Conservation updates for member groups.

Standing Up for Nature in 2021

Last year marked our second year of pandemic-related disruptions, but that didn't stop you from supporting our efforts to protect Ontario's precious nature. With your help we achieved many successes, including the creation of an interactive Story Map showcasing the special places you want permanently protected, halting a planned development in the Lower Duffins Creek Wetland and the unveiling of a wheelchair-accessible boardwalk on our H.N. Crossley Nature Reserve. You can read about these successes and more in our year-end blog. Our best wishes to you for a happy and nature-filled 2022!

Birding to Protect the Places We Love

Here's an opportunity to combine your love of birding with protecting their habitats: breeding bird surveys for Atlas-3 that focus on candidate protected areas, bolstering the case for their ecological importance and the value in protecting them. We are reaching out to Nature Network groups and Ontario Nature members to engage volunteers to conduct breeding bird surveys in road-accessible candidate protected areas. If you are interested in joining this effort, contact Kristen Setala. Kristen is helping with bird surveys in candidate protected areas this spring and summer.

Ontario Nature Has a New Home

Late last year, Ontario Nature's head office moved to a new location in downtown Toronto. We are now located at the Centre for Social Innovation (720 Bathurst Street, Toronto ON, M5S 2R4). We're excited to join a community that inspires and supports people to create, adopt and integrate practices that put people and the planet first. This new office environment aligns well with the work we do and complements the environmentally friendly ethic that is important to us. All mail sent to our old address will be forwarded to the new office.

Save the Date for the 2022 Great Backyard Bird Count

The 2022 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is just around the corner so mark your calendars and plan to participate! Scheduled for February 18-21, The GBBC provides a snapshot of bird populations around the world. Last year, GBBC participants identified 6,436 bird species in 190 countries! When you participate in the GBBC you help build a better understanding of how individual species are doing and how our actions are affecting them. The GBBC is a partnership between Birds Canada, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society.

Let's Talk Plastics Unwrapped

Join the Nith Valley Ecoboosters on February 3 for a free webinar that follows last year's Earth Day plastics event. The webinar will involve a panel discussion of the documentary, The Story of Plastics, followed by a question and answer period. All registrants will be given access to the documentary, which will be available for viewing from January 27 to February 3. During the webinar, panelists will share their thoughts on the film and talk about what they are doing to address the problem of plastic pollution. For more information and to register, visit the Nith Valley Ecoboosters' website.

Events

Owen Sound Field Naturalists

Nordic Ski the Grasslands of Sarawack, Georgian Bluffs and/or Cobble Beach with Beth Anne Currie and John Dickson, Thursday February 10 @ 10:00am; for more information contact Beth Anne Currie.
Who Made Those Tracks and Why? with Jeff Kinchen, Saturday February 26 @ 1:00pm; for more information or to register contact bognors.finest@gmail.com or 519-374-4246.
Hogg's Falls in Spring with Lilla Fodor, Wednesday March 23 @ 10:30am; for more information or to register contact lillaf@icloud.com or 519-942-5257.
Birding the Waters of Beaver Valley with David Turner, Saturday March 26 @ 9:30am; for more information or to register contact fleshertonartgallery@gmail.com or 519-924-3560.

York Simcoe Nature Club

Costa Rica: The Land, The People and The Birds with Ken and Bridget Vogans (Webinar), Tuesday February 8 @ 7:30pm; to receive the webinar link contact the York Simcoe Nature Club.
How Bugs Rule the World with Jacob Zaccaria (Webinar), Tuesday March 8 @ 7:30pm; to receive the webinar link contact the York Simcoe Nature Club.

North Durham Nature

Annual General Meeting and Members Night, Tuesday January 25; for more information or to become a member visit the North Durham Nature membership webpage.

Upcoming Deadlines

The next issue of the Nature Network News will be sent on February 15, 2022. The deadline for submissions is February 1, 2022. You can send your submissions to naturenetwork@ontarionature.org. Please note that events can be listed up to two months ahead – allowing others to put them on their calendars well in advance.

Ontario Nature publishes the Ontario Nature Network News every month with contributions from its member groups and staff. Ontario Nature grants permission for use of the information above in member group newsletters. Please credit either Ontario Nature or the member group.