CPAWS News

CPAWS weighs in on future of Fundy National Park

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:14:11 -0500

Fundy park funding questioned

By James Foster
Published in the Times & Transcript (New Brunswick) on Nov. 19, 2009

No one wants to look a gift horse in the mouth, but fans of Fundy National Park wonder if the big picture is being overlooked in recent funding announcements.

"In a perfect world," says Roberta Clowater, executive director of the New Brunswick chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, "I would prefer to see more funding allocated to the ecological integrity of all of our national parks."

All well and good, says Rob Moore, MP for Fundy-Royal which encompasses Fundy park, but the park has been underfunded for years, and he's fixing that. Besides, he says, you don't expand your house until you're certain the foundation is solid.

The comments come after the federal government in the past year has invested millions of dollars in new infrastructure in the park, in better exhibits and rehabilitating streams that are home to eels and Atlantic salmon. They've also rebuilt the crumbling main road, Route 114, to the tune of about $17 million.

While those who love the park cheer that kind of spending, hanging over their heads are reports that species of fish, animals and plants are being driven to local extinction, mainly because the park is too small to "maintain its ecological integrity."

That means the park is subject to outside influences from the industries and logging all around it.

Read the full article at timestranscript.com.

The Big Wild Program Manager

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:34:19 -0500

Closing Date: November 30, 2009
Status: FT Contract
Location: Mountain Equipment Co-op Head Office, Vancouver
Start Date: Jan 4th to Dec 15th 2010 þ replacement position

The Big Wild (www.thebigwild.org) was founded by Mountain Equipment Coop and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and launched in 2008 as an initial three year initiative to engage Canadians in wilderness conservation. We are seeking a maternity leave replacement Program Manager.

What you’ll be doing:

Developing and recommending The Big Wild (TBW) goals, strategy and tactics to achieve outcomes identified in the 2009 TBW Assessment (currently underway)
Implementing strategy to achieve goals through existing or changed/new programs, tactics and collaborations (i.e. to drive actions and outcomes on conservation campaigns; to achieve desired program outcomes)
Be the face and voice of TBW (along with the Site Animator), leading communications and promotion internally and externally, including marketing, issues management, public relations and responses to public inquiries
Ensuring thebigwild.org platform’s technical excellence and responsiveness to community needs
Directing and/or managing thebigwild.org engagement activity and site animation
Seeking out and acting on opportunities to build strategic relationships and collaborations with organizations – from conservation organizations, to business service providers/sponsors, to media
Engaging key stakeholders and staff at MEC and CPAWS in participating and delivering TBW
Managing the operations of TBW human resources (currently, a team of a part-time moderator, technical contractors, communications and conservation support), achievement of milestones, contracts, budgeting and ongoing reporting
Ensuring TBW is a trusted, credible, and outcome-focused campaign with content that is regularly updated
Engaging staff and the organization around program decisions and evolution
To complete special projects are requested by Director of Sustainability

What you need to do it well:

Passion for wilderness conservation and outdoor recreation in Canada (professional experience is not a requirement)
A creative and strategic mind and exceptional execution skills, you are a discerning decision maker who can both contribute to strategy and effectively implement plans
An interdisciplinary background that includes experience in business, online technology and nonprofits or advocacy organizations
Experience in communications and social change to affect policy outcomes
At least five years of working experience in a decision-making role, and two years of experience in project management, preferably managing web sites or online projects
Demonstrated ability to manage teams (including staff and contractors) and to develop effective stakeholder relationships
Demonstrated change management and organizational development skills with strong ability to influence and build consensus
Excellent time management skills
Demonstrated skills related to and experience working with tight deadlines in a multi-task multi-stakeholder environment
Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal
Good office administration and records keeping skills to manage 3rd party relationships and contracts
Oral fluency in both official languages desirable, written fluency an asset
dynamic personality, infectious enthusiasm, desire and ability to be part of something big and bold

Please submit resume with covering letter stating job posting number addressed to the position Manager:

Email: jobs@mec.ca

Human Resources 604-731-3826
MEC Head Office
149 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Y 4A6

CPAWS urges public to speak up about future of Banff National Park

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:23:53 -0500

Parks Canada is preparing a new management plan for Banff National Park that will guide its activities for the next ten to fifteen years. This plan is important for Banff. It will also set the direction that could be taken for all of the other Rocky Mountain parks.

A draft of the plan is available for public comment until November 30th, 2009. CPAWS is encouraging people concerned about the future of Banff and Canada’s other national parks to submit letters of comment.

