Report Card: Canada gets an "F" on saving endangered species

Legislation to protect species from becoming extinct has been in force in Canada for six years. When Canada enacted the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) to address the mounting threats to Canada’s endangered species, it was an important day for wildlife protection in North America.

So far, it has fully protected only one species: a lucky snail in Banff National Park.

The Banff Springs Snail, which exists only in the Park, is the sole species to be given an action plan in the Act's six-year history. Countless other species like the Boreal woodland caribou, Northern spotted owl and polar bear continue to disappear with no effective help from the federal government.

Nature Canada and our colleagues at Ecojustice, David Suzuki Foundation and Environmental Defence today gave the Government of Canada a failing grade on implementing the Species at Risk Act, with the release of a report card. But we hope a Parliamentary review that is now taking place will change this. Read more on our website...

Save Our Boreal Birds - Sign Petition

We're making one last push to recruit signers of our petition to Save the Boreal Birds, before we officially submit the signed petitions to leaders in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal on May 12.

Canada’s Boreal Forest, a 1.4 billion acre green garland stretching from Yukon to Newfoundland, is one of the world’s most unique and important ecosystems. The billions of birds raised in North America's Bird Nursery leave their nests in the fall and migrate to winter locations throughout North, Central and South America. Many of our favorite backyard birds began their lives in the Boreal.

In recent years, we have seen long-term declines in many Boreal bird species. Rusty Blackbirds have declined by 95%, Olive-sided Flycatchers, Boreal Chickadees, Bay-breasted and Canada Warblers, and Evening Grosbeaks by more than 70%, and scaup and scoters by over 50%.

The Save Our Boreal Birds Campaign is a joint effort supported by a variety of nature groups and environmental organizations (go here to see who's part of the campaign) who are fighting to have at least 50% of Canada's boreal forest protected from development, and sustainable development practices in the remaining areas.

Show your concern for the future of Canada’s Boreal Forest and the billions of birds that rely on it. Sign this letter urging government leaders to protect the Boreal today.

Nova Scotia IBA gets protected

A globally significant Important Bird Area (IBA) off Nova Scotia's northeastern Cape Breton coast has been formally protected as a provincial wildlife management area. This IBA consists of two long, narrow islands, Hertford Island and Ciboux Island. The islands support the largest Great Cormorant colony in North America, with counts of more than 500 breeding pairs of this species, representing as much as 9% of the western Atlantic North American population of Great Cormorants. Other breeding seabirds, including Atlantic Puffin, Black-legged Kittiwake and Razorbill also make this IBA home. These islands join the growing number of Canadian IBAs with formal protected-area status. Such legal protection is one important way to safeguard our network of close to 600 IBAs that are vital breeding, wintering and migrating habitat for our birds from coast to coast to coast.

Oil sand push back - the forgotten wildlife

With all levels of government and industry pushing back hard at opposition to oil sands, it is easy for opponents to capitulate. However, oil sand opponents can take some solace in the rumblings from south of us, the main market for oil sands oil. For the oil sand spin merchants in Canadian and Albertan government and industry, the US is proving to be a hard sell. Some states and even the US Federal government are questioning our industry and government claims (no distinction between industry position and government position in Canada), that oil produced from the tar sands is clean. They either have policies, or are developing policies to discourage or out-right ban the import of “dirty oil.” This is the subject of a story on the front page of today’s Report on Business in the Globe and Mail.

Federal Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt is quoted in the article complaining that proposed rules on tracking and marketing oil in California will discriminate against Canadian oil sands oil in favour of oil from other sources such as Mexico and Venezuela. While we can not blame the Minister for “doing her job” to promote the oil sands products on behalf of Canadian oil sands industry and Alberta government, I can not help but wonder why the Minister would think that enlightened Californians would think that buying one dirty oil over another is any improvement. The central idea there is to get off the carbon addiction.

