David Suzuki Foundation

Pacific Underwater: Salmon in February

2012-02-10T22:18:28Z

David Suzuki Foundation Biologist Jeffery Young talks about what's happening with Pacific salmon this month.

]]> There's a lot of action out in the Pacific Ocean this week. Millions of salmon are on their way to the coastal waters of British Columbia, back from an annual journey that has taken them thousands of kilometers out into the north and western Pacific. Evolution has led them to spawn in the relative stability of a fresh water environment (cool, clean and well oxygenated freshwater is perfect for incubating their eggs) but to then move to the ocean to take advantage of the abundant food available in the marine environment.

]]> Since last spring, salmon have been hitching a ride on the myriad of currents known as the North Pacific or Alaskan Gyre. Imagine a huge current of water running counter-clockwise up from British Columbia, mirroring the Alaskan shoreline, then moving down around Eastern Russia to Japan and returning eastward back to British Columbia. It is actually far more complex than a big, swirling donut of water--there are a multitude of smaller currents acting within it.

Up the rivers, but intimately connected to the ocean, alevin (young salmon) are hatching from eggs deposited last fall. This stage of the salmon's development has the little fish breathing from its gills and still attached to yolk sacs, their only source of nutrition coming from energy their parent stored months ago while foraging in the Pacific Ocean. These fish are just a few centimeters long, and remain in the gravel bed for protection. Soon they will emerge from the streambed to venture out for food, and to become prey themselves.

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Appeal court decision affirms protection for killer whales

2012-02-09T23:56:22Z

Environmental groups celebrate victory after federal government ordered to pay costs of failed appeal

Vancouver - The federal Court of Appeal has upheld a precedent-setting ruling that confirmed the federal government is legally bound to protect killer whale habitat, according to a judgment released today.

In its judgment, the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed nearly all aspects of the federal government's appeal and ordered the government to pay the associated costs. This means that essentially all of the original ruling, which found that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) had failed to legally protect killer whale critical habitat, has been upheld.

"Ecojustice and our clients are very pleased with the Court of Appeal's decision," said Margot Venton, staff lawyer at Ecojustice. "In upholding the original ruling, the Court of Appeal has confirmed that it's time to get on with the business of actually protecting these killer whales."

Ecojustice, representing a coalition of nine environmental groups, successfully argued in Federal Court last year that DFO had not met its legal obligation to protect killer whales. The court ruled that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans must legally protect all aspects of killer whale critical habitat -- including their food supply and the quality of their marine environment.

DFO appealed that decision, claiming that discretionary provisions in the Fisheries Act adequately protect the critical habitat of aquatic species such as the killer whale. The Act however, does not make critical habitat protection mandatory, as is the case under the Species at Risk Act. Instead, the Fisheries Act gives Minister Keith Ashfield broad discretion to authorize activities that destroy habitat.

"The original ruling, and now the Court of Appeal's judgment, have confirmed that the fate of killer whales should not be left to the discretion of politicians," Venton said. "These whales must be protected by law. They need spaces to feed, breed and raise their young if their populations are going to survive and recover."

Central to the case are two distinct populations of killer whales that traverse British Columbia's coastal waters, the northern and southern residents. At last count there were 264 threatened northern residents and just 87 endangered southern residents. Both species are listed under SARA.

Killer whales are considered a "sentinel species," which means their health is a bellwether for the overall health of the ocean environment in which they live.

In his decision last year, Federal Court Justice James Russell held that DFO had failed to legally protect killer whale critical habitat and made 13 declarations that included:

DFO unlawfully relied on non-binding policies and guidelines, as well as government discretion, to protect habitat.
DFO unlawfully limited the scope of legal protection to exclude biological elements of critical habitat.
DFO has a legal obligation to protect the biological aspects of critical habitat, such as prey (food) availability and marine environment quality, through law.

The victory was precedent-setting for the more than 90 endangered and threatened marine species listed under the Species at Risk Act, all of which depend on healthy habitats to survive.

For more information on the killer whales, please see our backgrounder.

Ecojustice is representing the David Suzuki Foundation, Dogwood Initiative, Environmental Defence, Greenpeace, Georgia Strait Alliance, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Raincoast Conservation, Sierra Club of BC and the Wilderness Committee.