CPAWS welcomes some of the direction in the new Banff Management Plan, but is also concerned about some of its content. The good news is that the draft plan emphasizes the goal of maintaining Banff’s special wilderness values and showcasing its conservation innovations. The plan also gives weight to increasing educational opportunities for park visitors to learn more about Banff’s spectacular ecosystems.

However, CPAWS is concerned that the draft plan also states that Parks Canada’s goal is to increase Banff park visitation by two percent per year. And it envisions offering new “non-traditional activities” to attract more visitors. In recent years, Parks Canada has approved such non-traditional activities in Banff National Park as professional golf tournaments and dragon boat races.

So what’s the problem?

First, Banff’s natural ecosystems are already under stress from the high rate of visitation to the park. Twelve years ago the landmark Banff – Bow Valley Study noted that a steadily rising number of visitors was one of the greatest threats to the ecological integrity of Canada’s premier national park – and that number has grown during those past 12 years.

Second, the draft plan opens the door to new development to accommodate non-traditional activities, and to altering wilderness zone boundaries to accommodate the new developments. Altering wilderness zone boundaries goes against their original intention of protecting sensitive areas.

What’s the solution?

Canada’s national parks have a proud reputation as world leaders in protecting the integrity of the ecosystems within their borders. We need to keep it this way.

Parks Canada should be encouraging people to visit our national parks to develop their love of nature and an ethic of environmental stewardship. More visitor programs that are sensitive to maintaining the ecological integrity of our parks would be a welcome direction.

Developing educational programs within our national parks, especially during off peak season, would also be a good way to foster love of Canada’s wild nature in new generations of visitors.

CPAWS also believes that it is critical that we maintain rigorous scientific programs in our parks to monitor the health of their ecosystems, and respond to threats with innovative solutions such as the animal corridor highway bypasses in Banff and species re-introduction programs that are currently underway.

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View a summary of the new draft Banff National Park Management Plan (PDF)

While the 80-page Banff National Park draft management plan is not posted on the Parks Canada website, you CAN request a copy from Banff Park Planner, Mike Murtha, at mike.murtha@pc.gc.ca.

Saving caribou will curb climate change: new report

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:03:35 -0500

Download the Report (PDF)

Today, the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) released its new report entitled Caribou and You report. The report tells the story of the woodland caribou’s decline and how saving the threatened species from extinction will help slow the affects of climate change.

Woodland caribou require immense, unbroken Boreal wilderness to find enough food and avoid predators. As the Boreal is the world’s largest land-based storehouse of carbon, these vast intact spaces also help to curb climate change.

“By protecting the caribou’s home in our Boreal wilderness, we slow the accelerator pedal on climate change,” says Ron Thiessen, CPAWS Manitoba Executive Director. “Humans need big protected Boreal spaces as much as caribou do.”

Canada’s Boreal stores more than 186 billion tons of carbon – 27 years' worth of global carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. When the Boreal is developed or logged, its ability to absorb and store carbon is lost or reduced, which degrades its ability to help moderate our climate.

Woodland caribou populations are declining across Canada and they have already disappeared from three provinces largely due to habitat loss from industrial developments such as clear-cut logging. Both the federal and Manitoba governments have listed woodland caribou as a threatened species in need of habitat protection but are not taking the actions required to ensure their wellbeing.

“CPAWS is calling for an immediate halt to logging, logging road construction, and other industrial developments in intact caribou habitat until the government can demonstrate that adequate measures have been put in place to ensure long-term caribou survival,” says Thiessen.

CPAWS is proposing that the Manitoba government announces a plan to work with all involved to protect more than 50% of Manitoba’s Boreal Region from industrial developments. According to a letter from more than 1,500 highly respected scientists* from across the globe, this is the minimum amount of protection required to ensure the area remains fully functioning as an integral part of earth’s life support system.

According to Pascal Badiou, Ph.D and adjunct professor in the University of Manitoba's Department of Environment and Geography, and signatory to the scientists letter to Canadian governments, “the Boreal forest is one of the world’s most precious water resources and is dotted with millions of small wetlands and lakes that are important habitat for wildlife,” says Badiou.

“Additionally, it is one of, if not the most, important terrestrial carbon stores on the planet and therefore plays a key role in the global climate cycle.”

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For more information, please contact Ron Thiessen (Executive Director, CPAWS Manitoba) at (204 794 4971) or (204 453 6346)

* 1,500 Scientists Worldwide Call For Protection of Canada's Boreal Forest

New report shows importance of Canada's Boreal forest in climate change talks

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:09:49 -0500

A science report released today by the Canadian Boreal Initiative provides more support for CPAWS’ work to convince Canada and other developed countries to make forests count in the next international climate change agreement. Today’s report finds that the Boreal forest stores nearly twice as much carbon per hectare as tropical forests.