I admit to not knowing much about how oil is produced in Mexico or Venezuela, but I do have an understanding of process in the oil sands of the Athabasca region of Alberta. For the most part it is an ugly process. The delicate crust of boreal forest is stripped off the land by gigantic machines, wetlands are dewatered, muskeg and peat decomposes and releases its carbon accumulated over thousands of years. Streams and rivers are rerouting, massive toxic reservoirs are created for the contaminated tailings, and a large gaping wound is opened in the earth’s crust. We’ve seen the photographs, thanks largely to National Geographic. We understand the impact on wildlife. The mind boggles at the seemingly impossible prospect of restoring the waste ponds or open pits into healthy functioning ecosystems or restoring a semblance of biodiversity, something that the companies have committed to in the permitting process.

The carbon content issues aside, there is no refuting that the open-pit style of mining oil sands, and the intensive infrastructure of roads, pipelines and landing pads associated with deep in-situ extraction, are destroying habitat for birds, threatened Caribou populations, and innumerable other species. No amount of carbon capture and storage – however effective or ineffective this method proves – will save wildlife or restore ecosystem functions. The highly destructive nature of oil sands exploitation is rarely if ever mentioned in the media, and never by government. It is a cost of production in their eyes.

However, would you allow this type of industrial-scale desecration of nature in your neighbourhood, or near your cottage or fishing hole? I think that is a fair question to ask. Oh sorry, no one lives up there in northern Alberta right? And when that bulldozer rolls through the boreal forest, toppling trees and crushing out life in its path to clear the way for the giant shovels, no one notices because no one hears.

Join us at the Green Living Show

If you're going to be in the Toronto area this weekend, come visit our booth at the Green Living Show, at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place.

Hundreds of exhibitors will be there, including dozens of NGOs like Nature Canada -- we're all clustered near the front doors, so we'll be easy to find. I'll be manning the booth, giving away posters, frog guides, monarch guides and a lot more. You can download a coupon here to gain 2 for 1 admission to the show.

If you're at all interested in adopting a greener lifestyle, whether you're just starting to make changes in your life or ready to take your eco-living to the next level, there'll be a huge number of ideas, products and charities to support there.

Check out the details at the Green Living Show's web site and I hope to see you there!

Fossil of Walking Seal May Be Missing Link

Happy Earth Day everyone!

While I was at the Canadian Museum of Nature this morning, spending time with the middle school students for the launch of Robert Bateman national writing and art contest, I received the scoop on a bit of really cool news that I had to keep to myself for a few hours -- but now that the news is official (and widely reported)...

A new fossil animal has been discovered in Canada's Arctic, and it may be a missing link in the evolution of seals.

Puijila darwini was a carnivorous mammal that lived 24 to 20 million years ago. This primitive animal, related to the group that includes modern seals, sea lions and the walrus, is entirely new to science. Its name combines an Inuit word for "young sea mammal," often a seal, with an homage to Charles Darwin.

The skeleton, which is about 65% complete, is of a web-footed, otter-like creature that was evolving away from a life on land. Its features show an early step on the way to developing flippers and other adaptations for a life in the sea.

The fossil was discovered on Devon Island by a research team led by palaeontologist Dr. Natalia Rybczynski. She is a researcher at the Museum and lead author on a scientific paper published on April 23 in the journal Nature.

Apparently, the find was a fluke. You can find news reports here and here.

The fossil will be on view at the Museum in Ottawa from April 28 to May 10, and then will be part of a travelling exhibit. If you're not in the neighbourhood you can watch a short YouTube clip about the Arctic find.

(Image from Canadian Museum of Nature)

Enter the Robert Bateman Writing, Art and Photography Contest

Tomorrow morning I'll be hanging out with students of Heritage Academy school in Ottawa, for the launch of Robert Bateman's 9th annual Get to Know Writing and Art Contest.

If you, or someone you know, is 19 years of age or younger, I encourage you to enter your artwork, writing, or -- new this year -- photography, inspired by your encounters with the natural world.

