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!

Sable Island is Canada's Newest National Park

Endangered Roseate Terns nest and migrate through Sable Island.

We're celebrating today's announcement of a new national park reserve on Sable Island!

Sable Island is a windswept, crescent-shaped island about about 300 kilometres southeast of Nova Scotia and its sensitive coastal landscape is a haven for migrating and nesting birds.

A national park designation signals vastly improved protection of Sable Island's fragile ecosystems and presents a renewed mandate for research and monitoring at the site. It also fulfills a January 2010 federal-provincial promise to increase protection of this remote island.

Sable Island is a globally important bird habitat that is home to the at-risk Ipswich Sparrow, the endangered Roseate Tern and many other bird species during the breeding season and the spring and fall migrations. The island is recognized as a globally and nationally significant Important Bird Area (IBA) through BirdLife International's Important Bird Areas Program, under which Nature Canada and Bird Studies Canada are co-partners responsible for overseeing IBAs in Canada.

A national park here will provide the type of permanent habitat protection we hope to see for all of Canada's IBAs. However, visitor numbers will need to be strictly limited inside Sable Island National Park to maintain the Island's sensitive sand dune systems. Recreation, tourism and declining habitat quality have been identified as key concerns for the island through our Important Bird Areas program

In recommendations submitted to Parks Canada in 2010, we advised that the national park predominantly be zoned a "wilderness area" with visitor numbers strictly controlled over time. Visitor limits will ultimately be established in the park’s management plan, which has yet to be finalized.

We were also pleased by the announcement that Nova Scotia and Ottawa will table legislation to prohibit oil and gas drilling from the surface of Sable Island and out to one nautical mile from shore. Nature Canada had also recommended that Parks Canada prevent development of any subsurface resources, like oil and gas, on Sable Island, as it typically does in National Parks and National Marine Conservation Areas.


The legislated prohibition on oil and gas development on the island's surface and immediately offshore is a very positive move. It’s also encouraging to note that the government plans to work with industry to amend significant discovery licenses to strengthen prohibitions on drilling.

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.

On the Road with IBA Caretakers

Ted Cheskey, our manager of bird conservation, is out on Canada’s west coast meeting volunteer Caretakers who are part of the Important Bird Areas Program. On a visit to the Sidney Channel IBA in North Sidney B.C., Ted had a chance to speak with James Finley, IBA Caretaker, about marine IBAs, being a Caretaker, and his love for the beautiful Bufflehead:



Sidney Channel is a 4 km wide body of water that lies along the extreme southeast shore of Vancouver Island between James Island (and the larger Saanich Peninsula) and Sidney Island.

The Sidney Channel IBA is a terrific place to birdwatch. In one short boat excursion, Ted saw Marbled Murrelet, Rhinoceros Auklet, Herrmann's Gull, Bald Eagle, Brant Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Common Loon, Pacific Loon, and Harlequin Duck, as well as Harbour Seals and Harbour Porpoises. Of particular significance at this site are the large concentrations of Brandts Cormorants during fall migration (just over 1% of the worlds estimated population), and Mew Gulls and Brant during spring migration.

As a Caretaker, James is the eyes, ears and feet on the ground at his IBA. Like other Caretakers, James has been matched to his specific IBA to monitor birds, assess habitats, and conduct conservation activities. He works with local communities, scientists, governments and nature groups to promote Important Bird Areas and to ensure that local conservation ideas are put into action. Hands-on volunteer work from people like James helps build healthier bird communities and more sustainable environments for future generations.

BC Nature, with financial assistance from Nature Canada's Communities in Action Fund, launched the first Caretaker Network in Canada. In 2009, TransCanada Corporation committed $1 million over five years as a national sponsor of the Canadian IBA Caretakers Network, so that today, volunteer Caretakers are in all ten provinces.

BirdLife International began the IBA program in Europe in the 1980s in order to identify, conserve and monitor a network of sites that provides essential habitat for bird populations. Since that time, BirdLife partners in more than 178 countries and territories have joined together to build the global IBA network. Nature Canada and Bird Studies Canada co-deliver BirdLife's IBA Program in this country.

Bufflehead, photo by Vladmir Morozov

This weekend, James and many of his neighbours in Sidney will be celebrating the return of that community’s adoptive bird, the Bufflehead. According to James, who has been observing these birds at Sidney Channel Important Bird Area (IBA) for many years, Buffleheads arrive there and at Shoal Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary on Vancouver Island on the 298th solar day of the year, every year. This timing equates to the 15th day of October (except in Leap Years), and October 15 has come to be known as All Buffleheads Day in recognition of the annual migratory event.