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For more information, please contact:
Margot Venton, staff lawyer | Ecojustice
604.349.2333

Tim Leadem, staff lawyer | Ecojustice
604.315.8418

Jeffery Young, aquatic biologist | David Suzuki Foundation
604.764.6142 (cell) | 604.732.422 ×1225

Sarah King, oceans coordinator | Greenpeace
778.227.6458

Gwen Barlee, policy director | Wilderness Committee
604.202.0322 (cell) | 604.683.8220 (w)

Christianne Wilhelmson, executive director | Georgia Strait Alliance
604.862.7579 (cell) | 604.633.0530 (w)

Misty MacDufee, biologist | Raincoast Conservation Foundation
250.818.2136 (cell)

Colin Campbell, marine campaign coordinator | Sierra Club BC
250.386.5255 ×236 | 250.361.6476 (cell)

Will Horter, executive director | Dogwood Initiative
250.418.1672 (cell)

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Report shows Canada must do more for its oceans

2012-02-09T22:55:12Z

You'd think the decline of the Northern cod fishery, largely caused by mismanagement, would have taught us something. (Credit: Hawkins Multimedia via Flickr)

]]> It's been 20 years since Canada's East Coast cod fishery collapsed, and we still have no recovery target or timeline for rebuilding populations. That's just one finding in a damning report from a panel of eminent Royal Society of Canada marine scientists.

Sustaining Canada's Marine Biodiversity notes that Canada has "failed to meet most of our national and international commitments to protect marine biodiversity" and "lags behind other modernized nations in almost every aspect of fisheries management."

For a country surrounded on three sides by oceans, with the longest coastline in the world, that's shameful. Beyond the jobs, recreational opportunities, food, medicines, and habitat that our oceans provide, they also give us life. Half the world's oxygen is produced in the oceans by phytoplankton, which are threatened by rising ocean temperatures and acidification because of global warming.

]]> Successive federal governments have failed to recognize our oceans as much more than reservoirs of resources to exploit for short-term gain. You'd think the decline of the Northern cod fishery, largely caused by mismanagement, would have taught us something. Now, with some West Coast salmon fisheries on the verge of collapse, and little real effort to protect our oceans, it appears we can expect more of the same - unless we start demanding more from our government.

The Royal Society panel focused on climate change, fisheries, and aquaculture, "because of their potential for impact on Canada's marine biodiversity." The problem, it found, was not an absence of knowledge, science, or policy, but rather "a consistent, disheartening lack of action on well-established knowledge and best-practice and policies, some of which have been around for years."

Canada's Fisheries Act, which dates back to 1868, doesn't mention conservation. Our 1997 Oceans Act has yet to be effectively implemented. And the Species at Risk Act has been largely inadequate. Although Canada has made an international commitment to establish a protected network covering 10 per cent of our ocean territory, it has protected less than one per cent.

In fact, the federal government recently rejected millions of dollars in funding for a collaborative effort to establish a marine spatial plan and network of protected areas in Canada's Pacific North Coast waters. First Nations, industry, the provincial and federal governments, and environmental organizations, including the David Suzuki Foundation, had been making progress on the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA) for years, but the federal government stymied the process by failing to invest adequate funding and by rejecting support from a philanthropic organization.

It's reason? The government was worried that marine protected areas and marine use plans based on ecosystem science might restrict oil tanker traffic. The loss of more than $8 million dollars from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation was a blow to the process, and the government has not stepped in to make up for the shortfall.

Rather than protect the Pacific's valuable resources, opportunities, and habitat on which 40 per cent of the world's marine mammal species and countless other plants and animals depend, it appears the government would rather risk it all by pushing the Northern Gateway pipeline project to ship crude bitumen from the tar sands through precarious Pacific Coast waterways to China and California.

The report also notes that climate change could drive some salmon species to extinction, that increasing acid levels could harm "everything from corals to mussels to lobsters", and that fish farming can harm wild stocks through spread of parasites and diseases and interbreeding.

