vitally important for breeding, migrating, staging and wintering birds, and the conservation of these sites is a cornerstone of effective bird conservation.

Keith is part of something called the Canadian Important Bird Areas Caretaker Network. It's a nationwide initiative involving volunteers who watch over and protect these special places. BC Nature, with financial assistance from Nature Canada's Communities in Action Fund, launched the first Caretaker Network in Canada. Then in 2009, TransCanada Corporation committed $1 million over five years as a national sponsor of the network, so that today, volunteer Caretakers are in all ten provinces. Nature Canada and Bird Studies Canada co-deliver the program nationally.

Thanks Keith for being a volunteer Caretaker for not one, but four IBAs!

We Need Your Voice: Help Protect the Boreal Woodland Caribou

Nicknamed ‘grey ghosts’ for their shy, elusive nature, Boreal Woodland Caribou can't elude encrouching industrial activity that's destroying its habitat.

Back in August, the federal government released a proposed a recovery strategy to boost the Boreal Woodland Caribou’s numbers. The Caribou is threatened by industrial activities that have caused some herds to be critically endangered – and the rest are under increasing pressure.


While it's an important step in the right direction, we need a strong strategy to ensure a return to vibrant Boreal Woodland Caribou populations across the country -- and this plan isn't it.  

The recovery strategy is available online and the public can comment until October 25. You can visit the Species at Risk Public Registry's web site to post your comments, or go our site to send a letter asking Environment Minister Peter Kent to take these measures:

1. Strengthen the goal

The proposed strategy allows a 40% chance that herds will continue to decline – this is an unacceptably weak threshold. Make it a strategy for recovery, not continued decline.

2. Protect more habitat

The proposal would keep, at most, only 65% of the caribou’s range intact, and as little as 5%. Much more than 65% of habitat needs to remain intact for self-sustaining caribou populations to thrive.

3. Don’t kill wolves instead of protecting caribou.

Indefinite killing of wolves, moose, and deer is not an acceptable alternative to protecting caribou habitat. This is not a sustainable solution – protecting intact habitat is the solution.

I strongly encourage you to speak up on behalf of the Boreal Woodland Caribou and ensure stronger measures are taken to protect this iconic species.

White-headed Woodpecker needs BC Ponderosa Pines Protected

The White-headed Woodpecker (Picoides albolarvatus) is a small woodpecker that relies on coniferous forests throughout its range. In Canada, they are found exclusively in old growth Ponderosa Pine stands in southern British Columbia. White-headed Woodpeckers use these trees for nesting and feed on their cones.

The White-headed Woodpecker is listed as ‘Endangered’ under the Species at Risk Act. This law obligates the Environment Minister to prepare a Recovery Strategy for species listed as Endangered or Threatened and identify critical habitat, to the extent possible based on available information.

There is relatively little knowledge about this species in Canada. The population of White-headed Woodpecker is thought to be no larger than 100 individuals and was recently estimated at only 10 individuals. There have been very few observations in the past ten years.

One thing that is known, however, is that habitat loss is a major threat to the survival and recovery of this species in Canada. The draft Recovery Strategy sets out the studies needed to understand and protect the species and its habitat and also describes measures to address the effects of past habitat loss. Pending these studies no critical habitat is identified, but plans to do so in an action plan are proposed for 2016.

Nature Canada, in collaboration with the David Suzuki Foundation, recently commented on the government’s draft Recovery Strategy. We have encouraged the government to be more precautionary in their approach by:

1. Protecting remaining ponderosa pine stands while the research is completed and critical habitat is formally identified;

2. Addressing ongoing habitat loss and degradation so that the remaining critical habitat doesn’t disappear before it can be identified and protected under the law; and

3. Adjusting the proposed timelines so that the identification of critical habitat and the completion of an action plan occur no later than a year after the final recovery strategy is published, which should happen soon, once the government has reviewed the comments received during this public consultation on the draft strategy.

Learn more about the White-headed Woodpecker and read our comments.

Review of Enbridge Northern Gateway Project Begins

Photo: Tom Middleton

On July 12, 2011, Nature Canada and BC Nature officially registered to participate as interveners in the environmental assessment review of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project. As interveners, Nature Canada and BC Nature will provide information on the impacts that the project could have on birds, bird habitat and terrestrial wildlife to a panel that will ultimately decide whether the project is in the public interest.