So this weekend, take a moment to consider the Bufflehead and the special place it holds in Canada's natural history. If you happen to be in Sidney, British Columbia, join the celebrations for All Bufflehead Day and the 80th anniversary of the Shoal Migratory Bird Sanctuary at Lillian Hoffar Park.

Emergency Summit: Is it Game Over for the Sage-Grouse in Canada?

Greater Sage-Grouse, courtesy Christyann Olson

In 2011, just 13 male greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) were recorded on “leks” in Alberta. Next door, in Saskatchewan, there were only 35. These numbers represent a greater than 95 percent decline since 1968 -- a decline that has continued unchecked despite official designations on provincial and federal species at risk lists. 

The reasons for the collapse of greater sage‐grouse populations are well known by scientists and governments, as is what's needed to reverse the declines. Yet, as an iconic bird species is poised to disappear forever from Canada, two things are quite clear:

1) current efforts are failing to prevent the extirpation of the greater sage‐grouse and protect its habitat
2) there is an urgent need for immediate action and substantive measures if the imminent extirpation of the greater sage‐grouse from Canada is to be prevented.

A panel of scientists and conservation organizations, including Nature Canada, held an emergency summit on the future of greater sage‐grouse in Canada on September 7 and 8, in Calgary. The sense of urgency was palpable, and the desire to spark action was strong.

A public communiqué was issued at the end of the summit, signed by more than a dozen scientists and conservation groups from Canada and the United States. You can read the whole thing on our web site. Here, though, is a partial list of the actions that must occur to save the sage grouse:

•  Designate additional critical habitat as identified on proposed critical habitat maps produced in 2010.
• No new developments in critical greater sage‐grouse habitat. Major concerns are regarding prolonged or expanded industrial development and associated activities in and around critical habitat.
• Restore existing critical habitat, including removal of industrial infrastructure.
• To allow for future recovery, previously occupied range outside current critical habitat must be restored to functionality suitable for greater sage‐grouse.
• Any new development outside of critical habitat but within the identified zone of influence (15 kilometres)must not contribute to the disturbance of the species or destruction of critical habitat.

Read more.

Cairn Energy Oil Spill Response Plans Now Public

Responding to pressure from environmental groups around the world, Greenland has finally released Cairn Energy's oil spill response plans for public review.

Last month, Nature Canada joined 53 other international organizations – including Greenpeace, the David Suzuki Foundation, and Council of Canadians – in sending a letter to Greenland’s Prime Minister, Kuupik Kleist, expressing serious concern over the lack of transparency regarding Cairn’s operations in this unique and fragile region.

Bizarrely, the Greenland government argued it had been necessary to keep Cairn's contingency plans confidential until now because of the "unlawful actions aimed at the safety measures at oil exploration". Greenpeace has launched a number of protests at Arctic drilling operations over the past year.

Cairn's drilling operations -- which so far haven't yielded commercial amounts of oil and gas -- are a real gamble for the pristine wilderness of the Arctic. Walrus, seal, bowhead whale and polar bear habitats could be disrupted and entire remote communities wiped out if a toxic spill eliminates their means of subsistence living.

A spill in this region could be devastating to arctic seabird colonies feeding on the ice floes at Important Bird Areas along Nunavut’s northern coast, Baffin Island or as far south as Labrador. Ivory Gulls, Northern Fulmars, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Thick-billed Murres and many other seabird or water bird species would be at risk.

Cairn's oil spill response plans are being made public even as Shell has admitted that more than 200 tonnes of oil have entered the North Sea after a leak in a flow line leading to the Gannet Alpha oil platform 180 km off Aberdeen, Scotland.
 
In a wearily familiar refrain, the company had at first vastly underreported the scale of the leak, and as for plans to stop the flow? Apparently, the leak is in an "awkward" place, and there are hundreds of tonnes of additional oil in the pipeline, yet to pollute a world-famous colony of bottlenose dolphins in nearby waters.
 
Canada should heed these events and think long and hard before allowing any new offshore drilling, especially in the Arctic, and enact a plan to end our reliance on dirty, polluting fossil fuels in favour of responsible development of clean, renewable energy.

With each new spill, and each inadequate clean-up response, it becomes clearer that even with preventive measures in place, accidents are certain to occur, so it is important to identify places of great ecological significance and permanently protect them. Establishing a comprehensive system of marine and coastal protected areas is essential before development begins, so that irreplaceable natural habitats aren't lost forever to disastrous industrial accidents. Important Bird Areas and existing Migratory Bird Sanctuaries are good starting points to better protect habitats for birds that, in many cases, Canada shares with the rest of the hemisphere.

Support Adding the Polar Bear to the Species At Risk List: Send Your Letter Now!

Last week we shared the news that Canada's Environment Minister, Peter Kent, has proposed adding the polar bear to the Species at Risk list. Thousands of Nature Canada supporters have sent letters and signed petitions to the federal government demanding action to protect the polar bear, as global warming destroys the bears' habitat and scientists raise warnings about the future of the species.