I'm always blown away by artwork we receive, and a bit humbled by the fact that I don't have anywhere near the talent they do when it comes to drawing, painting or poetry -- and they're as young as 6 or 7 years old! Just check out these previous winners. (the image above is by a previous winner from a couple of years ago, K. Sheppard, age 8).

The 2009 contest theme is biodiversity in anticipation of the United Nations’ International Year of Biodiversity in 2010. Biodiversity, short for “biological diversity,” encompasses all living things on Earth and their interactions with each other and their environment.

Winners of this year’s contest will have the chance to receive fantastic prizes. Your artwork will be featured on Canada's first ever Youth Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp; you’ll take a trip to Parks Canada’s Palisades Stewardship Education Centre in Jasper, Alberta; your work will be published in the nationally distributed 2010 Robert Bateman Get to Know Contest Calendar; and you could win a digital camera, art supplies, books, and much more!

Nature Canada has been a partner and committed supporter of the Get to Know Contest for six years, and this is the first year that we have been the premiere partner.

We support this contest because it helps achieve a very important goal: connecting young people to the natural world. As young people explore the natural world, they gain a greater understanding of its beauty, its gifts, and its fragility. It also helps you to explore your own creativity, and what better source is there for artistic inspiration than nature?

So get outside, explore nature, and then express what you see through art, writing or photography. Full contest details are on the Get to Know web site or you can check out our web page with more details.

Taking a Walk in the Arctic Woods

Could trees replace tundra in Canada's Arctic? Perhaps, according to a new report to be released by 35 of the world's top forestry scientists. (see press release)

While warmer temperatures from global warming will spell destruction for forests in places like the Western US, southern Europe and Australia, Canada's treeline may expand northward. From the Globe and Mail:

Warmer temperatures will be a boon to woodlands in northern countries, as will the presence of increased carbon dioxide in the air, which will act as a type of natural fertilizer for tree growth in the Arctic.

Besides Baffin Island, forests will be able to spread to most of the Hudson Bay coastline; Southampton Island, perched at the top of Hudson Bay; much of the Ungava Peninsula in Quebec; and near the northern tip of Labrador, possibly as soon as 2070.

Now, I can already hear certain crowds cynically argue that development in the southern Boreal Forest is no big deal because the forest is expanding northward, but the scientists who authored this report caution:

It may take a long time for new northern forests to get established. One problem is that soils may not be rich enough to immediately support tree growth.

Barring human intervention to plant trees in warming areas, forests naturally spread slowly because it takes years for new trees colonizing an area to be mature enough to produce seeds that can then spread further northward, said Andreas Fischlin, an ecology professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and one of the report's co-authors. Sometimes seeds move long distances on rivers, ocean currents or animals, and jump to new areas, but this isn't a sure thing, he said.

The report, called "Adaptation of Forests and People to Climate Change – A Global Assessment"and to be presented at a United Nations forum, also adds to the debate over whether forests are our friends or foes in the fight against climate change.

People tend to think of forests as an important brake on global warming because they store massive amounts of carbon. But damage to the globe's forests caused by climate change -- from drought-induced fires to insect infestations -- may cause them to cease absorbing carbon, and instead release huge amounts of carbon, making global warming even worse.

Since trees are responsible for absorbing roughly a quarter of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, this transformation from so-called carbon sink to carbon emitter would have significant implications. More details here, and here.

Flying mouse-traps?

A pest to a farmer; a meal to an owl. Read about how birds of prey can help reduce the use of pesticides and threats to crops, water quality and wildlife!

Environment Slips From Radar

From the Toronto Star, columnist Chantal Hebert ponders the apparent evaporation of concern over the environment among Canadians polled, and among the politicians who monitor those polls:

Once the hot seat of the Conservative cabinet, the environment portfolio is well on the way to becoming a question period La-Z-Boy.

In sharp contrast with his two immediate predecessors who were regular targets of opposition attacks, Jim Prentice is lucky if he gets to stretch his legs once over the course of the opposition's daily 45 minute grilling of the government...