As we've said here before, this tar sands shipping project poses unacceptable risks to the ecosystems and biodiversity of the Northern B.C. Coast. There are 28 Important Bird Areas in the Northern B.C. coast and the whole Queen Charlotte Straight is an extremely globally important area for marine birds, other marine animals and fish. This rich ecosystem would be exposed to oil pollution from increased tanker traffic and an impossible-to-rule-out oil spill. The pipeline will also fragment the pristine habitat of boreal birds and other wildlife, including Caribou and Grizzly Bears.

Over the next year or so (assuming no delays) a Joint Review Panel (JRP) will examine the application submitted by Enbridge, as well as evidence and comments from First Nations, individuals, environmental organizations, and other interested persons regarding the project and its environmental impacts. There JRP will hold hearings starting in January 2012 to decide whether the project is in the public interest. The deadline to register as an intervener today, Thursday, July 14, but there are other ways you can  participate and comment.

We hope that the Panel will not allow the project to proceed after considering the impact on wildlife and many other objections to the project, particularly from First Nations. But we're at least a year away from that decision with much work ahead. We will keep you posted!

House Passes Motion to Ban Tankers in the northern BC coast

On Tuesday, the House of Commons passed a motion to ban tanker traffic off the B.C. coast. The motion was introduced by Nathan Cullen of the NDP and was supported by the Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois. It calls on the Harper government to come up with legislation banning oil-tanker traffic in B.C.'s north coast - namely, Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound. A ban would clarify the questions around the exiting moratorium on tanker traffic, which the government claims is voluntary. And more importantly, a ban on tanker traffic would protect the ecosystems and coastal communities of northern BC from a potential oil spill.

Enbridge's Northern Gateway Pipeline Project proposes to build pipelines from Alberta to B.C.'s Kitimat port to ship oil from the tar sands to markets in Asia. This would 1) contribute to the projected increase in tanker traffic on the B.C. coast (about 225 per year to begin with), 2) increase the likelihood of another Exxon Valdez disaster, and 3) give the Canadian tar sands (the largest carbon emitting industry in Canada) more reason to exist.

A ban on tanker traffic would stop this dangerous and unsustainable proposal.

On the same day the motion passed, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Scott Vaughan, unveiled his alarming conclusions on Canada's readiness to respond to offshore oil spills, including that:

- The government lacks the readiness needed to respond to a major oil spill;
- Both Transport Canada (the regulatory agency responsible for preparing spill responses) and the Canadian Coast Guard (the federal body that would manage the spill on-site) have incomplete or outdated knowledge on the risks of spills;- The Canadian Coast Guard hasn't evaluated its capacity to respond to spills since 2000, and doesn't have a system in place to track spills!

Have you ever wondered how many oil spills take place in Canadian waters? Well, apparently between 2007-2009 there were 4, 160. Vessels, such as oil tanker and fishing boats, were involved in 2, 000 of them.

Now that the motion has passed, what happens next?

What should happen, is that a bill is introduced and new legislation is put in place to ban oil-tanker traffic. But there isn't much reason to hope the government will act on a motion they didn't support, even if it is the will of Parliament. After all, they continue to ignore a motion they did support.

What am I talking about? 

In May this year, following the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the House unanimously passed NDP MP Linda Duncan's motion to take hard look at Canada's preparedness and fix any weaknesses. The motion read:

"That this House notes the horror with which Canadians observe the ecological disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico and their call for action to prevent such an event in Canada, and therefore calls on the government immediately to conduct a thorough review and revision of all relevant federal laws, regulations and policies regarding the development of unconventional sources of oil and gas, including oil sands, deepwater oil and gas recovery, and shale gas, through a transparent process and the broadest possible consultation with all interested stakeholders to ensure Canada has the strongest environmental and safety rules in the world, and to report to the House for appropriate action".

In the long-term interests of coastal wildlife and the communities that exist along Canada's west coast, the government should take the opportunity to implement BOTH motions and move us closer to preventing a major oil spill in Canada.

Looking Deeper Into Fish Lake

  

Grizzly bears are one of the
species identified by the
Prosperity Review Panel
that would be adversely affected
by development at Fish Lake.