"The Carbon the World Forgot" identifies the boreal forests of North America as not only the cornerstone habitat for key mammal species, but one of the most significant carbon stores in the world, the equivalent of 26 years of global emissions from burning fossil fuels, based on 2006 emissions levels. Globally, these forests store 22 percent of all carbon on the earth's land surface.

"Past accounting greatly underestimated the amount and depth of carbon stored in and under the boreal forest," said Jeff Wells, an author of the report.

CPAWS’ forests and climate change specialist Chris Henschel says “ We hope that this new evidence will convince Canada to take a stronger leadership role in the upcoming climate change talks in Copenhagen in December. So far, Canada has not stepped up, and all of the developed countries are balking at the idea that they should set in place new rules for accounting for emissions from cutting down forests.”

Henschel has been attending the international climate change negotiations for the past two years and is leading Canadian and international environmental groups in developing policy recommendations to make forests count in the next climate change agreement.

“The preference of the Canadian government has been to measure its performance against a projection of future business-as-usual practices, but it will be difficult to demonstrate that this approach has environmental integrity. We’re still hoping that Canada will agree to measures that track real changes in emissions. Otherwise it will be hard to find either ambition or transparency in the numbers,” says Henschel.

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For interviews, contact: Ellen Adelberg (613) 569-7226 x234

CPAWS welcomes Canada's signing of wilderness protection agreement with US, Mexico

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:55:00 -0500

CPAWS welcomes the announcement today by the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment, of a historic memorandum of understanding between the countries of North America to work together to create a “well-connected continent-wide network of protected areas”.

“Making a commitment to create networks of protected wilderness areas is a significant step in safeguarding Canada’s and North America’s ecosystems, and we welcome it wholeheartedly,” says CPAWS National Executive Director Eric Hebert-Daly, who is returning from the Merida, Mexico “Wild 9” Congress where the minister made his announcement.

Canada and most other developed countries have until now focused on developing a “representative system” of national parks to protect remnants of existing natural ecosystems – called by some, the “polka dot” approach. In the past decade, conservation biology research has convincingly made the case that in order to keep ecosystems healthy, we need to create large interconnected networks of protected areas that allow wild species to roam, especially in the face of a changing climate.

According the Globe and Mail, Minister Prentice stated that “ The goals include enhancing wilderness, both on land and at sea. Built into the arrangement is a regime that mandates the monitoring of existing protected areas to make sure they remain healthy. Mr. Prentice described that preservation aspect as the No. 1 priority of each country. There are also provisions that each country will work more smoothly to deal with the impact of climate change on protected areas.”

View the Globe story

CPAWS is a co-founder with Mountain Equipment Co-op of thebigwild.org, with the vision of protecting at least half of Canada’s public land and water. “Announcements like the one by Minister Prentice today affirm that Canada can make the Big Wild vision a reality within our lifetime,” says Hebert-Daly.

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For interviews, contact:
Ellen Adelberg
613-292-2875 (cell)

Developed countries avoid making forests count

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:29:06 -0500

Environmentalists disappointed in outcomes of Barcelona climate change meetings

Barcelona - At the end of this week’s final round of United Nations talks before the Copenhagen climate change meeting occurs next month, environmental groups are disappointed that developed countries have failed to clearly commit to accounting for greenhouse gas emissions from cutting down their forests.

“Many developed countries are balking at the idea that they would have to strictly account for changes in these emissions. They have drafted a number of loopholes into the proposed new rules that would allow them to increase their emissions without accounting for them,” says Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) conservation expert Chris Henschel, who has been coordinating environmental groups working on this issue at the climate talks.

Forests remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere as they grow. These gases are released when forests are cut. Cutting natural forests also damages healthy ecosystems.

“The preference of the Canadian government has been to measure its performance against a projection of future business-as-usual practices, but it will be difficult to demonstrate that this approach has environmental integrity. We’re still hoping that Canada will agree to measures that track real changes in emissions. Otherwise it will be hard to find either ambition or transparency in the numbers,” says Henschel.

“Rather than responding to requests from environmental groups and developing countries including China, India and Brazil to strictly account for emissions from cutting forests, developed countries will now bring an adjusted set of books to Copenhagen and look for them to be approved during the pivotal climate conference. Each country is invited to bring to the table whatever baseline it likes for measuring changes in emissions,” says Henschel.