Besides an apparent lack of interest on the part of government regarding the health of Canada's oceans, the report identifies a major problem that puts us behind most developed nations: a "major conflict of interest at Fisheries and Oceans Canada between its mandate to promote industrial and economic activity and its responsibility for conserving marine life and ocean health."

The panel offered a number of sensible recommendations, which include addressing the conflict of interest and living up to our national and international commitments to marine biodiversity.

Our government is gaining a reputation for ignoring or discounting the advice of scientists. Let's tell our leaders that our future depends on the future of the oceans and that this advice must be heeded. The science is clear: it's time to do more.

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Endangered turtles and sharks lose out in MSC longline swordfish certification

2012-02-09T19:25:02Z

Halifax--Sustainable seafood advocates were disappointed by the recent decision to allow the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to eco-certify the Canadian longline swordfish fishery that is responsible for high bycatch of sharks and endangered sea turtles.

On February 7th the world's largest seafood certification system dismissed an objection filed by three major marine conservation organizations--the Ecology Action Centre, the David Suzuki Foundation, and the Sea Turtle Conservancy--allowing the certification to go ahead with only minor amendments to conditions that require some additional detail on timing of implementation.

The MSC assessment of the fishery acknowledges that two sharks die for every swordfish caught in this fishery and that the fishery kills between 200- 500 endangered sea turtles every year. Neither fact will prevent the newly-certified fishery from selling swordfish marked with MSC's 'blue check mark' as of March 2012. Longline-caught swordfish is listed on Canada's SeaChoice Red 'Avoid' list, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Red 'Avoid' list, and Greenpeace International Seafood Red List. These assessments are based on the best science available, include strict conservation criteria, and are not paid for by industry clients.

"We're at a point where eco-certification of seafood means less and less," says Jordan Nikoloyuk, Sustainable Fisheries Coordinator of the Ecology Action Centre. "This certification really adds confusion to the marketplace and eco-conscious shoppers have to take the time to ask questions about how their fish is caught or risk being misled and even ripped off by certification companies."

The objection submitted by conservation organizations proposed that the high levels of shark and sea turtle bycatch, the low levels of at-sea monitoring, and the fishery's unwillingness to move toward international best practices are reasons why it should fail the MSC certification process. In his written decision, the adjudicator for the objection did not evaluate arguments about evidence and instead showed "deference to the determinations of the Certification Body."

"This certification sets a low-bar precedent for pelagic longline fisheries and undermines other MSC certified fisheries that truly deserve recognition in the marketplace, "said Scott Wallace, Sustainable Fisheries Analyst for the David Suzuki Foundation. He concluded that, "a fishery operating far below best practices and that has significant, ongoing impacts on endangered species should not be framed as an environmentally-friendly choice for consumers who truly care about the health of our oceans."

The conservation organizations are recommending that retailers take a hard second look at this certification before committing to procure the product. If retailers value overall ocean health, then the turtle and shark by-catch in this fishery should deter them from procuring this product under their sustainable seafood policies.

The objecting conservation groups are asking retailers and restaurateurs to commit to choosing harpoon-caught swordfish, which is available as a bycatch-free alternative, instead of this unsustainable long-line caught swordfish.

Marydele Donnelly, Director of International Policy for the Sea Turtle Conservancy, notes "harpoon-caught swordfish is an excellent choice and will ensure consumers aren't eating swordfish with huge sides of shark and turtle." She adds, "The U.S. market needs to take a hard look at Canadian levels of bycatch."

This fishery now must undergo annual audits to keep its certification. No fishery has had its certification revoked in the MSC's 11 years of operation.

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For more information, please contact:

Jordan Nikoloyuk, Sustainable Fisheries Coordinator, Ecology Action Centre, (902) 446-4840
Scott Wallace, Sustainable Fisheries Analyst, David Suzuki Foundation, (778) 558-3984
Marydele Donnelly, Director of International Policy, Sea Turtle Conservancy, (410) 750-1561

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Community Leaders Help Reduce Waste at School

2012-02-09T18:00:00Z

Members of the Environment Club at Walnut Grove Secondary School in Langley, B.C.

]]> What do you do when you see an environmental problem? If you're part of the Environmental Club at Walnut Grove Secondary School in Langley, B.C., you take action and get results!