The government of Canada made a good decision earlier this week when it turned down a proposal for an excessively damaging mine at Fish Lake, British Columbia. Nature Canada congratulated Environment minister Jim Prentice for respecting the conclusions of the federal environmental assessment of the project, and for respecting the will of First Nations about land use in their territory. Looking deeper into the context of that decision reveals some important insights and implications.

Environmental assessment works
While the process of environmental assessment may seem mysterious from a distance, Nature Canada has been up close and personal with it many times over the years and we are convinced it works. Environmental assessment allows independent panels to consider expert testimony, reach conclusions about the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project, and identify mitigation measures that could limit the damage. The resulting recommendation to the government (and it is only a recommendation) can range from approval of the project, to approval on the condition that certain mitigation measures be required, to rejection of the project as proposed.

Politics happens
The government must then decide whether or not to accept the recommendations about the studied project, and this is where the hard facts of environmental assessment meet the vagaries of politics. The government can follow the recommendations completely, partially, or not at all. But thanks to the public nature of the assessment process, we the citizens know whether or not our government is approving projects that destroy our environment. This is where the vagaries of politics meet accountability to the voters. In the case of Fish Lake, Minister Prentice deserves credit for doing the right thing for Canada, despite pressure from within his own caucus to do otherwise.

More to come
Nature Canada is very engaged in two other environmental assessments that are awaiting a response from the federal government: proposed gas drilling in the Suffield National Wildlife Area, and the proposed Mackenzie gas project.

In the case of the Suffield NWA, the environmental assessment report concludes that the proposal to drill 1,275 gas wells would interfere with the purpose of the National Wildlife Area. It also recommends that the government complete overdue work to identify the critical habitat of species at risk, and take other conservation action even if the project does not proceed. We are hopeful that Minister Prentice will accept all of this panel's recommendations too, reject the gas drilling project, and take other actions to better protect the national wildlife area.

In the case of the Mackenzie gas project, the federal government has been accused of attempting to secretly make the panel rewrite some of its recommendations. This suggests a lack of appreciation for a key feature upon which citizens depend: the independence of environmental assessment panels. We congratulate the panel for standing up for the their independence in the interest of Canada. We hope Minister Prentice will show leadership and convince his cabinet colleagues to accept the panel's report. You can help us encourage the government to stop the Mackenzie Gas Project and to instead establish protected areas in the Mackenzie Region that will be safe from development.

Changing the rules
Parliament will soon be undertaking a review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. There is cause for concern, since the government already used the budget bill to weaken the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act earlier this year. You can be certain that Nature Canada will be working to ensure the review results in a stronger act, not a weaker one.

Back to the lake(s)
The decision about Fish Lake is a good news story, and we hope it does not go down in history as a rare exception. A loophole in the law that protects fish habitat, the Fisheries Act, allows the government to exclude some lakes from the protections of the act and let mining companies use lakes as dumps for toxic mining waste. A handful of lakes has been targeted so far, including Fish Lake in BC and Sandy Pond in Newfoundland and Labrador. We are concerned that this loophole threatens pristine lakes across Canada. Now that Fish Lake has been spared, it's time to take action on the others.

Government Rejects Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine; A Victory for Fish Lake

Nature Canada is pleased to learn of the Government of Canada's decision to reject Taseko Mines Ltd.'s proposed gold-copper Prosperity Mine in British Columbia. The proposed mine would have led to the transformation of Fish Lake into a 'tailings impoundment area', i.e., a mining waste dump site, under the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations (MMER) of the Fisheries Act.

We applaud Environment Minister Jim Prentice for considering the adverse environmental impacts of the proposed mine, as concluded by the Federal Review Panel, as well as respecting the importance of Fish Lake to the Tsilhqot'in First Nation.

In an announcement made yesterday, Environment Minister Jim Prentice said "the significant adverse environmental effects of the Prosperity project cannot be justified as it is currently proposed."

There are now questions on the future of mining investments in BC according to an article in The Vancouver Sun

Celebrating All Buffleheads Day

A pair of Buffleheads
Photo by Nick (kukkurovaca)/Flickr

A major event in the history of Buffleheads is the Great Bufflehead Crash that occurred in November 1940 near Foam Lake, Saskatchewan. The crash may have been caused by a heavy fog on the night of November 4th, with the addition of Foam Lake’s street lights that confused Buffleheads into thinking it was a lake. These are diving ducks, so one can only imagine the outcome of such a mirage – they could dive straight into the ground! Some say the crash could have been due to freezing rain that forced the ducks to ‘fall from the sky’.

