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I’ve been working on promoting the Saving for Change partnership between terra20 and Nature Canada for a few weeks now. I finally had a free hour in my day and thought, this is the perfect opportunity to drop in to the store for a visit! In case you haven’t already heard, Nature Canada members receive discounts on the many nature-friendly products, and 2% of those purchases will go towards supporting our efforts to protect and conserve our environment! It’s easy, all you have to do is sign up and shop online or in-store! Find out more about Saving for Change here. Since I live so close to the Iris location in Ottawa, I thought a little bit of shopping would be a fun way… read more →
Bird Day Ottawa was a great success this year, drawing close to a thousand people in the Ottawa-Gatineau area to Nature Canada’s annual bird and wildlife event. There were crafts for kids, live falcon demonstrations, and guided nature walks throughout the day. Bird Day is an event dedicated to celebrating nature, getting people excited about nature in their NatureHoods and connecting people – especially kids – to the nature all around them. Here are our top three reasons for celebrating nature in your NatureHood. Discover something new about your neighbourhood! Each guided nature walk at Bird Day revealed a different set of species and a variety of habitats. Depending on the time of day and the season, you will likely see a different… read more →
Nature Canada is calling on the stakeholders to ask the federal government to strengthen Bill C-40, the Rouge National Urban Park Act, which would create Canada’s first urban national park. Nature Canada strongly supports the idea of creating a urban national park. Our NatureHood initiative is designed to help connect city-living Canadians with their nearby nature. Nature Canada has also been advocating for more national parks for the bulk of our 75 year history and we’re proud to have played a role in the creation of over 63 million acres of parks and protected national wildlife areas in Canada. Unfortunately, Bill C-40 is weak and needs to be strengthened. As it stands, the legislation fails to meet standards for sustainability… read more →
OTTAWA – (May 29, 2014) Nature Canada is hosting a Bird Day Fair for all ages in Ottawa this Saturday, May 31, 2014. The Bird Day Fair celebrates the region’s migratory birds through educational activities, live demonstrations, nature walks and much more. Bird Day Fair is one of many events taking place this month as part of International Migratory Bird Day, an international initiative encouraging habitat conservation and increasing awareness of birds. “Bird Day Fair is a great chance for us to come together as a community to celebrate and have fun all while enjoying nature and learning about the birds and other wildlife that call this area home,” said Stephen Hazell, Interim Executive Director for Nature Canada. More than… read more →
This blog post was contributed by reader Emma Mardle. Eco-tourism is just such a case. More and more people are drawn to Canada by the stunning natural environment – and they want to experience and enjoy it as a whole, in a sustainable manner, rather than just withdrawing portions of it as the Scottish deer stalking fraternity do. Vacation providers are increasingly learning that the environment is one of their greatest assets, capable of drawing in millions of tourism dollars per annum and, as such, they are making efforts to protect their most valuable resource. Students preparing for careers in the hospitality industry are learning to preserve rather than exploit the environment – yet this preservation will ultimately result in… read more →
This blog post was contributed by reader Emma Mardle. Persuading people to appreciate the importance of the environment for its intrinsic value has always been difficult. However, persuading them to appreciate its importance for its monetary value may be a different matter. There are examples – many, in fact – of situations wherein man and nature have worked to each other’s mutual advantage. Humanity has fought for the preservation of an aspect(s) of the natural world because to do so preserves profit and enjoyment, and that aspect of nature has accordingly benefited from humanity’s protection and lobbying. Generally in the past such protection has been intrinsic upon the killing of some portions of the protected population for sport, which has… read more →
Recent research on Monarch Butterflies shows a sharp decline in its numbers since monitoring began nearly 20 years ago. Part of the problem lies in the parallel decline of milkweed – a plant that Monarchs rely on for food and protection. Milkweed, often eradicated through the use of pesticides, is vital to the Monarch’s ability to survive and reproduce. Here are 3 things you can do in your own yard, terrace, community garden or other green space to be a good neighbour in your NatureHood! Plant native species—they have adapted to your local soil and climate conditions so they don’t need watering or fertilizers (or pesticides!) to thrive. Include plants the butterfly will need at all four stages of its… read more →
The Board and staff of Nature Canada are honoured to have Senator Janis Johnson as the Honorary Chair of Nature Canada’s Women for Nature Initiative. Senator Johnson has dedicated her career to serving Canadians in politics, business and arts and has served in many prominent positions in her community and her country. Her passion for social justice and equality for women led her to study political science, graduate to a career working in politics, and run her own business. In the 1980s, Senator Johnson became the first woman to establish and chair the federal Progressive Conservative Women’s Caucus. Subsequently, she became the first female National Director of the PC Party of Canada in 1983. She was called to the Senate… read more →
Over 500 members shared “Raise Your Voice” promises for protecting nature this year. We welcome others to also consider making a “Raising My Voice” promise to protect and celebrate nature in the coming months as part of our 75th anniversary celebrations. Post it to Facebook or Tweet it to your friends. Here are just a few of our favourites: Give my grandchildren nature books. – Rosemary Recycle everything I can and compost even more. – Ansel Plant milkweed for the butterflies. – Eunice Helping to establish a local nature park. – Glenda Take kids of all ages on nature walks and teach them about it. – Rosamund Monitor and manage bluebird boxes. – Paul Grow flowers in my garden for… read more →
OTTAWA (April 3, 2014) – Nature Canada is proud to announce the winners of this year’s Canada’s Coolest School Trip contest. For their fantastic (and catchy!) video, the grand-prize goes to the talented students from École Antoine-Roy in Gaspé, Quebec. Not only did they produce an amazing video about Forillon National Park and a series of ‘making of’ videos‘, they also succeeded in engaging their entire community in the contest. They garnered the support of a car dealership, a radio station and many other groups in their community. The award-winning video: “This is really a fantastic story. How often do you see kids get this engaged in Canada’s history and natural spaces,” asked Nature Canada’s Paul Jorgenson. “The winning class didn’t… read more →