Every day, members of the Environmental Club were noticing that their school was generating far too much waste and not recycling nearly enough.

"There were a lot of recyclables going to the landfill," says Nick Despotakis, science teacher and head of the Environmental Club. "We couldn't believe the recycling trucks would just pass us by."

The club decided something needed to be done. Students wrote to both the school district and the local government, pleading for a better recycling program.

"For nearly two years we discussed better waste management...and we had to go through a lot of red tape," club member Alysa G. recalls. "As students, it can be difficult to get people take you seriously."

]]> Thanks to determination and persistence, their efforts have finally paid off.

The Township of Langley, in partnership with the Langley School District, has developed an enhanced recycling pilot program that diverts nearly 75 per cent of the waste currently going to landfill. Thanks to the Environmental Club's letters, Walnut Grove Secondary was recently chosen as one of two schools to participate in the program. If even 50 per cent of the school's waste is diverted with the new program, approximately 65,000 pounds of waste will be kept out of the landfill this year.

"I feel so proud that we managed to get this program into our school." club member Bryanna W. says. "As one of the larger schools in Langley, we need to be a role model."

The new program includes food scraps collection and container and paper recycling. Sorting options are available at every disposal point to capture as many recyclables as possible.

The Environmental Club continues to help fellow students and staff learn about the new program by providing educational announcements and tips on the school's Facebook page. They also stand by the bins at lunch hour to help people sort correctly. And their waste-reduction plans don't stop there; plastic bag recycling and a bring-your-own coffee mug campaign are already in the works. The club hopes that in time, recycling will be second nature to everyone.

"I hope other businesses and communities are inspired by what we have accomplished," says club member Sky L.

Alysa agrees. "Hopefully projects like this can become so successful and widespread in the community that they don't have to be 'projects' anymore, but simply another facet of daily life."

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Tell Canada to honour its commitments to our oceans

2012-02-08T19:41:07Z

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Richmond Earth Day Youth Summit 2012

2012-02-08T17:24:52Z

]]> With a population of close to 200,000, the city of Richmond is not only one of the fastest growing cities in Metro Vancouver, it is also the most ethnically and culturally diverse municipality in Canada.

According to 2006 Census, 57.4 per cent of Richmond's population is made up of immigrants, with the majority from Chinese descent. Richmond's "Asian Mall" district--which spans from No. 3 Road in the west to Garden City in the east, and Cambie Road in the north to Granville Road in the south--is often dubbed Metro Vancouver's Chinatown South.

]]> But if you have taken the Canada Line to Richmond lately, you would have noticed that Richmond is much more than Chinatown South. The David Suzuki Foundation's Climate Team learned this firsthand when we joined Richmond School District last spring for the Elementary School Science Jam. The three-hour experience taught us that Richmond is a truly culturally diverse city. Our team was able to chat and share our take on climate change and the Foundation's work with children and their parents and grandparents from almost all ethnic and religious backgrounds.

We had Sikh kids asking us how old David Suzuki was. We also had Spanish and Shanghainese-speaking grandparents telling us they have seen The Nature of Things on television.

This year, the David Suzuki Foundation will join the City of Richmond and the Richmond School District as a full partner in the Richmond Earth Day Youth Summit, also dubbed the REaDY Summit 2012. The four-hour event will take place at Steveston-London Secondary, a LEED candidate building, on April 21 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

As a full partner, the David Suzuki Foundation will start the day with CEO Peter Robinson giving the keynote speech at the opening ceremony. DSF's Sustainable Seafood Team will host a presentation at the auditorium for a 45-minute session on sustainable seafood and a cooking demonstration. The super workshop will be followed by the Climate Team's Transportation Talk and Climate Quiz.
For a more intimate experience, make sure you sign up for our very own Queen of Green Lindsay Coulter's double classroom workshop and learn a thing or two about how to make fragrance-free soap and how to live a chemical-free life.
On the subject of living in harmony with nature, the Queen of Green will be followed by DSF's environmental economist and policy analyst Michelle Molnar's workshop on putting a price tag on nature.

