Backpack Essentials: Beat the bite
Backpack Essentials (Image by NCC)
Summer is my favourite season. It’s the best time of year to be outside enjoying the sunshine. For mosquitoes, it is also a good time for them to feed on unsuspecting humans. In Canada, these blood-sucking creatures rarely carry deadly...
Backpack Essentials: Get ready for wetlands
Backpack Essentials (Image by NCC)
This blog post is part of the Backpack Essentials series, a series that explores the items that Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) staff carry with them when heading outside. It is inspired by the quarterly Nature Conservancy of Canada Magazine...
#NatureForAll... Forever
Exploring Musquash Estuary (photo by Mike Dembeck)
On International Day of Friendship, July 30, 2019, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is celebrating its involvement with #NatureForAll, a global initiative encouraging people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to connect with nature. NCC...
Heard it from a Scout: The ultimate summer camping guide
Scouts learn essential outdoor skills and how to prioritize safety in all activities. (Photo by Scouts Canada)
The perfect temperature for summer camping, according to Scouts — Canada’s youngest outdoor experts — is 27 C. So, go check your thermometer. It’s time to answer the call of the wilderness! Scouts learn essential outdoor...
In the absence of nature
Child playing in nature (Photo by Cathy Shaluk)
I've become very familiar with the concept of cabin fever while at university. It is the week of final exams and I have studied for days, either at the library or at my dorm. Sitting among all the papers and study notes, I begin to feel antsy...
Common ground conservation
Downtown Vancouver (Photo by Adam Hunter/NCC staff)
We’re currently running one of the world’s biggest experiments. You’re part of it, and I’m part of it. For the first time in the history of modern humans, we’ve attempted to detach ourselves, and our children, from...
4 mental health benefits of volunteering outside
Tree planting Conservation Volunteers event, Johnson's Mills, NB (Photo by NCC)
Research shows that spending time in nature benefits benefits us not only physically, but mentally. Just taking a walk in a forest can regulate blood pressure, lower the risk of illness, reduce stress and boost mental health. You may be surprised...
Beech leaf disease: A new problem for Ontario trees
Early-stage leaf striping (Photo by John Pogacnik, Ohio Department of Natural Resources)
Beech bark disease began ravaging beech trees in Ontario in the late 1990s, after spreading west from Atlantic Canada. But recently, a new beech disease has emerged in the province. Beech leaf disease was first detected in North America in 2012 in...
Wetland contamination and turtle health
Snapping turtle (Photo by Pascale Bider)
Between oozing mud, mosquitoes the size of golf balls and strange-smelling water, wetlands may not seem to you or me like an appealing place to live. But for most of Ontario’s eight species of turtles, wetlands are an essential...
The tool belt
Many of us struggle with our mental health. (Photo by Pixabay)
What? A tool belt for mental health? Close your eyes and picture a place that makes you happy. Maybe it’s your grandma’s house; maybe it’s somewhere outdoors that holds a special place in your heart. Think of things that make...