“This is a failure in leadership from developed countries. In Copenhagen we will have to sift through more than thirty sets of books looking for cheating and fudged numbers. No one will have confidence in these accounts. We continue to call for a simple accounting of future emissions compared to past emissions,” says Henschel.

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For more information, visit www.makeforestscount.org .

Learn about the link between carbon and Canada's forests at caribouandyou.ca

For interviews, please contact:
Ellen Adelberg (613) 569 -7226 x 234
Or email Chris Henschel at chenschel@cpaws.org

New poll shows strong local support for Flathead national park

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:15:20 -0500

Eyes of World Focus on Flathead Following United Nations Visit

East Kootenay residents support a National Park in the southeastern one-third of B.C.'s Flathead River Valley at a rate of 2 to 1, according to a poll released today.

The poll, conducted in late October by McAllister Opinion Research, also found that 77 per cent of East Kootenay residents support the establishment of wildlife sanctuaries in south eastern BC that would be off-limits to hunting and heavy industry.

“People who live in the East Kootenay know the Flathead River Valley deserves permanent protection and that wildlife urgently need safe havens,” said Casey Brennan, Wildsight’s Southern Rockies program manager. “These polling results confirm the impression we get from talking to local residents— that a strong majority support a Flathead National Park and creation of wildlife sanctuaries, even though a small but vocal opposition likes to claim otherwise.”

The Flathead River Valley, in BC’s southeast corner, has come under intense international scrutiny because of plans for coal strip mining and other development in this critical wildlife corridor, which adjoins Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park — a World Heritage Site and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. In late September, the World Heritage Committee sent a mission to Waterton-Glacier and the Flathead to determine if the world’s first international peace park is at risk from proposed Flathead energy and mining developments. The mission’s report has not yet been completed.

“BC’s land use plan for the Flathead is completely incompatible with the values of the adjoining World Heritage Site,” said Sierra Club BC spokesperson Sarah Cox. “Our international reputation could be at risk on the eve of the Olympic Winter Games if the province continues with its foolhardy plan to prioritize mining and energy development in this special place.”

Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society-BC (CPAWS BC), Sierra Club BC, and Wildsight are asking for a National Park in the southeastern one-third of BC’s Flathead River Valley, to complete the Waterton- Glacier World Heritage Site. The conservation groups also want BC to establish a Wildlife Management Area in the rest of the Flathead River Valley and adjoining habitat.

“The Flathead provides critical habitat for rare and at-risk species that migrate to and from Waterton- Glacier, and it has the highest density of grizzly bears in the interior of North America,” said Chloe O’Loughlin, CPAWS-BC Executive Director. “We’re asking the BC government to do its part to protect this globally-significant wildlife area, and the very first step is to declare an immediate no-staking reserve in the valley."

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For Flathead wilderness and wildlife photographs taken by members of the International League of Conservation Photographers see: http://gallery.me.com/ilcp All photos are freely available for use by media.

Contact:
Chloe O’Loughlin, CPAWS: (604) 685-7445 × 23
Sarah Cox, Sierra Club BC: (250) 386-5255 × 257, c. (250) 812-1762
Casey Brennan, Wildsight: c. (250) 423-0402

More Protection for Algonquin

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:26:55 -0500

Toronto - CPAWS Wildlands League is applauding an announcement to protect more of Algonquin Provincial Park. Today, the province posted a notice on the Environmental Bill of Rights registry accepting the report by the Algonquin Forestry Authority (AFA) Board and Ontario Parks Board to increase the amount of protection from the current 22% to 35%, a more than 50% increase. The total area off limits to logging will now be 371,238 hectares - an area equal to six times the size of Toronto. Currently logging is illegal in all of Ontario’s 631 protected areas with the exception of Algonquin.

In 2008 Minister of Natural Resources Donna Cansfield charged the two boards to work together to undertake focused consultation with the Algonquins of Ontario, the forest industry, and key stakeholder groups to develop joint recommendations. Their joint proposal recommendations include:

Expanding the area within protection zones by approximately 98,000 hectares, to enhance protection for canoe routes, brook trout lakes and cultural heritage values
Implementing best management practices that lessen the impact of roads and other forest operations, including continuation of the existing roads strategy
Clarifying the forested areas available for logging by recommending everything else, including areas zoned for protection; forested areas protected by park policy, such as buffer zones along waterways and portages, and non-forested areas such as lakes/rock barrens not be available for logging

“We’re pleased with the decision to protect more of Algonquin Park” said Janet Sumner, Executive Director, CPAWS Wildlands League, “This increase in protection is better for Algonquin AND guarantees the current level of wood supply to area mills.”

