Archive for the ‘species’ Category
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
Larry from Pickering, ON writes:
Thanks for the April newsletter . In connection to helping kids connect to nature, for over 50 years Ontario has held a competition for Grades 4 to 6 each year called Tree Bee. It’s about the identification of native tree species and conservation questions. The children who participate can identify dozens of native trees and gain a great appreciation for nature and the tree neighbours they see every day.
As a Tree Bee coach, I have had past students become foresters and arborists, but most just keep their appreciation of nature and trees. The Ontario Forestry Association hosts Tree Bee each year and more information can be seen on their website . If Dr. Suzuki and or members of the David Suzuki Foundation like this program, this fits very well into his interests of educating young people about nature.
Tags: conservation, education, elementary school students, native tree species, newsletter
Posted in David Suzuki, Newsletter response, climate change, conservation, forests and wild Lands, species | 1 Comment »
Monday, April 6th, 2009
Theresa Tardiff from Powell River, BC shares:
"It’s not bad to own fine things that you like. What you need are things that you GENUINELY like. Things that you cherish, that enhance your existence in the world. The rest is dross." – Bruce Sterling
"Only when the last plant has died, the last river poisoned, and the last fish caught… will we realize we cannot eat money." – 19th Century Cree saying
Tags: eco quotes, inspiration
Posted in Consumer Issues, Food, Green Living, climate change, forests and wild Lands, species | No Comments »
Thursday, February 12th, 2009
Carolyn Sitko from London, ON writes:
I was appalled to read in Sheryl Rooth’s column in my local paper, The Londoner, that Loblaws will be selling shark fin soup for Chinese New Year. I thought the sale of shark fin products was illegal in Canada, but I guess we lag behind the U.S. in this matter.
Shark finning is decimating the shark population and endangering the food chain that provides much of the world’s oxygen supply through phytoplankton. I urge Loblaws to stop selling this or any other shark product.
The Green Room’s Gail responds:
Good news: Loblaws will not longer be selling shark fin soup due to the impact you and many other outraged Canadians made . Unfortunately, shark fin is still sold in many Canadian restaurants.
Please keep writing letters to retailers and restaurants that still have shark fin on their menus and shelves, not to mention other unsustainable species such as Orange Roughy and Chilean Seabass. You’ll find a listing of species in trouble here .
The Loblaws initiative is a perfect example of how individuals can use the power of the pen (and the keyboard) to make a difference!
Tags: Chilean Seabass, conservation, endangered species, food chain, grocery stores, Loblaws, Orange Roughy, restaurants, shark fin soup
Posted in Consumer Issues, Food, conservation, endangered species, species, species at risk, sustainability | No Comments »
Monday, January 5th, 2009
David Pritchard of Birds and Beans Inc. in Toronto, ON writes:
Thank you for including information about the importance of buying Bird Friendly® coffee in your November update . We are encouraged by your interest in the subject, however it is important to correct your use of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center’s Bird Friendly® trademark.
If we are to have any hope of saving our migratory bird populations, it is essential that consumers come to understand the environmental impact of their buying decisions. Unfortunately, according to the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC), not all coffee sold as shade coffee is actually providing habitat to our migrating birds.
The SMBC created the Bird Friendly certification in order to allow consumers to be certain that the shade on certified coffee farms is providing homes for our migratory birds and other wildlife. They developed their certification criteria based on scientific study that includes an underlying organic certification and diverse shade conditions. Their research shows that not all shade provides good habitat.
We at Birds and Beans specialize in Bird Friendly® coffees. We are the only roaster in Canada that actively sells and promotes certified Bird Friendly Coffee. We offer the widest selection of shade grown coffees in Canada and are currently working with a group of coffee roasters in the USA to form a collective that will promote certified Bird Friendly coffee in Canada and the USA.
Meantime, here’s a list of roasters and retailers of certified Bird Friendly coffees and more detailed information about the Bird Friendly Coffee program.
Lindsay responds:
We really appreciate your effort to bring some additional clarity around coffee labeling. Our readership is becoming increasingly savvy about their consumer choices and we really enjoy the opportunity to bring them along.
Definitely in the future we can elaborate on the layers and layers of information around topics such as the Bird Friendly Coffee. In the issue you’re referencing we used the expertise of the Boreal Birds Initiative as well as doing some research of our own. Of course, you can never capture it all but this is a great way to learn.
Tags: bird friendly coffee, Boreal Birds Initiative, consumer choices, habitat, labeling, migratory birds, organic
Posted in Consumer Issues, David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, Food, Newsletter response, agriculture, endangered species, species, species at risk, sustainability | No Comments »
Monday, January 5th, 2009
Ryan Lee, a Grade 5 student at Olympic Heights Elementary school in Calgary, AB shares his inspiring essay on the state of the environment:
The Problems of Our Environment
One of the social issues concerning today’s youth is environmental problems, such as using too many unrecyclable objects, pollution, global warming, and destruction of natural habitats. Please read and react to help our environment.
To begin with, pollution is almost the root of global warming. Although global warming is normal, pollution actually speeds it up. Global warming is a process in which the Earth is heated up by the sun’s rays that are trapped inside the Earth’s atmosphere by greenhouse gasses such as, Co2 (Carbon Dioxide).
