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Protect a Piece of Nature #AcreByAcre
Mark your calendars! December 3rd is Giving Tuesday, a day for Canadians to give to the causes that mean the most to you. If you give to Ontario Nature this Giving Tuesday, you will be helping us to permanently protect 360 acres of treasured habitat in eastern Ontario. This property is in the Frontenac Arch – a geological wonder that is home to many rare species. We have an incredible opportunity to protect a piece of Ontario, and you can help us protect it one acre at a time.
But you don’t have to wait until December 3rd! If you donate today, your gift will be matched with a donation from Quest Nature Tours, Ontario Nature’s Board of Directors and an anonymous donor (up to $20,000). Together we hope to raise $40,000 towards securing the Frontenac Arch property and which will become our 26th nature reserve.
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Victory for piping plovers
After a 30-year absence, endangered piping plovers returned to nest at Sauble Beach in 2007. You may recall that in March of 2018 the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry charged the Town of South Bruce Peninsula (the Town) under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act for bulldozing the plovers’ habitat in 2017 and issued a Stop Work Order that the Town attempted to appeal. Ecojustice intervened on behalf of Ontario Nature and Environmental Defence to counter the Town’s appeal. Last month, the Town of South Bruce Peninsula was convicted of two counts of damaging endangered piping plover habitat. This was a big win for the piping plovers and endangered species in Ontario! A big thank you to Ecojustice for standing up for these vulnerable birds and to Ontario Nature members for supporting this important advocacy work.
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Order your Ontario Nature holiday cards now
Your favourite holiday cards have a fresh new look this year! We’re happy to offer cards featuring an image of the beloved common loon by Ojibway artist Rick Beaver. Wish your family and friends happy holidays with either a seasonal greetings or a blank space inside to write your own personal message. Proceeds from the sale of these cards help protect the wild species and wild spaces of Ontario.
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Raise your voice for caribou
In Ontario and nationally, boreal caribou are classified as threatened. They need vast tracts of older, conifer forest to avoid predators. Classified as an umbrella species, protecting the habitat of boreal caribou has a wide range of benefits for other plants and animals that rely on boreal forest ecosystems. Forest fragmentation, primarily caused by resource extraction and associated access roads, is the dominant threat to boreal caribou’s survival in Ontario’s managed forests. Despite this, forestry lobbyists have sowed seeds of doubt, resulting in stalled recovery measures. Please take a moment to tell the Government of Canada that these myths must be dispelled, and action must be taken with provinces to plan for caribou recovery and sustainable prosperity.
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Celebrating a decade of inspiring youth
This year marked the tenth anniversary of Ontario Nature’s annual Youth Summit for Biodiversity and Environmental Leadership. Over the years we’ve engaged youth from 197 communities across Ontario! Highlights from the latest summit include nature hikes, environmental workshops, canoeing, swimming, a networking forum and a keynote speech by Youth Council alumni Moe Qureshi. These inspiring individuals will go on to be the leaders of tomorrow, taking action to protect natural species, combat climate change and affect positive environmental change. Thanks to our generous members, corporate partners and Nature Network groups for sponsoring all 102 youth that attended this year.
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Give the gift of ON Nature Magazine
ON Nature magazine is Ontario Nature’s award-winning magazine and the perfect gift for the nature lover on your list this holiday season. Recent articles include “Lest we forget” exploring the north shore of Lake Superior as a true wilderness in Ontario, and “The Boar War” about wild pigs leaving a trail of habitat and agricultural destruction. As a bonus, we’re offering a bag of Birds & Beans bird-friendly coffee along with a one-year subscription, and an Ontario Nature membership for only $50.
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Cross-cultural dialogue on Protected Areas and Climate Action
In October, Ontario Nature partnered with Plenty Canada, Walpole Island Land Trust, the Indigenous Environmental Institute (Trent University) and Frontenac Arch Biosphere to host a gathering on protected areas and climate action. Over 100 leaders and knowledge holders from Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities and organizations shared insights and strategies about the challenges we face and how to address them. This work was done as part of our Protected Places campaign, as we insist that our governments protect 17 percent of Ontario’s land and inland waters by 2020.
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