“Algonquin is as Canadian as maple sugar and the Group of Seven” Evan Ferrari, Director, Parks Program, CPAWS Wildlands League. “This moves us closer to protecting the ecological integrity of one of our country’s most famous parks.”

Decisions like this are especially important in an era of global warming. Large forests like the ones in Algonquin are critical in providing wildlife with room to adapt as the planet warms.

“Ultimately we want to see logging phased out of Algonquin, with a plan to diversify local economies that have depended in the past on logging” concluded Sumner.

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For more information, contact:

Evan Ferrari
Director, Parks Program
416.971.9453 x 43
416. 986.4147 cell

Janet Sumner
Executive Director
416.971.9453 x 39
416.579.7370 cell

The Wildlands League's mission is to protect wilderness through the establishment of protected areas and through the promotion of natural resource use that is sustainable for nature, communities and the economy.

Trust Fund for East Side of Lake Winnipeg

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:18:59 -0500

In his last major announcement as Premier of Manitoba, Gary Doer launched a 10 million dollar trust fund to support the quest for a 40,000 square kilometer World Heritage Site on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. The east side of Lake Winnipeg is the heart of the world’s largest intact section of Boreal Forest.

According to the Manitoba government press release, the Trust Fund will demonstrate that “there is financial and public support for the site, will generate revenue for operation of the site and will create jobs and opportunities for First Nation communities by funding community-driven projects related to the site.”

"This is a great day for everyone who has and continues to work so hard to protect and promote our traditional territories through the UNESCO World Heritage process," said Pimachiowin Aki spokesperson Sophia Rabliauskas.

"Today's announcement will strengthen our nomination document which must describe how the site will be managed including sources of funding. It means we are one step closer to international recognition of the lands and waters that sustained our ancestors and are so important to people all over the world today – a place we call Pimachiowin Aki in Anishinabe, or the land that gives life."

CPAWS congratulates the First Nations involved for their tremendous leadership as well as the Manitoba government for its support of the World Heritage Site project. CPAWS is delighted as we have long pressed for increased funding for “conservation and communities first” planning and opportunities on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.

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Contact:
Ron Thiessen
Executive Director
CPAWS Manitoba
204 949 0782
www.cpawsmb.org

New Marine Protected Area for Nova Scotia Closer To Becoming a Reality

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:09:23 -0500

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA -- The Government of Canada took at step toward its commitment to protecting Canada's oceans by announcing three areas of interest (AOIs) as candidates for the establishment of Nova Scotia's next marine protected area (MPA). These candidates are all offshore areas off the coast of Nova Scotia: Middle Bank, St. Anns Bank, and Misaine Bank and the Eastern Shoal.

At the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development, Canada committed to creating a national network of marine protected areas by 2012, but we are lagging behind on this target. In the Scotian shelf and Bay of Fundy region, our three existing protected areas add up to only one half of one per cent of the marine environment, and protect only a fraction of the Region's habitat types.

"We congratulate DFO on this important step to help our oceans recover," says Dr. Robert Rangeley, Vice-President Atlantic for WWF-Canada. "Nova Scotia has made great progress in protecting significant areas on land, and now we are taking some much needed steps to protect important species and habitats in the ocean."

MPAs are areas of the ocean designed to protect biodiversity. The benefits of marine protected areas include: more plants and animals per cubic metre of ocean, a wider range of species, and larger fish that produce more young - which could lead to a rebound of overfished stocks and mean long-term profits for fishing communities.

WWF-Canada, the Ecology Action Centre (EAC) and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) have been advocating for a well-planned network of MPAs that protects ecologically significant areas and streamlines rules for resource users while boosting opportunities for eco-tourism. Protected area networks are recognized by scientists as the most important tool for helping ecosystems cope with climate change impacts on our oceans.

"We are really pleased to see the process of choosing a new off-shore marine protected area go forward," says Shannon Arnold, Marine Coordinator for Halifax's Ecology Action Centre. "Ocean management is a true test of collaboration - trying to balance sustainable economic development with conservation. Kudos to the new provincial government for working with DFO to clear some long-standing stumbling blocks and getting back on track to fulfilling Canada's commitments to ocean planning."

The next step in the selection process will involve a 60-day public consultation period, beginning on October 13th, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), with the new AOI being selected in early 2010.

