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Register for our 9th annual Youth Summit!
The Youth Summits bring young nature enthusiasts together for a weekend of connecting with nature through interactive workshops and leadership opportunities. This year’s summit will be taking place from September 21 to 23 at YMCA Geneva Park, Orillia. If you’re a youth looking to spend a weekend outdoors with like-minded peers, please join us! If you would like to sponsor a youth, or know a youth who would like to attend this year’s summit, please contact Christine Ambre, conservation and education coordinator at christinea@ontarionature.org or 1-800-440-2366 ext. 244.
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Why did the turtle cross the road?
It’s that time of year again. Across the province, nesting turtles are appearing on roadsides in search of nesting sites, often crossing busy and dangerous roads. Some turtles even lay eggs directly on the roadside where so many of Ontario’s at-risk turtles are injured and killed every year. Later this summer, hatchlings will emerge from their nests and face these same roadside perils. If you are wondering what you can do to lessen these threats to Ontario’s turtles, read our Turtle Nest Blog Series.
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Updates from the field
Ontario Nature’s partnership with Natural Resource Solutions Inc. to track eastern foxsnakes and gray ratsnakes in Norfolk and Haldimand is well underway. We started the Norfolk Snake Project last spring to fill knowledge gaps about these endangered snake species. So far this spring, we’ve radio-tracked six ratsnakes (five males, one female) and thanks to local landowners we’ve found three new areas in the foxsnake’s range! If you are in Haldimand or Norfolk counties, lend us a hand and report any sightings of these snakes in the Ontario Reptile and Amphibian Atlas app.
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Transforming Conservation
From May 28 to 30 this year Ontario Nature, Plenty Canada, Trent University’s Indigenous Environmental Studies/Sciences program and Walpole Island Land Trust held our second gathering on Indigenous perspectives in nature conservation. The gathering explored opportunities to work together across cultures to protect our lands and waters. We are thrilled that 97 attendees from 21 Indigenous communities and organizations, 17 conservation organizations, 7 government agencies and 3 academic institutions came together in the spirit of reconciliation for presentations by leading experts, group discussions and a youth panel. Stay tuned for the release of a video created by two Indigenous videographers and a report highlighting key messages from the gathering!
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5 ways for you to take action for nature
Our Ontario Nature conservation team has identified 5 specific and tangible ways for you to take action for nature right now. We need your support to complete some of our vital on-the-ground projects over the coming months including monitoring Ontario’s endangered ginseng and foxsnake populations, mobilizing our Nature Watchdog team, building a new addition to the wheelchair-accessible boardwalk at our Petrel Point Nature Reserve and beginning restoration efforts at our Sydenham River Nature Reserve. As you enjoy nature in our beautiful province, will you also take action and give today?
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Keeping up the fight for boreal caribou
Boreal caribou need vast tracts of old conifer forest to avoid predators. Habitat loss remains a key threat to caribou survival. But some forestry lobbyists have sowed seeds of doubt concerning declining caribou populations, resulting in stalled recovery measures. We have been keeping you up-to-date on our efforts to dispel these myths and bring attention to the plight of Ontario’s caribou, and recently we co-published an op-ed in the Toronto Star. Help us keep up the fight to protect Ontario’s threatened caribou and their habitats by asking the government of Canada to dispel these myths and take action.
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| Stay up-to-date on the latest conservation news by becoming an Advocate for Nature and signing up for our Action Alerts to receive emails on important conservation issues when help is urgently needed. |
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