There is a 30-day comment period to voice support for the Environment Minister's proposal, and we've prepared a sample letter that you can send. Here it is.

The deadline for adding your comments is August 1, 2011. So make sure Minister Kent knows you support adding the polar bear to Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act as a species of special concern. Every letter counts!

Polar Bear to be Added to Species at Risk List

At last, in part thanks to thousands of letters sent by Nature Canada supporters, Canada appears set to list polar bears under Canada's species-at-risk legislation.

Ottawa gave notice July 2 of the proposal to list the polar bear as a species of special concern under the Species At Risk Act, something Canada’s scientific Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife has been recommending since 1991.

The proposal is undergoing a 30-day public comment period, and a final decision is anticipated to be made in November.

This important milestone means that, by law, a plan must be devised within three years to prevent the species from becoming endangered or threatened.

Polar bears are the world’s largest land predators, and the most majestic creature of the Far North. But dramatic changes, caused by global warming, are taking place in the Arctic that threaten the survival of this spectacular species.

Global warming is melting the polar ice caps, robbing the bears of the ice floes they need to hunt prey. As the annual sea ice melts, polar bears are forced ashore to spend their summers fasting. If the Arctic ice cap continues to melt sooner and form later, polar bears will become too thin to reproduce and many scientists predict they will become extinct by the end of this century.

The Arctic sea ice, which some reports say is shrinking by up to five per cent every ten years, not only provides hunting ground for polar bears, but shelter and transportation for seals, walrus, arctic foxes, and the Inuit people. The underside provides a surface for algae that supports cod, char, beluga, and narwhal. The white sea ice also has a cooling effect on climate by reflecting light away from Earth’s surface. As it melts, global warming advances even more quickly.

The United States designated the polar bear as threatened in May 2008. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature added the polar bear to its "Red List" of the world's most imperiled wildlife in 2006.

COSEWIC has said four of Canada's 13 polar bear subpopulations are at risk of becoming threatened over the next few decades, due to shrinking sea ice in some areas and overhunting in others. In 2009, the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG) cited climate change as the greatest challenge to the conservation of polar bears, and concluded that 1 of 19 subpopulations is currently increasing, 3 are stable and 8 are declining. For the remaining 7 subpopulations available data were insufficient to provide an assessment of the current trend.

There are approximately 15,000 polar bears in Canada, accounting for 60 per cent of the world's polar bear population, according to federal estimates.

Nature Canada and its supporters have been actively lobbying for the polar bear to be added to the Species at Risk list. More than 3,100 people sent letters demanding official designation, and over 40,000 people signed our petition for fast action on climate change to save the polar bear.

We encourage you to take part in the 30-day comment period – let Environment Minister Peter Kent know your views on listing the polar bear on Canada’s Species at Risk list.

Red Knot Suffers Rapid Decline: Latest Report

A new draft report on the status of the Red Knot has been released -- and the news isn't good.

Except for a slight increase seen in 2009, the number of rufa knots (an imperiled subspecies) wintering in Tierra del Fuego has been in decline for the last decade. This year's update reports one of the sharpest declines yet, from 16,260 birds in 2010 to now 9,850 – a nearly 40% loss. There's also apparently no evidence that horseshoe crab numbers are recovering; their eggs provide critical nutrition for knots as they refuel on the U.S. mid-Atlantic Coast en route to Arctic breeding grounds.

The draft report is available here.

The Red Knot is one of many bird species that stop over along the coasts of Hudson and James Bays before migrating south to destinations in the Caribbean, Central and South America. Protecting birds along their flyway – the route between breeding and wintering areas – is the cornerstone of global bird conservation. The health and integrity of these sites are important in maintaining stable and thriving populations of migratory birds. Engaging these northern communities is an important step toward protecting these birds.

That's why Nature Canada's manager of bird conservation, Ted Cheskey, has travelled repeatedly in the past year to the region, where we're working with First Nations communities to find ways of protecting migratory birds that nest, breed and feed in Important Bird Areas in Cree homelands.

Is Cairn Energy Prepared for an Arctic Oil Spill?

We were all transfixed by the environmental destruction of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill last year. Yet, however bad the spill in the Gulf of Mexico was, almost everyone agrees a major spill in the Arctic sea would be worse. How much worse? Last November a report commissioned by the Pew Environment Group examined that question, and concluded a cleanup could take years – if it’s even possible at all. Efforts would be hampered by wintertime temperatures that can drop below minus 50 degrees Celsius, fierce Arctic storms, endless darkness and fog that shrouds the region for more than half the days of the year.


Yes, drilling in the Arctic is reckless, and dangerous – and something big oil companies are quite eager to do.