"MPAs create safe places in the ocean where areas are legally protected from harmful activities to allow for recovery of species and habitats which improves the overall health of the ocean," says Ashley Sprague, Marine Coordinator for CPAWS-NS. "Healthy oceans are important to all Nova Scotians, so this is your chance to have a say in the future of Nova Scotia's oceans and we strongly encourage the public to get involved in the upcoming consultation process."

More information about the issue can be found by visiting www.wwf.ca/oceansaction, and by joining the Facebook Group: "Oceans Action for the Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy".

Additonal Resources:

MPA Brochure:
http://assets.wwfca.bluegecko.net/downloads/wwf_oceans_action_brochure.pdf
Film:
http://endoftheline.com/
Ocean Conservation Study:
http://assets.wwfca.bluegecko.net/downloads/gap_analysis_1_1.pdf
Seabed Classification Brochure:
http://assets.wwf.ca/downloads/oceanofdiversity.pdf

About WWF-Canada

WWF-Canada is part of WWF, the world's largest conservation organization. At WWF we advocate and promote lasting solutions to the challenge of balancing growing human need and environmental sustainability. In collaboration with business, government, communities and individuals we take a science-based approach to the protection, management and restoration of environmentally sensitive parts of our planet. Our work includes visionary projects focused on climate change, freshwater and the health of habitat and species across Canada and around the world. For more information about WWF-Canada visit wwf.ca.

About CPAWS-NS

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is a national non-profit organization working to ensure that nature comes first in the management of parks and protected areas, that additional protected areas are created, and that land and sea are managed to retain Canada's biodiversity and wilderness. We ground our work in conservation science and we seek consensus for wilderness protection by engaging governments, industry and the Canadian public. For over 15 years, the Nova Scotia Chapter (CPAWS-NS) has been working co-operatively with governments, industry, communities, and other wilderness conservation organizations across the province to protect Nova Scotia's unique terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

About Ecology Action Centre (EAC)

The EAC is Nova Scotia's oldest environmental organization. We are a grassroots, community organization that focuses on the most pressing current environmental issues and advocates for environmental protection and sustainable economies through education, research and policy reform.

For more information, please contact

WWF-Canada, Atlantic Region
Stacey McCarthy
Communications Specialist
Tel: 902.482.1105 x 41
Cell: 902.209.6457
Email: smccarthy@wwfcanada.org

or

WWF-Canada
Robert Rangeley
Vice President, Atlantic
Tel: 902.482.1105 x 23
Cell: 902.401.1569
Email: rrangeley@wwfcanada.org

or

CPAWS-NS
Ashley Sprague
Marine Conservation Coordinator
Tel: 902.446.4155
Cell: 902.293.3203
Email: marine@cpawsns.org

or

Ecology Action Centre
Shannon Arnold
Marine Coordinator
Tel: 902.446.4840
Cell: 902.489.2384
Email: sharnold@ecologyaction.ca

CPAWS kicks off public campaign to "Make Forests Count" in U.N. Agreement on Climate Change

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:46:27 -0500

OTTAWA – The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is launching a public campaign today inviting citizens in Canada and other countries to let decision makers know that in the next U.N. Convention on Climate Change, it’s time to “make forests count.” The campaign is timed to coincide with the final two months before the U.N. Climate Change summit in Copenhagen in December.

Starting today, lululemon athletica Rideau Centre store will feature the “Make Forests Count” campaign in its front windows. Inside the shop, people can sign on to support the campaign. CPAWS is also promoting the campaign by launching www.makeforestscount.org where people can send a virtual postcard to their politicians in Canada and abroad. CPAWS is inviting other groups in Canada and around the world to endorse the campaign and share the message with their supporters.

“This public campaign is supporting behind-the-scenes work that CPAWS has been leading for the past two years to convince Canada and other countries to create meaningful incentives for forest and wetland protection in the next global climate change agreement,” says National Executive Director Eric Hébert-Daly.

“As home to about one fifth of the world’s remaining wilderness forests, we are urging Canada to take a lead role in ensuring that countries take responsibility for the climate effect of clearing forests and create incentives for the protection of forests and wetlands in the next set of climate change rules. We also want to see current loopholes closed that have been allowing some countries to cheat the system when accounting for their carbon emissions,” adds CPAWS’ forests and climate change specialist Chris Henschel. Henschel is in Bangkok this week attending the second last set of UN preparatory meetings before the Copenhagen summit.

“lululemon athletica Rideau Centre is supporting ‘Make Forests Count’ because it is part of our culture to support the environment. As our manifesto states, ‘what we do to the earth we do to ourselves.’ As a community minded and aware company it makes sense to do what we can to help promote climate change initiatives like ‘Make Forests Count,’” says Rebecca Barker, Store Manager of lululemon athletica Rideau Centre.

