Mackenzie and Suffield: Opportunities for Sustainability?

The Joint Review Panel of the Mackenzie Gas Project spent two years writing a report that optimistically and ambitiously set out the conditions under which the Panel believes the basin-opening project could be the basis for sustainable development in the Mackenzie Valley and Delta.

The report tackles the big picture issues and many of its recommendations aim to mitigate negative cumulative impacts and maintain a high standard of care for future developments. If all the 176 report recommendations were to be fully implemented, perhaps the project could be a positive thing. But the chances for that are looking slim.

The National Energy Board responded last week to the Joint Review Panel's recommendations by rejecting the integrated approach to sustainability the Panel recommended. Despite claiming in November 2009 that it's taking a sustainability approach, the NEB seems inclined to taking a narrow approach to the Mackenzie Gas Project. The NEB can still reconsider after its hearings in April and the federal and territorial governments have yet to respond to the Panel's recommendations, so a commitment to sustainability might still prevail.

Yes, I'm trying to be positive today.

Another place where an opportunity to do the right thing is waiting to be seized is Suffield National Wildlife Area, or perhaps I should say EnCana's headquarters. As readers of this blog are aware, EnCana has applied to drill an additional 1,275 gas wells within Suffield National Wildlife Area. But why does EnCana still want to drill there? In North America, proven reserves of natural gas have increased substantially in the past two years, so the time may be just right for EnCana to abandon further drilling within Suffield National Wildlife Area. Read more here. And stay tuned, we'll continue to report on both energy projects, as well as the Northern Gateway.

Image: CFB Suffield by Cliff Wallis

Justice on the horizon for migratory birds

Thanks to Ontario Nature and Ecojustice, justice may be around the corner for migratory bird losses! Menkes, a Toronto property developer and manager, has been accused for the death of many migratory birds in 2008 and 2009. ”Toronto is a migratory path for millions of birds,” says bird safety advocate Michael Mesure.

Yet, the Menkes Consilium Place Office alone, and its highly reflective window surfaces, has caused the death or injury of 7,000 birds (of 82 species) according to the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP), a non-profit group working to safeguard migratory birds from the urban environment. Between 2000 and 2006 some of the victims were the White-throated Sparrow, the Golden-crowned Kinglet, Nashville Warbler, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and the Dark-eye Junco.

Birds that collide into these buildings suffer skull and spinal fractures, as well as severe lung hemorrhage, leading to their ultimate death, says Ecojustice lawyer Albert Koehl. High rise buildings may fascinate some of us, but they also have a great tendency to confuse migratory birds. Their mirror-like windows mimic natural routes, causing birds to fly right into them – some with the hope of landing on the tree branch they thought was right there! According to FLAP, windows are the number one human-related factor killing birds in North America – a soaring 100-900 million+ deaths a year, predicts Dr. Daniel Klem of Muhlenberg College.

“There are numerous ways to make these buildings safer for birds. We hope that a successful prosecution will send an appropriate message to other building owners, including downtown building owners, that action must be taken to avoid this unnecessary tragedy,” said Koehl. It is strongly recommended that building owners make use of the commercially available window treatments to safeguard migratory birds, some of which are already in decline due to other factors. Such treatments lack the reflective feature of windows currently being used; they are transparent from the inside and provide visual cues to birds from the outside. The City of Toronto has also developed guidelines to assist building owners in mitigating the potential impacts of their buildings, such as applying transparent window coverings and turning lights off at night.

A group of Menkes companies have been charged under section 14 of Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act (EPA) and the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Under section 14 of Ontario’s EPA alone, the property developer could be charged up to $6 M per day if found guilty. This, of course, will put a hole in their pockets and cost them more than changing windows!

Celebrating International Women's Day 2010

On this day of celebrating the achievements of women around the world, Nature Canada is highlighting our current integrated conservation and development project in Paraguay.

Working with local partners Guyra Paraguay and Fortaleser, our project will enable Paraguayan women farmers to fully participate in the integral rural development of their communities. The partners will work with 450 women farmers in four communities to improve their food security, health, gender equality and democratic governance, and to raise their awareness of the need for biodiversity conservation. The women will receive the tools and training they need to pursue organic farming, product commercialization and to reduce soil degradation and unsustainable use of natural resources.

You can learn more about Nature Canada's commitment to international conservation, and how it relates to our programs in Canada, on our website.

Photo by Fortaleser