(April 20, 2017) To address climate change in Ontario, Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) developed a Climate Change Action Plan identifying a number of actions, across multiple ministries aimed at reducing the magnitude and/or rate of greenhouse gas emissions. These range from the creation of a low-carbon and zero emission transportation sector to reducing fossil fuel use in buildings and homes to developing carbon offset programs using managed forests and agricultu...

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(April 01, 2017)  At WCS Canada, we are working to help wildlife survive – and thrive – across our huge country. Our gorgeous new annual report captures both the beauty of wildlife and the challenges we face in ensuring their survival across Canada.  From caribou to ice seals, we explain how WCS Canada scientists are using the insights gained from long hours in the field to shape conservation and land-use plans and to help species survive. We also look at how we can take...

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(March 27, 2017) Although fish and fisheries are an integral part of Canada’s history, culture, and economy, protection for fish and fish habitats has been declining in Canada for at least a decade. The Fisheries Act is Canada’s oldest environmental law and an important piece of legislation that gives the Government of Canada the authority to manage fisheries and protect fish habitat. However to be effective, the Fisheries Act must be modernized, include evidence-based a...

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(March 22, 2017) A joint effort between WCS Canada’s BatCaver and Alberta Environment and Parks has led to the discovery of the largest bat hibernation cave ever recorded in Alberta, outside the Rocky Mountains.The newly-discovered cave is being used for hibernation by several hundred Little Brown Myotis bats, listed as Endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. The cave was formed by weak sulphuric acid dissolving bedrock, making conditions in the narrow, muddy cave impossible to fully inspect h...

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(March 16, 2017) In June 2016, Ontario’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change released Ontario's Climate Change Action Plan. This five-year plan outlines how the Government and its partners will fight climate change and is focused actions to reduce greenhouse gases (mitigation) and help move Ontario towards a low-carbon economy.One of the actions in the Plan focuses on the role of land to reduce emissions. For example, trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas, and st...

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(February 13, 2017) Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has announced the final boundaries and new protection measures for the Castle Wildlands and Provincial Park in southwest Alberta. The Wildlands Park will encompass nearly 80,000 hectares, while the adjacent Provincial Park will cover 25,500 hectares. These areas border Waterton Lakes National Park to the south. In the management plan, Premier Notley made the crucial decision to prohibit Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV) in much of the area later this spring ...

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(January 25, 2017) The recent discovery in northwest Washington State of bats infected with white-nose syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease that has devastated bat populations in eastern North America, is a wake-up call. When WNS finds its way to BC, it is likely to bring with it major economic impacts both agricultural and forestry. Bats are voracious consumers of insects and if their numbers decline like they have in the east, there is big trouble ahead.Bats play vital roles in pest control. At least one species of ...

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(January 10, 2017) In June, the Government of Canada announced the launch of a comprehensive review of federal environmental assessment processes associated with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (CEAA 2012). With our extensive experience working in regions of northern Canada where natural resource development is being planned in remote and ecologically intact areas, we at WCS Canada see significant gaps inherent in environmental assessment law, policy, and practice when it comes to address...

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(December 29, 2016)   Great potential mineral wealth, including world-class mineral deposits of chromite in the Ring of Fire, has resulted in Ontario’s Far North becoming the fastest growing area of mineral exploration in the province. Resulting threats to caribou in Ontario’s northern regions include cumulative habitat disturbance and loss of access to critical areas for calving or feeding. Although the province is committed (through the Caribou Conservation Plan) to track disturbance within carib...

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(December 12, 2016)  The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF) has a mandate to halt wetland loss in Ontario, and just released the first draft of a Wetland Conservation Strategy that is intended to fulfill this important commitment. However, the draft Wetland Conservation Strategy suffers from a number of critical weaknesses, and will not deliver on protecting wetlands in Ontario.   As it is currently written, some of the key shortcomings of the draft Wetland Conservation Strategy in...

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