Another problem within our environment is the continuous use of unrecyclable objects. We should always recycle. Recycling is a way of reusing products. Some of the many reusable products are paper, glass, some metals and plastics. We should use these products more often than products we cannot reuse. Another reason why this is a problem is because we can’t recycle. Sometimes we use products we can only use once too much.
Also the destruction of natural habits on the Earth is a big problem. This is because of our greed and carelessness. The beautiful features of our Earth will disappear if this does not stop. Some water on Earth is already so polluted that it looks really disgusting. These habitats belong to precious animals which are dying because their loss of home and territory.
If we do not stop polluting our Earth and save our planet, our only home will be spoiled. In this essay I have explained the use of unrecyclable products, the horrid effect of pollution, the meaning of evil global warming, and the destruction of our precious animal homes. I hope you have felt the need to save our Earth, our home because it is the only one we have.
Tags: environment, global warming, Grade 5, natural habitats, pollution, recycle, reduce, reuse, Ryan Lee
Posted in Green Living, climate change, forests and wild Lands, recycling, species | 3 Comments »
Monday, December 8th, 2008
Penelope Adams writes:
I am trying very hard to feed birds in my back yard. A good friend who lives outside Nanaimo found a Northern Pygmy Owl on his patio after the poor thing smashed into his patio window. He lived thanks to my friend who scooped him up and sat with him until he felt better. How rare is this bird in the area?
Lindsay replies:
According to the BC Conservation Data Centre , the bird is an island subspecies of Northern Pygmy Owl which is endemic (native) to Vancouver Island.
All but the northern pygmy-owl, are yellow-listed in BC, according to the Conservation Data Centre (2003), and the populations are therefore considered to be secure and not at risk of extinction. The swarthi subspecies of the northern pygmy-owl occurs only on Vancouver Island (Fraser et al., 1999) and is blue-listed in BC as vulnerable, or particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events (Fraser et al., 1999).
You can post your sighting here and you can learn more about species at risk in your area of Nanaimo here .
And if you’re a bird watcher, do sign up for David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge. We just produced an edition about saving boreal birds. You can sign a petition as well as sign your name to a BC specific campaign to get a law for endangered species.
Tags: bird sightings, conservation, extinction, forest, Nanaimo, Northern Pygmy Owl, Vancouver Island
Posted in David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, conservation, endangered species, forests and wild Lands, species, species at risk | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
A reader from Vancouver writes:
I’m wondering what the public can do to reduce the now overwhelming crow population in Vancouver? All the tiny birds are swiftly disappearing; it’s very sad to witness.
Lindsay responds:
Crows are a very smart bunch. Naturalist author David Quammen has pointed out that they will be all we have left (along with other generalists like coyotes and pigeons) if we don’t change our consumption habits and destruction of ecosystems.
Think of it this way, crows can tolerate living with us (in our concrete jungle, eating our garbage, etc.) and not many species can. I suspect if there has been a noticeable increase in numbers it’s due to last year’s garbage strike. Like the rats, crows would have benefited from a surplus of food items as people’s trashcans were overflowing!
This brings me to the low number of songbirds living in our urban green spaces and backyards. The rat population explosion (maybe you’ve had more rat sightings or seen their droppings at your bird feeder) likely resulted in more predation attempts on bird eggs and nests. The other major culprit in Vancouver and other cities more often than not is domestic cats and not crows.
I’d suggest you contact the local naturalist club as they spend a lot of time bird watching and could offer more advice.
Another suggestion would be to contact your local wild bird store because they’re experts on this sort of topic as well.
Finally, since you are aware of birds, do sign up for David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge where we give you tips to live with as small a footprint as possible.
You can of course reduce the amount of garbage you put out and ensure that your garbage bin is sealed. This will deter not just crows but coyotes, skunks and raccoons. All of this urban wildlife does provide us with a host of services – it’s just sometimes behind the scenes. We’d really miss them if they were gone, that’s for sure.
If I haven’t armed you with enough reading already, a recent report shows that many common bird species are at risk of going extinct, including crows.
Tags: backyards, birds, cats, coyotes, crows, David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, extinct, garbage, Lindsay, raccoons, rats, skunks, Vancouver, wildlife
Posted in David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, Green Living, Lindsay, conservation, endangered species, forests and wild Lands, garbage, gardening, species at risk | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
Thousands of chirpers and honkers are flocking through our green spaces these days. It’s a great time to read up on them. Share your book recommendations here.
Tags: bird, birds, book, books
Posted in Consumer Issues, David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, Lindsay, conservation, endangered species, forests and wild Lands, species, species at risk | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
Children who connect with nature grow into adults who care about protecting it.
Sylvie de Sousa and Katharine Byers are two Vancouver Moms who’ve put together a bag of tricks sure to nurture eco-consciousness in any kid (and, hopefully, prevent the onset of what Richard Louv calls “nature deficit disorder”). They helped us put together activities to turn kids into bird watchers and protectors for our November newsletter.
Share your wisdom about getting kids into nature here.
Tags: birds, children, kids, Nature Bag
Posted in Consumer Issues, David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, Green Parenting, Newsletter response, conservation, endangered species, forests and wild Lands, species, species at risk | 1 Comment »