...Forty days into the session, backbench Conservatives have put more questions to the environment minister than the Liberals and the NDP combined...

...The economy has become the overriding priority of Canadians, pushing the environment off the public opinion radar.

According to the latest Toronto Star/La Presse Nanos poll, the economy is now the priority of 55 per cent of Canadians, far ahead of the environment or health care – that other former red-button issue – at barely 10 per cent.

The shape of public opinion always looms large in the priorities of the opposition parties, but the demise of the environment as a top-of-mind question period issue has also been accelerated by the changing of the Liberal guard.

One of Michael Ignatieff's first acts as Liberal leader has been to do away with Stéphane Dion's carbon tax and send the party's green plan back to the drawing board. Since then, the environment has not been a top-tier Liberal issue in the House.

In this session, the Liberals have put four questions to Prentice and only one of those was asked by Ignatieff himself, on the eve of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Canada.

There was a time when the NDP would have rushed to pick up the Liberal slack, but that was before the environment became the signature issue of the Green party...

...But the climate change file is very much at play on the international scene and it stands to become a central part of Canada-U.S. relations once the Obama administration fills in the blanks of its environment policy.

The upcoming publication of a report on carbon pricing by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy is also bound to stir things up.

When all is said and done, the environment is not so much a dormant issue as one that no longer acts as a wedge between the main federal parties. That always results in less question period ice time.

Read the entire column.

Birds, Tar Sands and Tailings Ponds

This week, almost a year after it was reported some 500 ducks died upon landing on one of Syncrude's tailings ponds during spring migration, the company has finally released information about its new mitigation plans and the actual death toll from last spring.

The final bird death count was 1,606 individuals, three times more dead than originally reported, and there were likely more. While the company seems to sincerely regret the the death of these birds, their new mitigation plans are inadequate to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. If Syncrude is really sincere about ensuring this never happens again then the tailings ponds should be covered. The present economic situation aside, Syncrude's profits are more than adequate to justify this type of expense.

Furthermore, the release of the final bird numbers so long after the original incident leads one to question the transparency of the provincial government investigation. Why has it taken so long to get these facts? In fact, media reports are saying that two provincial ministries knew last summer that the number of dead ducks from Syncrude's tailings pond was three times higher than the original estimate, but no effort was made to tell the public.

Another thing the public needs to know: How many individual birds die in tailings ponds on a regular basis? Syncrude, and the provincial government, have missed an opportunity to really demonstrate leadership here. Too bad....especially for the birds.

Don't call off the watchdogs, give them teeth

The government seems to be forgetting its promise to pursue economic development that is environmentally responsible.

That's what two authors write in a Comment published in today's Globe and Mail. They decry the government's move to waive federal environmental assessments of infrastructure projects funded by the Building Canada Plan.

The exemptions would bypass the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, which aims to prevent environmental harm by assessing risks in advance and ensuring public participation in environmental decisions. The authors write:

The government's desire to streamline the assessment process for projects unlikely to generate significant adverse environmental effects is legitimate...But the place for this change is during the legislation's coming five-year review - not with dangerous exemptions.

Why dangerous? After all, [Environment Minister Jim] Prentice has proposed waivers only for the kinds of projects where experience has shown insignificant environmental effects.

Consider that an environmental assessment review panel recently concluded that Imperial Oil's Kearl tar sands project - which will release emissions equivalent to an estimated 800,000 new passenger vehicles - will have "no significant environmental effects." Are these the kinds of projects to be exempted?

The tar sands are an extreme example, but they illustrate the danger. More worrying is that this waiver is a sign of the government's desire to severely gut the act during review.

The authors liken the decision to approve building projects without environmental assessments to buying a house without knowing the price. They go on to argue:

Waiving these requirements is a predictable reaction in times of economic crisis. But we saw the results of such "streamlining" during Ontario's Common Sense Revolution. Have these lessons not led us past the point of equating environmental protection with economic harm?

Read the rest of the column here.