Case in point: Edinburgh-based oil and gas company Cairn Energy has plans to drill off the coast of Greenland – without making its oil spill response plan public. This is a document that an oil company has to draw up explaining how it would clean up a spill. They are nearly always made public, but Cairn is keeping its one secret.

On Thursday, Nature Canada joined 53 other international organizations – including Greenpeace, the David Suzuki Foundation, and Council of Canadians – in sending a letter to Greenland’s Prime Minister, Kuupik Kleist, expressing serious concern over the lack of transparency regarding Cairn’s operations in this unique and fragile region.

Cairn is gambling with the pristine wilderness of the Arctic. Walrus, seal, bowhead whale and polar bear habitats could be disrupted and entire remote communities wiped out if a toxic spill eliminates their means of subsistence living.

A spill in this region could be devastating to arctic seabird colonies feeding on the ice floes at Important Bird Areas along Nunavut’s northern coast, Baffin Island or as far south as Labrador. Ivory Gulls, Northern Fulmars, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Thick-billed Murres and many other seabird or water bird species would be at risk.

Our changing climate –due in large part to the burning of fossil fuels -- is melting the Arctic sea ice, changing the nature of one of the most remote, and vulnerable places on earth. It is time to place a moratorium on new offshore drilling, including the Arctic, and to end our reliance on dirty, polluting fossil fuels in favour of responsible development of clean, renewable energy.

Here in Canada, the Government should delay new off-shore drilling projects until a consistent, strictly enforced set of regulations is in place that protects the environment, oil and gas workers and coastal communities.

Even with preventive measures in place, accidents are certain to occur, so it is important to identify places of great ecological significance and permanently protect them. Establishing a comprehensive system of marine and coastal protected areas is essential before development begins, so that irreplaceable natural habitats aren't lost forever to unsustainable development projects and unforeseen accidents. Important Bird Areas and existing Migratory Bird Sanctuaries are good starting points to better protect habitats for birds that, in many cases, Canada shares with the rest of the hemisphere.

Birds Know No Boundaries

Birds know no boundaries – that was the theme last week at our annual general meeting in Winnipeg. After humans, birds are the most studied living things on this planet, and we have much to learn from them. Through international collaboration – sharing ideas, uniting our efforts – we can achieve so much more than any one group or nation can alone.
With that in mind, here are two news items to come out of a special reception we held, prior to our annual meeting, to celebrate international bird conservation efforts:

First, we added our signature to a birding and guiding memorandum originally signed by the Province of Manitoba and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) in October. Manitoba Minister of Water Stewardship Christine Melnick and Nature Canada Board Chair Richard Yank did the signing honours, before the agreement was sent to Israel for their signatures too. 

Nature Canada Board Chair Richard Yank and
Manitoba Minister of Water Stewardship Christine Melnick
sign international birding memorandum.

SPNI and Nature Canada are partners in BirdLife International, a global alliance of conservation organizations working together for the world's birds and people. The agreement represents a commitment between BirdLife International partners and the Government of Manitoba to find ways of jointly promoting birding, ecotourism, and the protection of birds and their habitat.

Partnerships are central to our organization’s work in nature conservation and education, so we’re pretty excited to participate in this unique collaboration. Something else we’re really looking forward to: taking part in a 2012 nationwide tour of our country by Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian nature officials.

For the past 15 years there has been co-operation between Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians on the environment in general – and migrating birds in particular – in an effort to show that the land of the Middle East can be shared and that positive interactions between the people and especially the students of the three nations is possible. Next June, the three project leaders will conduct a national tour to share their experience with Canadians.

This collaboration – a joint effort to set aside differences and just focus on a common love for birds – has already succeeded in building a bridge between people in this war-torn region and it has helped to bring together teachers, pupils, conservationists, birdwatchers, academic researchers, and farmers. Now they are bringing their message of peace to Canada while helping to raise awareness about birding and bird conservation. We’re excited to accompany them on part of their visit.

When the nature delegation comes to Canada, they’ll be sure to stop in Manitoba, which brings me to the second news item – Minister Melnick also launched the Manitoba section of a new Pine to Prairie International Birding Trail established between Manitoba and Minnesota. The minister unveiled the route map and highway signage for the Manitoba portion of the 800-kilometre trail that features 68 prime wildlife viewing sites between Detroit Lakes, Minn., and Hecla-Grindstone Provincial Park in Manitoba.

It was a wonderful reception filled with good news and inspiring stories – including those of our 2011 Conservation Award winners – thanks to our members and friends for a great time in Manitoba!