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For more information: www.makeforestscount.org

CPAWS will be at lululemon, Rideau Centre from 11-12pm Sept 29 for interviews.

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To arrange interviews, contact:

Jill Sturdy, CPAWS
Ph. 613 276 7226
jsturdy@cpaws.org
www.makeforestscount.org

In Bangkok:
Chris Henschel, CPAWS
011 66 878147 232

CPAWS welcomes new funding for land conservation in Nova Scotia

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:24:23 -0500

Halifax – The Nova Scotia government has allocated an additional $66 million in capital spending in its most recent budget, released yesterday, for acquiring private lands for conservation. The new spending will help the province meet its environmental goals set out in the Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act.

CPAWS is extremely pleased to see this move, which the organization has been encouraging for the past five years to improve the chances for Nova Scotia’s wilderness ecosystems to survive.

“It’s make-or-break time” says Chris Miller, a CPAWS national conservation manager based in Nova Scotia. “Right now, large tracts of wilderness are for sale, and once they’re snapped up by land speculators and carved up for development, they’re lost to the people of Nova Scotia forever”.

Forest lands that have been sold in recent years have been converted to the real estate market, with prime land on lakes and rivers and the coast often being sub-divided for development. This permanent conversion of wilderness in favour of development is a major threat to the long-term survival of intact forest systems in Nova Scotia.

“This is a big step in the right direction”, added Miller.

This new funding means that the province can now start acquiring large tracts of privately-owned wilderness for sale, controlled by some of the large forestry companies in the province. Last year, the forest company J.D. Irving Ltd. placed nearly 70,000 hectares of land for sale on the market and some of that land has already been purchased by private interests.

Almost 15% of Nova Scotia’s landmass is owned by four forestry companies: J.D. Irving, Neenah Paper, Abitibi-Bowater, and Wagner. Many of these lands contain high conservation value, including some of the last remaining old growth forest stands in Nova Scotia and important species-at-risk habitat for species like the Blandings turtle and rare coastal plain flora.

The new funding was announced in the Nova Scotia provincial budget, released by the Nova Scotia government yesterday. The announcement is not expected to increase the province’s deficit, as the funds will come from reshuffling priorities in the capital spending program, moving funding from highways and other projects into land conservation priorities.

“We’re pleased that the government has taken a hard-look at its capital spending program for this year, and adjusted the funding priorities to enable the government to act on protecting these large tracts of land before it’s too late”, says Miller

The $66 million in new funding brings the total amount of land acquisition funds for this year to $83.1 million, according to the budget documents.

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society is Canada’s leading national voice for wilderness conservation, with 13 regional chapters across the country. Since 1963, CPAWS has played a lead role in creating over two-thirds of Canada’s protected areas.

Contact:
Chris Miller, Ph.D.
National Manager, Wilderness Conservation and Climate Change
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
201-1099 Marginal Road
Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4P7
902-446-4155
cmiller@cpaws.org

Lack of protection in Canada's Flathead Valley threatens Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:07:00 -0500

CPAWS and other Conservation Groups Make Case to UN World Heritage Committee

Calgary, Alta—Leading conservation groups briefed reporters at 1 p.m. today in Calgary, before heading to Fernie, B.C., to advise UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee mission on threats to Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. The media briefing provided reporters with an advance look at the case being presented to these international experts, exposing alarming mining and energy proposals in the adjacent Flathead River Valley in British Columbia.

Representatives from the groups—the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Wildsight and Sierra Club BC—will present to the World Heritage Committee mission at noon Friday in Fernie, BC. Members of this international mission arrived in the area on Monday, and are spending this week investigating whether or not Waterton-Glacier should become a World Heritage Site in Danger because of BC’s land use plan for the adjoining Flathead River Valley.

“Coal strip mining and gold and phosphate exploration do not belong next to this internationally important area. It is so important to the international community that it has been designated a World Heritage Site, UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, and the world’s first International Peace Park,” said Eric Hebert-Daly, National Executive Director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. “Some places should simply be off-limits to mining and energy development, and BC’s Flathead River Valley is one of them.”

Last week, the groups disclosed that the BC government has approved gold exploration this fall near a headwaters stream of the Flathead River, which flows into Glacier National Park.

BC’s Environmental Assessment Office is considering a coal strip mine that would see pollutants and slag from the removal of 40 million tonnes of coal dumped into Foisey Creek, a Flathead River headwaters stream that is critical habitat for threatened bull trout which migrate from Glacier National Park.

