Celebrating wetland conservation: NAWCA turns 30
Picturesque Cherry Meadows, BC (Photo by Carol Latter)
This month, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) turns 30. Passed on December 13, 1989, NAWCA is one of the most successful pieces of conservation legislation in U.S. history. Under the Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...
Celebrating our Conservation Volunteers
Volunteer with tray of seedlings at Goulding West property, Ontario (Photo by Neil Ever Osborne)
Every December 5, on International Volunteer Day, the United Nations recognizes volunteers worldwide for their efforts and celebrates the impact they are making toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals —17 global goals set by the...
Conservation on a budget
Lake Erie Farms (Photo by NCC)
This spring, conservation staff from the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) contributed to a study that looked at the most cost-efficient ways to monitor restoration success in Ontario. So what, you may ask? Let me back up a bit and provide some...
A glimpse of the past: Using historic maps to guide land management
Historic land survey outlining the store house and fort site at NCC’s Fort Ellice property in MB (Photo by Manitoba Archives 2019)
The Prairie provinces, like much of agricultural Canada, look vastly different than they did before European settlement. During the development of Western Canada, forests were cleared, wetlands drained and grasslands plowed in an effort to settle...
Reforestation breathes fresh air into efforts against climate change
Forests are a vital part of our fight against climate change. (Photo by NCC)
When you think of Saskatchewan, your first thoughts probably go to flat cropland, rolling grasslands, sunsets and open horizons — and not forests. In reality, our prairie province is actually more than 50 per cent forested. In fact, boreal...
Meadows for Monarchs
Meadows for Monarchs event participants (Photo by NCC)
If you thought you saw more monarchs flitting about last summer and fall, you were right. Monarch Watch reported that 2018 was a good year for the iconic orange and black butterfly, thanks to a combination of aggressive conservation efforts in...
Connecting to the land through conservation
We spent the morning walking NCC’s Ursulan property. (Photo by NCC)
On my first field day with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I was expecting a rigorous day of mapping, tracking and other GPS functions I don’t understand. Instead, I found myself birdwatching my way around a beautiful piece of NCC...
Bossing the burn: Part two
Morgan Kanak, Emily Little, Michael Burak, Dale Gross and Gabriel Foley admiring the black line we established using the tools of the trade, including flappers and a drip torch. (Photo by NCC)
This is part two of “Bossing the burn.” Click here to read part one. Have you heard the Tragically Hip song, “Lonely End of the Rink”? I’m pretty sure it is a love song that also describes the toughest position in...
Bossing the burn: Part one
Prescribed burn at OMB (Photo by NCC)
Those of you who have met me know that I’m a pretty big, intimidating guy. Braggadocios, people have said. Bold, even. I mean, you know if you’ve seen me that I’ve got what you’d call a bit of swagger when I walk across the...
What do we save? How science and planning are evolving to help make critical conservation decisions
Participants of the Open Standards workshop led by the Conservation Coaches Network (Photo by NCC)
In a world that is rapidly losing wildlife and habitats, conservation has become a science of decision-making. We know there are many places and species in Canada that will not survive unless we take action to protect and restore them. Deciding...
