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Ontario's wildlife needs continued protection

Witness the sage grouse in Alberta: almost 90 per cent of its Canadian population died off between 1988 and 2006 because of habitat destruction caused mainly by oil and gas development. (Credit: USFWS Pacific Southwest Region via Flickr)

By David Suzuki with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Ontario Science Projects Manager Rachel Plotkin

In the early 1970s, a significant shift occurred in the relationship between North Americans and the world we live in. People started to recognize that nature's bounty isn't bottomless and that human activities often strain the Earth's limits. Across Canada and the U.S., faced with society's perpetual penchant for economic growth as an end unto itself, many people started to advocate for protecting nature lest it be irreparably broken by our actions.

What happens when environmental assessments are dropped? We won't know until it's too late

(Credit: Perry Melenka)

By Karen Campbell, Aaron Hill and Jeffery Young

The Holmes Hydro project will not have to undergo an environmental assessment, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled in a decision handed down late last week.

Ecojustice, representing the David Suzuki Foundation and Watershed Watch Salmon Society, brought the case before the Court in April, challenging the province's decision that the multi-site Holmes Hydro project could be split up to avoid an environmental assessment.

Fraser River Chinook salmon, moose, mountain goats and bears near McBride, British Columbia, may face a bleaker future, but the public won't learn of possible impacts from the multi-site Holmes Hydro project. Despite planned production of 76 megawatts (MW), with 10 separate streams diverted, the project was not subjected to an environmental assessment. Last week's B.C. Supreme Court decision highlights the weaknesses of the B.C. Environmental Assessment Act. This poorly written law means that fish and wildlife in B.C. often don't get the protection they need and British Columbians are being left in the dark about the impacts of some projects.

Green camping essentials

Solar panels for off-the-grid green camping. (Courtesy of Christopher Herwig, www.herwigphoto.com.)

Like so many of you, my family's on a never-ending mission to reduce our overall carbon footprint and live as harmoniously as possible with the earth. Enter camping!

Fuelled by nostalgic childhood memories of cooking over an open fire, playing from sunrise to sunset and swimming in glacier-fed lakes, we purchased a second-hand tent trailer — swore off jet-setting vacations — and set out to create our own family memories.

Spending night and day in nature is intrinsically green! But with a little planning and forethought, it's simple to make your camping trip super-green.

Bean leaves, bedbugs and biomimicry

Scientists often come up with new discoveries, technologies or theories. But sometimes they rediscover what our ancestors already knew. A couple of recent findings show we have a lot to learn from our forebears — and nature — about bugs.

By David Suzuki with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Communications Manager Ian Hanington

Scientists often come up with new discoveries, technologies or theories. But sometimes they rediscover what our ancestors already knew. A couple of recent findings show we have a lot to learn from our forebears — and nature — about bugs.

Modern methods of controlling pests have consisted mainly of poisoning them with chemicals. But that's led to problems. Pesticides kill far more than the bugs they target, and pollute air, water and soil. As we learned with the widespread use of DDT to control agricultural pests and mosquitoes, chemicals can bioaccumulate, meaning molecules may concentrate hundreds of thousands of times up the food web — eventually reaching people.

BC needs active citizens to keep speaking out for the environment

British Columbians have shown they have power to demand a better environmental future. B.C.'s climate action law was enacted because British Columbians demanded it.

By Ian Bruce, Science and Policy Manager

B.C. has elected a new government and, with it, hopes for economic growth and opportunities. But we've also heard loudly during the election campaign that British Columbians don't want that growth to come at the expense of the environment.

We've heard that environmental leadership and action on climate change are important to British Columbians. These issues were a decisive factor in the 2009 B.C. election and remained important influencers this election as well. During the next four years, we look forward to engaging discussions on how we can uphold B.C.'s law and targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. British Columbians want to be part of the discussion on how we proceed with liquefied natural gas development. And they remain concerned about the impacts of pipeline expansions and potential tanker traffic increases.

National Sustainable Seafood Day: Parliamentary Initiative Offers Hope for Oceans

(Credit: Barry J Brady)

By Lana Gunnlaugson, National SeaChoice Manager

Earlier this year, a motion was tabled in the House of Commons asking to make National Sustainable Seafood Day official in Canada. Since then, the Vancouver Aquarium's Ocean Wise program and SeaChoice have been working with Blueyou Consulting and Executive Chef Ned Bell of Yew Restaurant + Bar to help build support for a National Sustainable Seafood Day in Canada.

Last Friday, David Suzuki joined special guests National Geographic Fellow, Barton Seaver and 12 celebrity chefs for a sustainable seafood celebration in Vancouver.

With 10 unique Canadian sustainable seafood tasting stations plus two global features all prepared by some of Canada's top chefs, this event was not only a culinary adventure, but the inspirational stories of each fishery or farm offered not only solutions for seafood lovers, but more importantly hope for our oceans.