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Reflecting back on 2015

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Reflecting back
As 2015 draws to a close, we’re reflecting on 12 key things that we have accomplished for nature this past year. Thank you to all of our friends, followers, members, funders and sponsors. Without your support, we could not protect Ontario’s wild species and wild spaces.

We insisted that commercial building owners be held accountable for light reflected from their windows, which kills millions of birds in Ontario every year. Photo: Stephanie Beard We argued that provincially significant wetlands and coastal wetlands should be strictly off limits to development. Photo: A. Delray We made recommendations that would improve protection for the region’s land, water and communities for the government’s review of plans for the Oak Ridges Moraine, Niagara Escarpment, Greenbelt and Greater Golden Horseshoe. These recommendations included: growing the Greenbelt, better protecting natural heritage systems, and focusing on climate change. We hosted 60 edible wild plant workshops with more than 1,600 participants in northern Ontario. We increased youth involvement in forest food workshops with more than 300 children joining our workshops and partnered with Science North to offer a wild edible plant summer camp in Thunder Bay. We called for better protection of water resources, wildlife habitats and agricultural lands as part of Ontario’s new aggregate policy framework. Photo: Vic Dom We held our sixth annual Youth Summit for Biodiversity that brought together 95 young leaders from 57 communities across the province. Photo: Noah Cole We played a lead role in convincing the provincial government to restrict the use of neonicotinoids – a group of pesticides known to be harmful to pollinators. Photo: Diana Troya We opposed the expansion and extension of the spring bear hunt pilot. Photo: Missy Mandel We urged the Province to make the protection of natural heritage systems a cornerstone of its plans to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Photo: Jason Kalmbach c/o Ecospark We created 1.6 kilometres of sustainable hiking trail at Reilly Bird Nature Reserve, set up salamander monitoring boards at five of our nature reserves and surveyed for species at risk on 1,000 hectares of land on 13 of our nature reserves. We protected biodiversity by monitoring species, running BioBlitzes and promoting hands-on public participation in conservation. All told, we connected more than 3,300 participants to nature at citizen science events. Photo: Dana Buchbinder We collected tens of thousands of new Ontario Reptile and Amphibian Atlas observations from citizen science participants across the province, including species at risk. To encourage more submissions, we created new online tools for identifying, reporting, and mapping. Photo: Noah Cole

 

Donate_Button_transparentPlease consider making an end of year donation to help us protect Ontario’s rich natural habitats, wildlife and healthy ecosystems in 2016 and beyond.


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