For the Chinese-speaking audience, the REaDY Summit has also set up two workshops. Todd Ye, news director for Fairchild Television, who is himself an immigrant from Beijing, will share DSF's 10 Ways to Stop Climate Change with a Mandarin-speaking audience.

選擇更環保的交通方式
明智飲食
高效節能.......

For the Cantonese workshop, Arthur Lo, builder of zero-emission homes, will share the benefits of applying green designs for an energy-efficient home. For more information on the Richmond Earth Day Youth (REaDY)Summit, visit the Facebook page or reserve your ticket (To sign up for the events and to participate in the logo contest, you need to be a resident of Richmond.)

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Final Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue standards won't solve threat to wild salmon

2012-02-08T01:12:23Z

CAAR sees advances but urges closed containment

Vancouver--Although the final draft Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue (SAD) standard pushes improved performance in the net cage industry, it does not adequately protect wild salmon and the environment, according to the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR). After seven years of hard work by numerous stakeholders, including the international salmon aquaculture industry, CAAR has concluded that closed containment salmon farming is the only verifiable way to effectively reduce or eliminate the key negative environmental impacts of salmon farming.

"The final draft SAD standard is stronger than any of the other certification systems currently being touted by the industry," said Jay Ritchlin, Director of Marine Conservation at CAAR member group the David Suzuki Foundation, and a Steering Committee member of the SAD. "Unfortunately, there are too many uncertainties to say it is strong enough to protect wild salmon or marine ecosystems and, for the CAAR groups, that is our bottom line."

CAAR is particularly concerned that the standard falls short in a number of significant areas including elimination of disease transmission between farmed and wild fish. It does not adequately address the impacts of existing exotic species. While there are some important limits on the use and discharge of antibiotics and toxic sea lice chemicals, the standard does not eliminate them. The standard is intended to certify individual farms, and thus struggles to deal with the cumulative impacts of the industry and its potential expansion.

One significant concern is that the SAD standard does not compare salmon farm performance to ecological benchmarks. It compares salmon farms to other salmon farms and while SAD certified farms would clearly be better performers than farms not meeting the standard, the standard does not rank their performance compared to the needs of the environment, or to other forms of seafood, farmed or wild.

CAAR member groups agree that while the SAD standards cannot ensure truly environmentally responsible practices, they are measurably stronger and based on a far more credible process than other standards such as those being promoted by the GAA (Global Aquaculture Alliance) Best Aquaculture Practices and Global Trust. The SAD also addresses key social and labour issues in a globally significant way.

"We recognize and appreciate the incredible effort made by all SAD Steering Committee members, from industry and environmental groups, as well as the invaluable input and participation by individuals and stakeholders around the world," said Ritchlin. "The information gained and the lessons learned will never lose their value. That information, however, has served to confirm CAAR's position that closed containment systems are currently the only verifiable way to protect wild salmon and the environment."

Despite concerns about this standard, CAAR will remain on the SAD Steering Committee to influence the standard's implementation, to follow through on what has been a strong process and to evaluate the evidence collected from farms that apply to use the standard.

About CAAR

CAAR was formed in 2001 to ensure salmon farming in British Columbia is safe for wild salmon, marine ecosystems, coastal communities and human health. Today the coalition has over 10,000 supporters across four continents and is comprised of the following conservation groups:

• David Suzuki Foundation
• Georgia Strait Alliance
• Living Oceans Society
• T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation

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For more information, please contact:

Jay Ritchlin, Director of Marine and Freshwater, David Suzuki Foundation, (604) 961-6840
Jodi Garwood, Communications, David Suzuki Foundation, (604) 732-4228 ext. 1281

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Royal Society calls mayday for Canada's oceans

2012-02-07T23:25:58Z

Send your letter now (Credit: Sookie via Wikimedia Commons).

]]> On February 2nd, ten prominent marine research scientists affiliated with the Royal Society of Canada released a comprehensive report about the state of our oceans.

They don't like what they see, and spoke out with bold recommendations for Canada to up our game to protect our ocean environments. Dr. Jeff Hutchings from Dalhousie University chaired the panel of scientists who investigated trends in ocean conditions and assessed three major stressors in our oceans including fisheries, climate change and aquaculture. They also looked at how well Canada is living up to its international commitments compared to other countries. We're not a star performer.