Ostrander Point: Local Council Endorses Naturalist Objections to Wind Farm Proposal

Last night, Prince Edward County Council voted to endorse local naturalist objections to a proposed wind power project inside an Important Bird Area. In a 13-3 vote, the Council voiced agreement with local residents who oppose plans to build and operate nine wind turbines within Ostrander Point Crown Land Block, a critical refuelling spot for birds migrating from South and Central America on their way to and from Canada's Boreal Forest.

From CountyLive.ca:

Wind turbines and birding areas do not mix.


This is the message Prince Edward County Field Naturalists members Myrna Wood and Cheryl Anderson brought to council last night.

The best wind power is offshore on Lake Ontario, said Wood, but there is a moratorium on offshore turbines. She added there are a lot of other appropriate areas in the County and other parts of the province that would not disturb significant wildlife and would have just as much wind power. “We support the Green Energy Act and wind energy but it has to be put in the right place,” said Wood. “Ostrander Point is the wrong place.”

“Prince Edward County is the penultimate refuelling refuge for birds migrating from South and Central America on their way to and from the boreal forest,” Anderson said. “In the spring they can be seen on Doppler radar massing on the south shore of Lake Ontario waiting for an appropriate time to cross over to the closest land – which is Prince Edward County. When they arrive they are tired and hungry.”

Anderson explained the data of the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory confirms millions of birds use this flyway. “If the plans of the Ontario government and Gilead Power are allowed to go forward, millions of birds will have to confront another obstacle when they arrive at their refuge. Nine wind turbines on the Ostrander Crown Land block and a further 20 proposed turbines in the PEC South Shore Important Bird Area, part of the WPD proposal, will have to be negotiated by the already exhausted and famished birds. There is no doubt that the mortality will be significant.”

Full story is here.


Gilead Associates, the company that is applying for a Renewable Energy Approval to build and operate the wind turbines within the Ostrander Point Crown Land Block, has applied to the Province of Ontario for a permit to “kill, harm and harass Blanding’s Turtle and Whip-poor-will as well as damage and destroy the habitat of Whip-poor-will for the purpose of the development and operation of Ostrander Point Wind Energy Park.”Gilead permits to lease Ostrander Point and destroy SAR habitat. Nature Canada has been working with local naturalists to protect this Important Bird Area and halt plans for the wind project.

Parks Canada Celebrates 100th birthday!

Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, B.C.

Today marks the 100th birthday of the establishment of Parks Canada, the world’s first national park service. Our country is known for many things, but perhaps it’s our natural treasures – the lakes, forests, and mountains national parks were created to protect – that people the world over admire.

Parks Canada has planned a series of events throughout this Centennial year to celebrate our parks and historic sites, and to encourage people to fall in love with nature by visiting these special places. Some of us here at Nature Canada took part in one event just last week, to kick off the My Parks Pass program – a joint initiative between Nature Canada, Parks Canada and the Historica-Dominion Institute to distribute free family passes to Grade 8/Secondary 2 students across the country. This project is an important part of our work to help connect people to nature at an early age. (How many of us, as adults, can trace our love for nature to a childhood experience – or many – that instilled in us a lifelong affection for the natural world?)

This Centennial comes at a time when “a great tide of Canadians are embracing camping in growing numbers, many for the first time,” according to the Toronto Star:

According to an Angus Reid survey commissioned by Canadian Tire and Coleman Canada, at least 46 per cent of Canadians now take camping trips as part of their summer vacations. And even though it’s still early in the season, “camping reservations at Parks Canada [campgrounds] are up 14 per cent over the same period last year and 24 per cent compared to the five-year average,” says the federal agency’s Natalie Fay.

This is good news. Yes, it's true, the perennial challenge is balancing efforts to increase visitorship with the national parks system’s primary goal, the protection of biodiversity. Parks exist for people to enjoy the outdoors, and they exist to preserve wildlife. Nevertheless, encouraging visitors to experience our national parks is a great way to reconnect people with nature; in doing so, Canadians will be more apt to support nature conservation generally.
Other than My Parks Pass, some of Parks Canada’s upcoming events are:

• A centennial celebration in Toronto on May 21, featuring a Parks Canada-themed Blue Jays game, evening camp-out in Rogers Centre, street fair and free outdoor concert.

• On Canada Day (July 1) and Parks Day (July 16), Parks Canada will offer visitors the chance to enter its places across the country for free.

• Also on Parks Day, a free concert series will gather Canadian artists in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

• Operation Unplugged, a joint broadcast and web venture that will provide opportunities for eight urban youth to trade their "techno-dependent" lifestyles for a summer "unplugged" in Canada’s national parks, national historic sites and national marine conservation areas where they will compete in challenges under the guidance of a host and Parks Canada staff

• New HD documentaries, including The National Parks Project on Discovery Canada, season two of A Park for All Seasons on Oasis HD and the pilot of a new series on national historic sites on Treasure HD, offering Canadians behind the scenes visits like never before.