At Nature Canada’s 2010 Annual General Meeting, a resolution – All Buffleheads Day, October 15th, 2010 – was adopted to recognize that 2010 is the 70th anniversary of the Great Bufflehead Crash of 1940; to encourage the government to implement and support the monitoring of key phenological indicators through citizen-based monitoring programs; and to commend the District of North Saanich and the Town of Sidney in their efforts to protect essential Bufflehead habitat in Shoal Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary.

Read a short profile on the Bufflehead

The Bufflehead: Canada’s Smallest Diving Duck

Common name: Bufflehead
Latin name: Bucephala albeola
Range: Coast to coast
Size: Has a wing length of 168 mm and weighs between 272–635 g
Population estimate: Continental estimate of 1.4 million birds in 2004
Lifespan: 15 years

Buffleheads, or ‘butterballs’ as some hunters like to call them because of the amount of fat their bodies store during migration (115 g - almost 20% of their mass!), are one of the scarcest birds in North America. These black and white ducks are known to be highly active, hardly ever giving themselves a break, and nest in small cavities such as the holes vacated by Flickers. Their diet in freshwaters consists of arthropods such as insect larvae, and in salt water, small shrimps, crabs and amphipods.

Buffleheads usually occur in groups of 10 or fewer, and have a coast-to-coast breeding range. However, in spring and summer, British Columbia and northern Alberta seem to be the preferred spots for breeding Buffleheads. In fall they migrate east, south and southeast, with the largest numbers migrating over the prairies making their way to the Atlantic. In winter, Buffleheads are found on Canada’s west coast, Lake Ontario and the southern coasts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. In the United States their wintering areas are from New Jersey to North Carolina in the east and Washington to central California in the west.
Besides being the smallest ducks in Canada, Buffleheads are unique in their courtship displays and their punctuality in returning to their wintering grounds along the Pacific coast. During courtship, males fly over females while fluttering their wings and then land in a ‘water-skiing’ motion, displaying both their feet and plumage (see photo on left). Buffleheads are a monogamous species, remaining with the same mate for a few years.

According to a study carried out by James Finley, the Caretaker of Sidney Channel Important Bird Area (IBA), Buffleheads arrive at Shoal Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary on Vancouver Island on the 298th day of the year, every year – that is punctual! The 298th day of the solar cycle equates to October 15th, which has come to be known as the All Buffleheads Day.

Quick fun facts:

- The species' name is apparently due to their domed heads and was originally Buffalo Head.
- They are also known as Bumblebee Dippers, Robin Dippers, Hell-divers and Spirit Ducks.
- The Bufflehead's genus, Bucephala, is said to be closely associated to the name of Alexander the Great's horse, Bucephalus or Buchephalas.


Photos 1 & 2: Stewart Ho
Photo3: Vladimir Morozov

Pacific Great Blue Heron: A West Coast Warden

Many Canadians are familiar with the sight of this beautiful, tall, and graceful wading bird. With long wings, thin legs and a short tail, it is the biggest heron species in North America. It has blue and grey plumage combined with a black stripe that extends from its eyes to the back of the head. It is easy to identify this large bird fishing along shorelines and even in suburban ponds. The fannini subspecies is actually smaller and slightly darker in colouration when compared to the Great Blue Heron (herodias subspecies) in the rest of North America.

This subspecies lives year round on the Pacific Coast and mostly breeds in the Strait of Georgia. During this time, the fannini gathers in colonies for courtship, nesting and rearing its young in large platform-like stick nests usually situated high in trees. 

The Great Blue Heron fannini subspecies typically hunts a wide selection of animals, but concentrates on small fish during its breeding season. In the winter months it will switch to a diet that includes small mammals.

There are a number of threats to the species' continued survival. Roughly half of the species' global population breeds in Canada. Surveys conducted on bird colonies in British Columbia suggest a significant decline in the species' reproductive rate since the 1970s and that the proportion of nesting pairs that successfully raises at least one fledgling is considerably lower than in the past. Forested areas which provide the herons nesting grounds have declined due to urban growth, and there has also been disturbance and destruction of nesting sites by logging operations and road construction.