]]> It's not all bad news; some species including seals, bowhead whales and sea otters are on the increase. But the downside is that over 100 species assessed by COSEWIC (the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) are listed as threatened or endangered, killer whale, right whale, northern bottlenose whale, Cassin's Auklet, Marbled Murrelet to name a few.

There's a lot to be worried about. Changes in salinity and temperature are leading to increased stratification of the oceans and a resulting decline in nutrient cycling, particularly in coastal areas. Ocean temperature in many areas has increased by 2 degrees, with 2010 setting a record for the lowest sea ice on record in the Arctic and eastern Canada. There has been a 37% increase in acidity of the ocean in the St. Lawrence region. Atlantic cod have yet to recover even though the fishery has been closed for twenty years.

Clearly, it's not that we don't know enough. The panel confirms that we're swimming in good information and scientific knowledge. Canada even has some excellent policies, like the Wild Salmon Policy, the National Oceans Strategy, and the National Marine Protected Areas Policy. What's lacking is action by government, adequate funding, and the application of best practices in management of human activities.

The frustrating thing here is that this bell has been rung many times in the past. So what can be done? Who is going to drive the change so that Canada actually becomes a star performer when it comes to stewardship and conservation of our oceans?

That's where you come in. Send a letter to the Prime Minister today and let him know that you want our Federal Budget in 2012 to properly support existing policies and meet our commitments to manage our oceans. The salmon, killer whales, cod, and many other species need our support. Send your letter today.

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Camp Suzuki in the Rouge

2012-02-07T21:14:34Z

Credit: Jode Roberts

]]> Camp Suzuki in the Rouge is an innovative public engagement program that celebrates the Rouge River watershed - a wilderness gem in the heart of the Greater Toronto Area where we are working to establish Canada's first urban National Park. The Rouge's rich forests, fields and farmlands provide easy access to a true wilderness experience for millions of residents, and are truly essential to the health and well-being of the region.

To ensure that local communities are engaged in the creation of the National Park, we hope to spur local residents to get active and create projects that connect residents with this natural treasure in their backyard.

Through the Camp Suzuki program, DSF has recruited and trained 12 incredible teams to design and launch unique Rouge-related awareness campaigns and activities in their communities. Together, we will:

Celebrate the Rouge by getting 1000+ people to explore the park;
Engage members of diverse ages and backgrounds in local community initiatives;
Increase awareness of the link between human well-being and nature.

On January 28-29, 2012, our community teams came together with DSF staff and friends for an inspiring leadership weekend to vision the future, explore our hopes and concerns for the planet, and begin planning diverse community engagement projects. Thank you to all participants for your commitment and hard work!

Meet our 2012 Camp Suzuki community teams!

Thank you to our sponsor

Proud sponsor

Like the David Suzuki Foundation, The North Face believes that a strong connection with the outdoors will lead to greater support and protection of our natural landscapes. They have come on board to sponsor this program and help us get Canadians outside exploring the Rouge.

What is Camp Suzuki?

Camp Suzuki is a leadership program that seeks to build a network of highly engaged and trained community champions working locally to engage Canadians to reconnect with and explore the nature around them. These champions will create new sustainability programs, shape new norms, and foster healthy, strong communities.

Camp Suzuki builds community-level programs that transform our relationship with nature, each other and ourselves - fostering and promoting both personal and environmental health.

If you are interested in learning more about Camp Suzuki or getting involved in the Foundation's Rouge campaign, you are welcome to contact Aryne Sheppard, Senior Public Engagement Specialist.

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Environmental health is a matter of intergenerational justice

2012-02-07T20:33:44Z

It's not fair that we leave our descendants to pay with their health and security for the environmental damage we created, knowingly or unknowingly. (Credit: Peggy Olive)

]]> Peggy Olive is Scientist Emeritus at the British Columbia Cancer Agency. Her research focused on the use of DNA damage as a way to predict patient response to cancer treatments. She is involved with the Suzuki Elders, a voluntary association of self-identified elders working with and through the David Suzuki Foundation to mentor, motivate and support other elders and younger generations in dialogue and action on environmental issues. Docs Talk asked Dr. Olive to share her thoughts on the intergenerational dimension of environmental health issues.