• Unveiling of a coin with the Royal Canadian Mint and the launch of a commemorative postage stamp with Canada Post.

• Special “learn to camp” programs across the country and brand new accommodations offerings in national parks.

Over the years, we've been close partners with the people at the Parks Canada Agency, engaging in the complex process of establishing new national parks, or fostering public understanding and appreciation of Canada's natural heritage. Here's to 100 years of celebrating and protecting nature -- and to another century of nature conservation.

The Best of Environmental Film Comes to Ottawa

Every few weeks, my daughter Cassie insists we visit the Canadian Museum of Nature here in Ottawa -- what she calls "the dinosaur museum" -- so that she can visit the triceratops models and feed them her lunch. The museum staff is very accommodating toward these wholly unsanctioned fantasy mealtimes.

This week, I have another good reason to visit the museum, and it has nothing to do with giant lizards. From April 5-8 the Canadian Museum of Nature will present some of the best environmental documentaries from Toronto's Planet in Focus Film Festival.

The Ottawa screenings are part of a national tour with stops at other natural history museums in several Canadian cities, including Whitehorse, Halifax and Victoria. I've looked at the line-up; it's a mix of the fear-inducing and the awe-inspiring. There are award-winning films about the coming crisis in drinking water, the dire effects of a mass bee hive collapse, and the alarming effects of global warming. But there is also an uplifting story about indigenous peoples saving the Yukon River, another about former enemies joining forces to save the hawksbill turtle, and a fascinating underwater journey into Alaska's inside passage.

Nature Canada joined famed author and nature advocate Margaret Atwood on the red carpet at the 2010 Planet in Focus festival for the premiere of the Ron Mann film In the Wake of the Flood, a documentary about Atwood's worldwide Year of the Flood book tour. Since Atwood helped to raise funds and awareness about Nature Canada on the tour, we make a small appearance in the film.

(Ron Mann's film isn't on the docket for this travelling film fest -- but you can still buy the DVD!)

Check out the museum's web site for film schedules and other details, or the Planet in Focus site for more info about screenings in other cities.

Is There a Dark Side to Springtime?

By March I've usually had my fill of snow, so I tend to welcome the annual spring melt -- but wait, is there a dark side to spring? One environmental chemist says so.

From a University of Toronto Scarborough press release:

“During the winter months, contaminants accumulate in the snow,” says [University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) environmental chemist Torsten] Meyer, an expert on snow-bound organic contaminants and a post-doctoral fellow at UTSC. “When the snow melts, these chemicals are released into the environment at high concentrations.”

In a specially designed, temperature-controlled laboratory at UTSC—which includes a homemade snow-gun and a chemical pump—Meyer creates large baths of fresh snow already tainted with organic contaminants. This one-of-a-kind set-up enables the researcher to slowly melt his “dirty” snow, collect the melt-water and track which chemicals emerge from the snowpack and when.

Meyer’s research reveals a worrying surprise. “One of the main findings is that there is a peak contaminant flush at the very beginning of the melt,” he says. With the advent of spring, according to Meyer, comes a deluge of pollution.

By the time snow has turned black with muck and grime, many harmful chemicals — including those from pesticides, car exhaust, telecommunications wiring insulation, water repellent clothing, paints or coatings — may have already seeped out of the snow and into the surrounding ground water or surface water.

Contaminant-laden early spring melts are particularly ill-timed for many aquatic organisms, who are at a vulnerable stage in their life cycle. As Meyer points out, his findings could be used to reduce that risk to wildlife -- for example, municipalities can choose snow dump sites that are well-contained to protect against that early flush of pollutants.

Leaders Celebrate a Decade of Conservation Efforts as U.S. Bird Protection Law Turns Ten



Ruby-throated hummingbird

 As millions of birds wing their way back to North America this spring, leaders in the conservation movement are gathering tonight in Washington D.C. to celebrate the passage of a key American wildlife law ten years ago.

For 10 years, the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act has catalyzed bird conservation in the Americas with the investment of $125 million through an innovative public-private partnership that triples every dollar taxpayers invest by matching government grants three-to-one with private dollars.

In the process, the legislation has energized local, on-the-ground conservation and habitat restoration initiatives throughout the Western hemisphere, including Canada.

The passage of this act has had a hugely positive impact on bird conservation efforts throughout the hemisphere. From breeding grounds in Canada, to wintering sites in the south, and all points in between, projects supported by this law are helping us understand what is happening to bird populations and take coordinated action to preserve entire species.