What You Can Do

• Participate in Nature Canada's ongoing efforts to protect the habitat of the Great Blue Heron and other birds that are in danger of disappearing in Canada by supporting our Important Bird Area program and our species at risk work.
• Be mindful of protected areas where the Great Blue Heron nests and lives, and find out how you can continue to support and lobby for conservation laws through Nature Canada's monthly eNewsletter.

Read more of the Pacific Great Blue Heron's story, including interesting species facts and additional actions you can take, in our endangered species profile.

Photo: Great Blue Heron on the Cow River by Dave Polster

Protect Canada's "Pocket Desert"!

The desert grasslands of the South Okanagan are home to over one-third of British Columbia's endangered species and other species at risk, including the bighorn sheep.

As the human population in the South Okanagan rapidly increases, the bighorn sheep's home is under growing threat by suburban sprawl and agricultural expansion. The time to act is now.

Help Us Establish a South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park Reserve!

Fact: There are more species at risk in the South Okanagan-Similkameen Valley than in any other part of BC, including white-headed woodpeckers, burrowing owls, badgers, tiger salamanders, spadefoot toads, pallid bats, spotted bats, flammulated owls, scorpions, and great basin spadefoot toads.

Fact: The South Okanagan-Similkameen Valley contains part of the Interior Dry Plateau Natural Region, also known as Canada's "pocket desert", one of the most endangered habitats in the country. The valley is all that connects the dry landscapes of BC's interior with the desert lands of the United States, allowing species to migrate north and south.

Fact: A national park would permanently protect 5 Important Bird Areas, each of which is home to at-risk bird species and other endangered plant and animal species.

Help protect Canada's only desert ecosystem. Ask the Canadian Government to create a National Park in the South Okanagan-Similkameen Valley.

So that's how federal protected areas designations work... Update on Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area Reserve

I published a post a couple of days ago suggesting that the formal designation of the Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area (NMCA) Reserve in Haida Gwaii was a fait accompli. Well, that's not exactly how these sorts of things work.

My earlier Gwaii Haanas post mentioned that in order to make the NMCA Reserve designation official, Environment Minister Jim Prentice had to table an amendment to Schedule 2 of the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act in both Houses of Parliament - to be reviewed by their respective committees responsible for protected areas designations. According to the Act, the committees have 31 sitting days to review and collect evidence on the amendment (called an Order in Council) and decide whether or not to reject it. This is largely a formality to ensure that new protected areas are not squeezed into law without oversight, and is parliamentary process nonetheless.

Minister Prentice tabled the amendment on Monday, June 7th, at which time it was passed along to the House Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development and the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources. The Senate committee did "not disapprove" Prentice's Order in Council on June 8th, but it took the House committee until yesterday afternoon to arrive at a similar decision. The House committee heard testimony from several of Parks Canada's senior executive staffers before it decided to waive the 31 day review period and allow the Gwaii Haanas NMCA Reserve to be added to Schedule 2 of the Act without delay. Excellent news!!

But here's the best part: Nature Canada staffers were on an elevator with Parks Canada's senior executives when they heard the news about the committee's decision!! Just as news of the committee's decision broke, myself, Ahmed Zedan and Kim Pham-Huy were crammed into an elevator in Parliament's West Block just after the committee went in camera, alongside Parks Canada CEO, Alan Latourelle; Director General of the National Parks Directorate, Ron Hallman; Director of Park Establishment, Kevin McNamee; and Senior Counsel of Legal Services, Louise Bourbonnière, as well as senior staff from CPAWS and the Nature Conservancy of Canada. We all heard that the Gwaii Haanas NMCA Reserve was official via Alan Latourelle's Blackberry - quite a coincidence!

So there you have it - a bit more insight into what exactly has to happen to formally designate a federal protected area. And a funny coincidence that we heard the great news where and with whom we did! Congrats to the Haida Nation, CPAWS, CPAWS BC, Parks Canada and other organizations for the many years of hard work they put into getting this protected area established!

Enbridge Insists on Pipeline Project to the BC Coast

On April 20, the world awoke to news concerning BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Most of us, myself included, weren’t even aware that there was a oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, let alone that something had gone terribly wrong. Today, most of us have clued in on the rig and its resulting oil spill and are reminded of another tragedy, the Exxon Valdez, once considered the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters...until BP’s Deepwater Horizon.