Docs Talk: What motivated you to volunteer as a Suzuki Elder?

Dr. Olive: In November 2009, I awoke to hear CBC's Vancouver morning-show host Rick Cluff announcing a meeting to be held that day at the Vancouver Public Library. The Suzuki Elders were hosting an Elders and Environment Forum. Although I'd been a volunteer with the David Suzuki Foundation since retiring earlier that year, I hadn't known about this group, so I attended the meeting, which led to my joining the Association of Suzuki Elders with the intention of motivating myself and others to action on critical environmental issues. We've recently organized a successful second forum, and our membership is growing.

]]> Docs Talk: How is environmental health an issue of intergenerational justice? Can you give us an example of an environmental problem that will have an impact on the health of future generations?

Dr. Olive: Greenhouse gases emitted when we burn fossil fuels will accumulate and persist in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, increasing global warming and associated drought, forest fires, migration of species carrying infectious diseases and damage to our coastlines. Species extinctions have reached a record high because we are destroying habitats and polluting our environment with toxic chemicals. Our growing human population is responsible for rapid deforestation, desertification, collapse of fisheries and depletion of fresh water, ultimately threatening the health of hundreds of millions of people. It's not fair that we leave our descendants to pay with their health and security for the environmental damage we created, knowingly or unknowingly. When we don't take action to protect the environment for future generations, we place their wellbeing in jeopardy.

Docs Talk: How do we balance our needs and wants with those of future generations?

Dr. Olive: The World Commission on Environmental Development concluded that "sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". The impacts of the development of Alberta's oil sands make us appreciate the importance of those words; even the current generation is paying a price with their health. Without doubt, the scale of lifestyle changes required by the wealthiest countries to meet the 2009 G8 summit global emissions targets more than 80 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2050) is huge. One might wonder whether this sacrifice itself could come with health consequences as the price of food and shelter rises, but a modelling study published in New Scientist concluded that an 80 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the U.K. would reduce the GDP by only 1.4 per cent and increase the price of most basic goods by less than three per cent by 2050. Parents naturally balance their own needs and wants with those of their children. We need to extend this attitude between families and beyond one or two generations. It helps to regard these changes we need to make today not as sacrifices but as opportunities to ensure a better quality of life for ourselves and our descendants.

Docs Talk: What are some actions we can take in our daily lives to have a positive impact on the health of future generations?

Dr. Olive: Our unsustainable lifestyle has already reduced the quality and safety of what we eat, drink and breathe, and these conditions are unlikely to improve if we add a billion people to the planet every decade in keeping with current trends. Moving to a low-carbon economy should improve our health and almost certainly that of future generations, and living more simply could reduce negative stress and improve nutrition. Deciding to live less wastefully and ending excessive consumerism are steps we can all start taking. Reducing our carbon footprint, the amount of meat (especially beef) in our diets, eliminating the use of chemical toxins in our homes and gardens, and consuming foods grown locally and organically will improve our health and hopefully inspire future generations to do likewise.

Docs Talk: What hopes do you have for the future, in terms of the environment and health?

Dr. Olive: The UCL/Lancet Commission report of 2009 concluded that climate change could be the biggest global health threat of the 21st century, with the potential to affect the health of billions, particularly low-income families. My hope is that every person on this planet will recognize the scope of the problem facing us and respond to this crisis before we find ourselves at the precipice. I hope we can reach a peak in greenhouse gas emissions before 2020 and a peak in population soon after that, even though this will not let us off the hook completely. Help will be needed to make this transition, including government and social incentives and disincentives. I think our greatest challenge is to re-imagine ourselves in partnership with all life on our planet, and this will require that we make the decision to live sustainably and equitably in terms of human population and remaining resources.

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Camp Suzuki: Youth Environmental Network of York Region (Markham)

2012-02-06T15:48:42Z

]]> Youth Environmental Network of York Region

Team: Vithusha Vithiyatharan, Roy Saavedra, Preksha Suran, Marck Mercado

Who: Youth Environmental Network of York Region (YENYR) is an incorporated youth-led non-profit organization. Their mandate is to promote environmental sustainability in York Region by empowering young people. The network includes an executive team of eight students and hundreds of volunteers and has engaged a wide network of youth through school focused initiatives such as conferences, campaigns, competitions, and festivals.

