Congrats Toronto Field Naturalists!

Ontario Nature congratulates the Toronto Field Naturalists (TFN) on its centennial anniversary. TFN is one of seven groups that founded the Federation of Ontario Naturalists (now Ontario Nature) in 1931. It has an impressive legacy of connecting people with and protecting nature. We are grateful for TFN’s powerful voice for nature in Toronto and beyond.

Figuring Out the Ontario Not for Profit Corporations Act: Free Webinar

Ontario Nature is pleased to be hosting a webinar presented by Community Legal Education Ontario on Ontario’s Not-for-profit Corporations Act (ONCA). The act was proclaimed on October 19, 2021. Nonprofits have until October 18, 2024 to update their bylaws and letters patent to comply with ONCA. This webinar will walk through what is new in the ONCA, steps nonprofits need to take to transition to the ONCA, and how CLEO’s free resources can help you create ONCA compliant bylaws from scratch or adapt your current bylaws. To learn more about the ONCA visit nonprofitlaw.cleo.on.ca.

This webinar is for: senior leaders, board members, and anyone involved in the corporate governance of organizations already incorporated under Ontario’s Corporations Act or a special Act.

It will be presented by Benjamin Miller (he/him), a staff lawyer on the Non-profit Law Ontario project of Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) where he focuses on the legal needs of non-profits and charities.

Protecting One Million Hectares of Forest Stewardship Council Certified Forests

Ontario Nature’s Protect Places Campaign team has been working to permanently protect designated conservation lands (DCLs) set aside by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forestry companies. Permanently protecting these DCLs can contribute to the federal target of protecting 30% of lands and waters by 2030.

Last summer, we calculated the amount of carbon stored in these DCLs. We discovered that collectively, these sites store at least 400 million tonnes of carbon. That’s equivalent to the emissions that 78 million gasoline vehicles emit in one year. The next steps in our FSC project include finalizing and sharing our legal and economic reports with the government and partners to support the permanent protection of DCLs.

To learn more about our FSC DCL project to protect one million hectares of land, watch our video on YouTube: Protecting One Million Hectares in FSC-certified Forests.

Ojibway Shores to Be Permanently Protected

Parks Canada is set to permanently protect a piece of land in Windsor on the banks of the Detroit River to be permanently protected. The Ojibway Shores property is the last natural shoreline on the Detroit River and officially became the property of Parks Canada recently. Many groups including the Friends of Ojibway Prairie, Essex County Field Naturalists and Ontario Nature worked hard to make this happen. The property is set to be included in the Ojibway Prairie Complex National Urban Park and is an amazing addition to that future park. Read this article for more information.

Liveable Ontario Coalition Continues

The “Building Hope" Webinar Series is for people who are looking for hope and ideas about how to build a liveable Ontario. Each webinar features expert speakers who share insights, evidence, and best practices from Ontario and across the world. Then, participants get a chance to pose questions, make comments and connect with each other. The first webinar Where is the land we need for housing? will be on Thursday, April 20th at 4 p.m.

Yours to Protect Weekend

A weekend of events are being held across the province by the Yours to Protect Network to oppose government policy changes that will negatively effect our environment.

Interesting Links and Opportunities

• Don’t forget to register for the Annual Gathering to be held in Sudbury, June 9–11.
• Did you sign our Action Alert opposing changes to the mining act? Submissions are due on April 16.
• Get started on contributing to the Third Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas using this quick guide!
• Owen Sound Field Naturalists are proud to be releasing their third updated publication this year – this one on the Orchids of Bruce & Grey.
• We highly recommend this excellent and comprehensive resource created by the Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas Knowledge Basket on collaborating with Indigenous people.
• Check out this upcoming Beyond gas workshop on April 18th.

Events 

See our events calendar for a complete listing of events organized by Ontario Nature and Nature Network groups. 



To submit your public events for the online calendar, send them to noahc@ontarionature.org and allow up to a week for posting. Please send only events that are open to the public and no more than three per month.