Our executive director, Ian Davidson is joining ambassadors from several western hemispheric nations and leaders in bird conservation at the D.C celebration event, held at the Hall of the Americas. The event is hosted by the National Audubon Society and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

From disappearing marshlands along the Gulf Coast, to pesticides and pollution along major flyways, migrating birds like Red Knots, Swainson’s Hawks and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds face an arduous journey in search of healthy habitat. More than one third of all Neotropical species are in decline. Since its passage in 2000, the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act has helped protect more than 3 million acres of vital bird habitat.

In Canada, funding from the act helped community stewardship of local bird habitat at Important Bird Areas (IBAs), with the launch of the Canadian Important Bird Areas Caretaker Network. Initiated by BC Nature, and now operating in seven provinces, Caretakers are matched to specific IBAs to monitor birds, assess habitats, and conduct conservation activities.

Since 2007, funding from the act has also helped Nature Canada to work with its BirdLife International partner in Haiti, Haitian Audubon Society, to conserve rare forest habitat of migratory bird populations like the Bicknell's Thrush.

The project is located in the community of Formon, on the edge of Macaya National Park, an important wintering habitat for the Bicknell’s Thrush, a secretive and threatened songbird that breeds in Atlantic Canada. Threats to the songbird, which has declined in Maritime Canada (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) by 15% annually over the last two decades, include atmospheric pollution, climate change and loss or degradation of its forest habitats.
Community residents are provided an incentive – children attend school for free if their parents agree to stop cutting down the forest and help with reforestation – to adopt sustainable forest management practices which relieve pressure on important habitat for migratory birds. Over 80% of the parents have agreed, and for the second year in a row, the school has offered hope for 300 girls and boys.

The true significance of legislation like the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act is that it encourages cross-border conservation efforts -- which, for migratory birds, is the only truly effective means of saving species. It's an act that deserves continued support.

Road Bypass Relieves Pressure on New Brunswick Important Bird Area

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Great news for the Semipalmated Sandpipers and other migrant shorebirds that frequent New Brunswick's Bay of Fundy: a bypass route that redirects traffic around the Johnson's Mills Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) site has recently been completed. The 2.3-kilometre (1.4 mile) diversion will reduce traffic and create a buffer zone for the sensitive area, which includes vital habitat for roosting and feeding migrant shorebirds.

From the Moncton Times and Transcript:

JOHNSON'S MILLS - An ecological wildlife refuge in Johnson's Mills has been preserved as the result of rerouting of Route 935 along Shepody Bay, the innermost arm of the Bay of Fundy...

...The relocation takes traffic from the buffer zone that is crucial to the ecological integrity of Shepody Bay. It also eliminates repeated stabilization efforts along the eroding shoreline that has seen the road moved back a number of times over the years.

The reserve is an area of nutrient-rich mudflats and roosting beaches that attract millions of migrating shorebirds every summer. The birds, in turn, attract bird watchers and other tourists from all over the world. Route 935 takes these visitors to the mudflats.

The federal government contributed $810,000 under the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund to support the initiative. The provincial government provided a matching contribution of $810,000 through the 2009-10 and 2010-11 capital budgets of the Department of Transportation for the balance of the project's cost.

The road bypass not only benefits the WSHRN site, but the the Dorchester Cape and Grand Anse Important Bird Area.

Dorchester Cape is a rocky cape that extends into the bay, and Grand Anse is an area of sand and gravel beaches situated along the eastern coast of Shepody Bay, in eastern New Brunswick. It is adjoined by a large ledge of intertidal mud flats, known as Bucks Flats. Grand Anse is within the town of Johnsons Mills. The Semipalmated Sandpiper is by far the most abundant shorebird in the Bay of Fundy during fall migration, with up to 200,000 birds recorded at the roost site during peak migration. Dorchester Cape is also extremely important for migrating Dunlin, as well as numerous other shorebird species, including Short-billed Dowitchers, Least Sandpipers, Red Knots, and White-rumped Sandpipers.

Report says it's time to end subsidies to fossil fuel companies

An oil pipeline stretches across
the landscape

Last week the Climate Action Network released a report on the billions of dollars in tax breaks that the Government of Canada hands out to oil, coal and gas companies each year -- and the problems this poses for attempts to address our changing climate and transition to a greener economy.

From the report, Fuelling the Problem:

By subsidizing fossil fuel producing companies the government is encouraging faster production and facilitating the rapid expansion of large fossil fuel projects such as the Alberta tar sands, Canada’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gas pollution.

Globally, artificially low costs of fossil fuels have been shown to encourage wasteful consumption, distort energy markets, and allow for increased greenhouse gas pollution, thereby fueling the climate crisis. Subsidizing oil extraction also makes investments in oil more attractive compared to lower carbon, lower risk alternatives, thereby increasing the lock‐in of economies into fossil fuels.

