Ten tips for finding a job in conservation
Volunteer measures tree root collar diameter with calliper. (Photo by NCC)
There’s a lot I love about my job at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). Working on endangered species, landscape planning and protecting some of Canada’s most important habitats is not a bad way to spend the day. I also like...
20,000 days of nature conservation
At the end of this summer, on August 30, 2017, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) will mark exactly 20,000 days of conservation. This milestone provides an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the work done by NCC and our partners each day,...
Why Canada matters on World Wetlands Day
Wetlands in the Marion Creek Benchlands, British Columbia (Photo by Tim Ennis/NCC)
While other nations have picked wetland wildlife, such as Finland’s whooper swan or Pakistan’s Indus crocodile, to represent their country, Canada is the only country in the world that has selected a wetland engineer as its national...
Why Canada’s prairies are the world’s most endangered ecosystem
Rolling prairie at Old Man on His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area, SK (Photo by Branimir Gjetvaj)
Updated November 7, 2018 Ask any Canadian kid to name the world’s most endangered ecosystem, and chances are you’ll hear one of the following answers: 1) rainforests; 2) coral reefs; 3) leave me alone. Ignoring the last answer,...
More endangered than pandas: 40 Canadian species at risk of global extinction
Earlier this month, a conservation success story resonated around the world. The giant panda, perhaps the preeminent poster species of nature conservation, was down-listed from a global status of endangered to vulnerable on the International Union...
Life in freshwater country: How helping water helps Canada (Part Two)
Bow Lake, AB (Photo by Sarah Boon)
In Part One of this blog I presented an overview of Canada's freshwater resources and the need to protect them for people and nature. Here I will further explain how today’s problems need new solutions. Over the last year the Nature...
Life in freshwater country: How helping water helps Canada (Part One)
Elbow Lake, Frontenac Arch, ON (Photo by NCC)
If you are Canadian, either by chance or by choice, you probably have a story about water. It might be learning to paddle a canoe, pulling your first fish from the water or standing on the dock on the May 24 weekend with friends, challenging each...
Canada’s largest parks and protected areas are Canadians' gift to the world
Looking down Columbia Lake Valley from the Dutch Creek Hoodoos (Photo by NCC)
Canada’s greatest contribution to sustaining our planet’s biodiversity and ecological services may very well be our abundance. From some of the world’s largest intact forests and wetlands, to wild northern rivers, to spectacles...
Why no net loss in biodiversity offsets fails nature and people
Misty Darkwoods forest, BC (Photo by Bruce Kirkby)
There is a new conservation tool making its way through the forests, wetlands and boardrooms of Canada: biodiversity offsets. Biodiversity offsets offer an opportunity to mitigate development impacts to nature that cannot be otherwise avoided....
The 21st century field naturalist
Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve,BC (Photo by Tim Ennis/NCC)
Today’s birder or wildflower enthusiast would be almost unrecognizable to Canada’s first field naturalists. Percy Taverner (1875-1947), a Canadian pioneer in ornithology, carried a shotgun to identify birds in the hand, and used...