Five weeks following BP’s Deepwater Horizon, Enbridge filed a formal application to the National Energy Board (NEB) requesting permission to build a twin pipeline system running from Edmonton to Kitimat, British Colombia and a marine terminal in the latter one.

John Carruthers, President of Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines, wrote in a recent brochure advocating the pipeline project: “I certainly appreciate the importance that local residents place on the environment and I want to encourage all affected stakeholders and Aboriginal people to continue to provide feedback on our project.” He added “feel free to email me at john@northerngateway.ca with any questions you may have.” So feel free, many already have.

On March 23, more than 28 First Nations in British Columbia called for a halt to the project. The pipelines cross traditional lands and the increased tanker traffic (200-220 tankers a year) puts the future of the coastal waters on which they depend in potential jeopardy. Mr. Carruthers must have missed their emails as two months after the First Nations called for a halt to the project Enbridge formally filed, on May 27^th, for construction of the pipelines.

Four days after the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines application, a solidarity rally was held in Kitamaat Village to protest the project. Even Amnesty International has 'piped' in, noting the project should not proceed without the free prior informed consent of the First Nations that would be affected by it. This standard was adopted in the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by 144 states. Four states voted against the declaration: Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and you guessed it...Canada.

To further spice up the mix, a rather unusual ally in the fight against the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines has emerged. Kinder Morgan Canada, owner of an existing oil pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast, stated in a news release that the Northern Gateway Project had not demonstrated adequate commercial support. Kinder Morgan believes that the better way is simply to increase the output of their own pipeline, rather than build another one. Kinder Morgan motives albeit not environmental, only add to the debate.

We at Nature Canada are opposed to the Enbridge Northern Gateway project because of the risk of an oil spill in the coast and the damage it would cause to the ecosystem and to livelihoods. We believe Greenpeace said it best, “Accidents happen. If oil tankers are brought to the Great Bear Rainforest, it’s not a question of if a spill will occur; it is a question of when, where, and how large. . . When you move oil, you spill oil. No amount of technology or process can eliminate human or mechanical error.” Just look at the Gulf!

This blog post was contributed by Nature Canada volunteer Stefan Kohut. Thanks for the insight, Stefan!

Photo by Pat Moss

Springtime Flowers

Jim Dubois, one of our online supporters, recently sent us a beautiful array of spingtime flowers that can be found along the Quinsam river in British Columbia. Thanks for sharing Jim. If you like Jim's work make sure to visit his website at http://www.theineleganteagle.com/.

Pink Fawn Lily

Swamp Lantern (also known as skunk cabbage)

Salmonberry

Lady's Smock

Yellow Wood Violet

Court Ruling Against BC Government - Protection of the Caribou

On March 19, 2010 British Columbia’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of the West Moberly First Nation’s petition against the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources and First Coal Corporation’s proposed coal mine plan that would have had significant impacts on critical habitat of the nationally endangered Burnt Pine caribou herd in northeast BC. Treaty No.8, a northern treaty signed in 1899, played a significant role in the ruling given that the Crown failed to thoroughly consult the West Moberly petitioners and also failed to accommodate their rights – especially their hunting rights. In the words of the Honourable Justice Williamson:

‘The consultation was not sufficiently meaningful, and the accommodation put in place was not reasonable.’

Chief Roland Willson, of the West Moberly Nations, expressed his gratitude towards the court’s decision saying it was able to stop both the federal and BC governments from evading their obligations to protect the caribou under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA). The BC government was ordered to immediately put in place a ‘reasonable, active, program for the protection and augmentation of the Burnt Pine herd’. The lack of a satisfactory consultation for the proposed coal mine has led to a mandatory adequate consultation - except this time it is not for a coal mine but for the protection of the Burnt Pine caribou herd. They have 90 days to present this. The crown shall consult with the West Moberly people as well as ecologists and biologists from the Ministry of Environment whom are to be referred to by West Moberly.

Andrew Gage of West Coast Environmental Law said this ruling may be the cause of a series of similar events where First Nations intervene and push governments to protect species across the country.

There are currently ONLY 11 caribou left in the Burnt Pine herd. Hopefully, the new plans will make it possible to repopulate this herd.

