Antlers of the East: Tracking the decline of the Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou (part one)
Woodland caribou at the summit of Mont Jacques-Cartier, tallest among the Chic Choc Mountains of Gaspésie National Park, QC. (Photo by Zack Metcalfe)
It was August 18, 2017, when I gained the summit of Mont Jacques-Cartier, an alpine peak of shattered stone and meagre vegetation some 1,270 metres above Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula. Several stones were organized into mounds, marking the...
A world without wetlands
Brighton Wetland, Eastern Lake Ontario Coast (Photo by David Coulson)
I live next to a swamp. After 20 years of having this swamp as my neighbour, it’s kind of grown on me. I enjoy the spring flush of marsh marigolds, the annual reawakening of spring peepers, and I still smile when I see a colourful wood duck...
New guidelines for privately protected areas
Alpine Lake on Darkwoods, BC (Photo by Bruce Kirkby)
Privately protected areas (PPAs) are protected areas under private governance, as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Private governance includes non-governmental organizations, corporations, for-profit owners,...
Ten good news nature conservation stories from 2018: Our collective actions can have a big impact
Lands within the Jim Prentice Wildlife Corridor (Photo by Brent Calver)
Around the world, we are at a crossroads in our relationship with the planet. For the first time in human history our environmental impacts are happening at a scale that is affecting all life on Earth. Our collective experience in solving big,...
Puttin’ the boots to junk at Shoe Lake
Conservation Volunteers at the Shoe Lake West property (Photo by Bill Armstrong)
Sometimes the best way to show your appreciation for critters and their habitat is to clean up what us humans have left lying around. That about sums up the purpose of a late-August Conservation Volunteers (CV) event at a Nature Conservancy of...
The boreal forests of Wilson Island
Wilson Island, ON (Photo by NCC)
It was time to do a deep dive into the boreal forests of Wilson Island, near the north shore of Lake Superior. The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) acquired these amazing 5,000 acres (2,023 hectares) in 2008, and it was time to conduct an...
Love for the unseen
Polar bear (Photo by Andrew Derocher)
Never in my life have I had the pleasure of seeing a polar bear. Nor have my experiences ever brought me into a position of sharing space with this hyper-carnivorous predator who has dominated the food chain in its habitat so fully that it has...
Reigniting a love of insects
Monarch (Photo by NCC)
The love of insects can be a tough sell to many adults. Much like a fascination with dinosaurs, it seems that an interest in insects peaks during childhood and then declines for most people. Butterflies, however, are one of the few insects that...
Please fence me in
Tim Teetaert and Stephen Gietz installing fences at the Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve (Photo by NCC)
If you drove down Manitoba Provincial Road 201 this past summer, you may have seen Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) staffers installing fencing along a portion of NCC land at the Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve. You may have even asked...
Tiny beauties: Orchids on the Bruce
Broad-lipped twayblade (Photo by NCC)
As a former conservation technician intern at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I was lucky enough to see and learn a lot about nature and how to conserve it. When I worked for NCC, I had the opportunity to explore many different ecosystems...