Why: Team YENYR believes Camp Suzuki is an opportunity for the organization to grow and inspires participants to become the much needed environmental leaders within their communities. They strongly support the creation of a National Park in the Rouge and hope to inspire youth in York Region to become active champions.

What: In the coming months, Team YENYR plans to engage its community by attending local events - adding a splash of green to each event - and holding an eco-youth forum and community picnic to conclude their new Seeds to Trees project in the Rouge Park.

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Camp Suzuki: YMCA - Y.Not.NIMBY (Toronto)

2012-02-06T15:46:24Z

]]> YMCA - Y.Not.NIMBY

Team: Craig Verner, Myles Chang

Who: Team Y.Not.NIMBY (Y Not Nature In My BackYard) are employees from the YMCA of Greater Toronto. They work with a variety of community members who use YMCA services like the Newcomer Center in Toronto. With the diversity present in this network, they provide a stage for people to connect and share experience from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Why: Team Y.Not.NIMBY believes that the best way to foster a positive environmental attitude is to get people involved and interacting and connecting with their environment, sharing ideas about what it means to be sustainable and how biodiversity and our natural habitat play a role in our future.

What: Through a series of workshops, the team's goal is to engage people in their networks to become active stewards and advocates for the Rouge. Their plan is to provide progressive learning that builds off previous sessions and encourages participants and their families get outside and get involved. Possible themes include habitat restoration, river clean-ups and invasive species.

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Camp Suzuki: Theatre & Performance Studies University of Toronto-Scarborough Campus (Scarborough)

2012-02-06T15:44:30Z

]]> Theatre & Performance Studies University of Toronto-Scarborough Campus

Team: Barry Freeman, Natalie Frijia

What: The Camp Suzuki Theatre and Performance team will be lead by Barry Freeman, a theatre professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), and Natalie Frijia, a graduate student at the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Toronto. The University of Toronto Scarborough is a community of over 11,000 staff, faculty and students and the team's goal is to engage the UTSC community in the Rouge Park in an educational and entertaining fashion.

What: In Spring 2012, the team will be co-ordinating a senior theatre class in UTSC focused on "verbatim theatre" and the environment. Verbatim theatre is theatre in which the text is taken "verbatim" from external sources, such as interviews, found materials, etc. Through Camp Suzuki, the team hopes to learn about environmental education, network with other community players invested in the park, and to learn more about Rouge Park itself.

What: With a group of 8 senior undergraduates in the Theatre and Performance Studies program at UTSC, the Theatre and Performance team proposes to develop an original piece of theatre about Rouge Park. A motivating force behind this work is their observation that the UTSC community is not as aware of the park as it ought to be. This subject presents an opportunity to consider society's larger disconnection from the natural environment and consider the 'cultural' life of the park by interviewing local residents with a connection to the park. More than a 'straight-up' educational primer on environmentalism, they hope their project will engage its creators and its audience with the park in a more creative and inventive way.

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Camp Suzuki: Toronto Orienteering Club (Toronto)

2012-02-06T15:43:05Z

]]> Toronto Orienteering Club

Team: Michael Johnston, Alison Waddell, Malcolm Goddard

Who: The Toronto Orienteering Club (TOC) is a not-for-profit orienteering club servicing the GTA for the past 43 years. Their members include sport orienteers, adventure racers and general outdoor enthusiasts. The club organizes several major orienteering events throughout the year and run a series of recreational meets in Toronto parks every Wednesday evening throughout the summer.

Why: The Toronto Orienteering Club believes that the Rouge Valley is the best and largest green space in the GTA. The Club has not held an orienteering event there in some years, so they were thrilled to hear of the Rouge's proposed National Park status. They look forward to updating orienteering maps and staging community events in the new park.

What: The Toronto Orienteering Club is planning to hold a series of orienteering throughout the spring and summer. Each session would include orienteering training, a discussion of the ecology and history of the area, and an orienteering competition where participants are challenged to locate points throughout the park using only a map and compass.

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