The Reasons for Judgment can be found at the following link:

http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/SC/10/03/2010BCSC0359.htm

Nature Canada Pipes Up Against Enbridge

Twenty-one years ago, the Exxon Valdez ran aground, spilling 40 million litres of crude oil into Prince William Sound and causing irreversible damage. Now, Enbridge wants to bring the same risk to B.C.'s pristine coastal waters and rainforest.

The proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline would carry oil from the tar sands to a port at Kitimat, B.C. Supertankers fed by the Enbridge pipeline would travel the same waters where the Queen of the North ferry sank in 2006.


Nature Canada is one of over a hundred signatories - including First Nations, businesses and prominent Canadians - to an open letter opposing the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline and crude oil tanker traffic in BC's northern coastal waters. The risk oil spills pose to First Nations, communities and the environment is too great.

Add your voice and pipe up against Enbridge by sending a letter to Enbridge CEO Patrick Daniel today.

Young Naturalists' Club of BC celebrates their birthday with a gift for you

A growing body of evidence confirms that when children spend time in nature they are healthier, happier, and smarter. Since 2000, the Young Naturalists' Club of BC has been connecting children with nature through a growing network of volunteer-led family and school nature clubs across the province. Sharp-shinned hawks, long-toed salamanders, sea otters - these are some of the wild neighbours Young Naturalists' Club members meet on Explorer Days, learn about in NatureWILD Magazine or work to protect while earning Action Awards.

Celebrate the YNC's birthday with a present for you - a chance at winning a signed Robert Bateman Print!

Robert Bateman's artwork reflects his deep connection with the natural world. He, better than anyone, knows the importance of getting children outside and exploring the natural world. You can learn more about how time spent in a nature has influenced this celebrated Canadian Artist in the spring issue of NatureWILD Magazine.

In celebration of the Young Naturalists' Club of BC's 10th birthday, Robert Bateman has generously donated two signed prints to the YNC to help raise funds and connect more children with nature.

Individuals making a donation to the YNC this year will have a chance to win one of the signed Robert Bateman prints. Names will be randomly drawn twice throughout the year - once this spring at the YNC Annual General Meeting in Kamloops May 16th and donors have a second chance to win a signed Robert Bateman Print at the YNC 10th Birthday Party during the fall. Donations can be made online at http://www.ync.ca/. Thank you for giving the gift of nature to young Canadians!

Thanks to our friends at the Young Naturalists' Club of BC for sharing this post with us.

The Northern Gateway: Another unsustainable proposal?

The Great Bear Rainforest; First Nations lands, livelihoods and traditions; grizzlies, wild salmon, orcas and 28 Important Bird Areas; a tanker moratorium; Climate Change... these are just but a few of the many reasons a proposed pipeline to Kitmitat, BC for exporting tar sands oil should be of great concern to all Canadians.

The project should have been reviewed through a public inquiry, but the government has instead established a Joint Review Panel under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Nature Canada recently joined 18 environmental groups in urging the government to undertake a much more comprehensive environmental assessment than is currently planned of the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Project.

Enbridge's Gateway Pipeline Inc. proposes to construct and operate pipelines, 1,170 km in length, between an inland terminal near Edmonton, Alberta and a marine terminal near Kitimat, British Columbia. Approximately 500 km of the pipeline will be in Alberta, and 670 km in British Columbia. The project will include an export oil sands product pipeline, an import condensate (a hydrocarbon) pipeline, terminal facilities, integrated marine infrastructure at tidewater to accommodate loading and unloading of oil and condensate tankers, and marine transportation of oil and condensate.

The scope of an environmental assessment is one of the most critical elements determining whether the review can be a meaningful exercise and contribute to sustainability. Does purporting to assess the environmental impact of this proposed pipeline without reviewing the impact of tanker traffic and of the increased oil sands production make any sense? To me, it's like calculating the harm done by a gunshot by considering the trajectory of the bullet, but not what it hits or who pulled the trigger.

A recent Supreme Court decision states that authorities conducting environmental assessments can't scope the review to avoid addressing a project's full environmental impacts. So there is perhaps some hope that Minister Prentice will decide the review of the Enbridge Pipeline will be a meaningful one.

The Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project put sustainability at the center of its assessment, released on December 30, 2009. While I have some reservations about their conclusions, their approach to sustainability should become best practice for all environmental assessments of major projects. It should be applied in reviewing the Northern Gateway project. Many don't want the pipeline at all. Stay tuned...

Photo by Tom Middleton