“BC’s land use plan for the Flathead threatens Waterton-Glacier and puts this spectacular World Heritage Site at risk,” said Sarah Cox, Flathead Campaign Director for Sierra Club BC. “It’s unconscionable for the BC government to consider allowing coal strip mining and gold mining next to a World Heritage Site.”

“The Flathead provides critical habitat for rare and endangered species moving between Waterton-Glacier and Banff National Parks, like grizzlies and grey wolves,” said Casey Brennan, Southern Rockies Program Manager for Wildsight. “It’s the missing piece of Waterton-Glacier and part of the same Crown of the Continent ecosystem.”

The groups are calling for the lower one-third of the Flathead River Valley to become a National Park, and for a Wildlife Management Area in the rest of the valley and adjoining habitat.

The World Heritage Committee mission comes after 11 Canadian and US environmental groups petitioned the committee asking for the World Heritage Site in Danger designation due to mining and energy proposals in the Flathead River Valley, which abuts Waterton and the Alberta border.

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Contact:

Eric Hebert-Daly, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society: (613) 899-7226 (Cell)

Casey Brennan, Wildsight: (250) 423-0402

Sarah Cox, Sierra Club BC: (250) 812-1762

For images and footage contact Carrie West, CPAWS-BC: (604) 685-7445, ext. 22

Public Opinion Poll Shows Vast Majority of Yukoners Strongly Favour Peel Protection

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:13:57 -0500

Whitehorse – Results from a July 2009 DataPath Systems poll commissioned by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society-Yukon Chapter (CPAWS-Yukon) and the Yukon Conservation Society (YCS), financed in conjunction with the Tourism Industry Association of Yukon (TIAY), shows that 78% of Yukoners want more than half of the Peel watershed permanently protected from roads and all industrial activities.

The poll shows that the public is tracking the ongoing discussions about the future of the Peel watershed and that 75% of Yukoners feel that the main priority in the Peel watershed should be protection of the environment, wildlife and wilderness.

“To our knowledge this is the first statistically accurate information about how Yukon people want the lands and waters of the Peel watershed to be managed, and the results show overwhelmingly that Yukoners want to see the Peel protected,” says CPAWS-Yukon Executive Director, Mike Dehn.

Further, the poll shows that natural areas, abundant wildlife and wilderness are among the most important reasons why Yukoners choose to live here and that the vast majority (85%) of Yukoners endorse protected areas as a way of ensuring that the values important to them continue to exist.

“There has clearly been a shift in Yukoners’ attitudes since the days of the Klondike Gold Rush,” says YCS Executive Director, Karen Baltgailis, “and this poll clearly illustrates the true value of wilderness protection to today’s Yukoners.”

The poll shows that 91% of Yukoners think roads should not be allowed in any river corridors or important wildlife and wilderness areas in the Peel Watershed. It also shows that 72% of Yukoners think roads in the watershed would have a major impact on the health of wildlife populations.

“The Planning Commission’s draft Peel plan tried to combine roads, mining, and oil and gas development all on the same landscape as wilderness tourism and healthy wildlife,” says Dehn. “This poll shows that Yukon people believe that the only way to protect the incredibly valuable wilderness and wildlife we have in the Peel is to have large areas that are fully protected from roads and industrial development.”

“This poll clearly shows what the Yukon voting public wants the Yukon Government and the Peel Planning Commission to accomplish in the Peel,” says Baltgailis. “It is critical they consider this information.”

YCS and CPAWS-Yukon point out that the results of this survey are in line with the findings reported by the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board’s 20:20 survey earlier this year, in which 86% of Yukoners said that environmental issues were the most important factor when making decisions.

The organizations that commissioned the poll wanted to be sure that it was above suspicion of bias. The poll was pre-tested to a greater extent than normal, and respondents were asked who they thought was sponsoring the survey. Less than half of the respondents thought an environmental organization was the sponsor.

“This survey is larger than most done in the Yukon and has a high degree of precision,” says Donna Larson of DataPath Systems, who conducted the poll. “My clients and I were aware that the Peel planning process is a controversial issue, so we were extremely careful to ensure that the survey was impartial, non-leading and non-biased.”

The poll’s margin of error is +/- 4.3% at 95% confidence levels.

View the Peel Watershed Poll Report at CPAWS Yukon's site.

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For further information, contact:

Mike Dehn
Executive Director
CPAWS-Yukon
(867) 393-8080, ext. 2

Karen Baltgailis
Executive Director
Yukon Conservation Society
(867) 668-5678

Donna Larson
DataPath Systems
(867) 660-4600