In a time of fiscal constraint, the federal government could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in extra revenue by ending unfair tax breaks to some of the richest companies in the world. Eliminating handouts to oil and gas corporations operating in Canada would also help the country take a step towards a cleaner energy economy.

So why no action? Using leaked government memos, the report outlines a months-long strategy to downplay its responsibility to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, something all G20 countries agreed to do in 2009. According to the report, the Green Budget Coalition (in which Nature Canada is a member) has identified over $900 million in tax breaks to the fossil fuels industry that could be eliminated in the March 2011 federal budget.

Study Shows Toxins Affect Polar Bears, Gulls, other Arctic Wildlife

A recently published report uses new data on the effects of persistent organohalogen contaminants (OHCs) on Arctic wildlife to evaluate health risks of a range of species, including polar bears, killer whales and black-backed gulls.

The study, created for the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, looked at OHC contamination in relation to other stressors like disease, predation, climate change, food scarcity, and body condition, to see how contaminants affect species at a population level.

For the Arctic's top predator, the research findings:

have highlighted that OHCs adversely affect polar bear liver and kidney functions, immune response and endocrine system, which helps regulate growth, cognitive abilities, and body temperature. These impairments may alter the ability for bears to acclimatize and adapt to extreme Arctic environments.

When these effects are considered in combination with climate change, natural periods of fasting, cub survival rate, and female reproductive impairment, polar bear populations in East Greenland and Svalbard may be at higher risk of chronic population-level stress.

Studies of other species found similar trends. The effects of certain OHCs on great black-backed gulls from northern Norway, for example, appeared to have been aggravated when the birds were exposed to parasites, climate change, and food scarcity, among other things.

More details from this study are summarized in Environment Canada's quarterly newsletter, Wildlife and Landscape Science News, which, incidentally, I always find an interesting read.

In the Climate Debate, We Don't Need More Science, We Need More PR

Leading up to the recent G20 summit in Toronto Prime Minister Harper called climate change talks a "sideshow" and cancelled the gathering of environment ministers that normally precedes the meeting.

Back in January, Americans ranked global warming dead last among public priorities (just as they did in 2009). Now, that public opinion cooling trend has spread elsewhere. Just 42 percent of Germans are concerned about climate change, down from 62 percent in 2006. In Australia, only 53 percent still consider it an urgent issue, down from 75 percent in 2007. Newsweek Magazine has relegated climate change to being "just one policy priority among many" and "just another flavor of grubby interest politics".

For climate scientists, and the NGOs who advocate bold, decisive action to address the climate crisis, these are frustrating times.

Distressingly, many people in the green movement are tempted to spend time casting blame for the apparent rise in skepticism over global warming -- it's the climate change deniers and their blogs, it's the big oil lobby, it's journalists bent on providing "both sides" of the issue, it's an ignorant public that refuses to listen to the facts.

But assigning blame is a waste of time.

As Erin Biba argued in a recent Wired Magazine column, what climate scientists need isn't someone to blame, and it isn't more science. It's better PR.

This isn't a message scientists necessarily like to hear. Biba writes:

This kind of talk can be unsettling to scientists. “Scientists hate the word spin. They get bent out of shape by the concept that they should frame their message,” says Jennifer Ouellette, director of the Science and Entertainment Exchange, a National Academy of Sciences program that helps connect the entertainment industry with technical consultants. “They feel that the facts should speak for themselves. They’re not wrong; they’re just not realistic.”

Facts alone rarely convince people outside academe. Messages need to be personal, and whether we like it or not, arguments that appeal to a person's basic self-serving nature are more effective. It's not enough to say "Eat your vegetables, they're good for you." Instead you need to answer questions like What's in it for me? How do I benefit? We need to frame the issue in terms that say if we do something (invest in clean energy, say, or adopt conservation) we'll be richer and happier than we are today.

It's all the more important that the climatology community seek the expertise of PR professionals at a time when every crackpot theorist has the power to sway opinion by simply typing away in some basement. The days are long gone when spending years studying a subject, earning an advanced degree and becoming an expert in your field automatically granted you some credibility and trust. A strong anti-establishment current against experts, primarily attacking their basic motivations ("they're just saying that to get grant money") has seriously eroded public trust in traditional centres of authority.

And in the end, scientists must turn to the PR professionals because, as Chris Mooney writes in the Washington Post:

as much as the public misunderstands science, scientists misunderstand the public. In particular, they often fail to realize that a more scientifically informed public is not necessarily a public that will more frequently side with scientists...

Experts aren't wrong in thinking that Americans don't know much about science, but given how little they themselves often know about the public, they should be careful not to throw stones. Rather than simply crusading against ignorance, the defenders of science should also work closely with social scientists and specialists in public opinion to determine how to defuse controversies by addressing their fundamental causes.

In other words, we don't need more facts. We need better storytellers.