EcoWest News, January 27, 2026

Welcome to EcoWest News, a weekly round-up of news and resources that you can put to use in addressing environmental issues and protecting the wild in your community.

Water

The BC Flood Strategy offers a co-governed, watershed-scale framework grounded in understanding flood risk and proactive steps to reduce risk and build long-term resilience in coordinated and integrated ways that include nature-based solutions. It lacks funding. [WCEL]

Alberta oil sands companies increased their use of freshwater by 12% in 2024. Much of this freshwater is withdrawn from the Athabasca River as well as from groundwater and surface runoff. [Alberta Wilderness Association]

New evidence suggests that conserving forests, wetlands, and soils is critical, not just for biodiversity but for sustaining the rainfall that global agriculture depends on. [Anthropocene]

Making a Difference

The wildlife tunnels under Highway 5 in Waterton Lakes National Park were designed for long-toed salamanders. The salamanders are taking advantage of the tunnels, but so are 20 other species, from wandering garter snakes and boreal toads to American mink and long-tailed weasels. [Miistakis Institute, Facebook]

The City of Winnipeg had planned to remove bylaw protections designed to reduce bird deaths from window crashes. They changed their mind after 700 people protested the decision. [CBC]

A Copenhagen suburb has installed red-spectrum streetlights along a tree-lined stretch of road where 7 species of bats forage. Red spectrum light is less likely to disrupt the bats’ echolocation and feeding habits. The change in lighting also reminds passersby that the area supports ecologically sensitive species. [Daily Galaxy]

Repair Options

Farm machinery repairs cost Canadian farmers over 4.5 billion dollars in 2024. Right to repair legislation would give farmers more autonomy and more repair options by preventing the exclusive use of proprietary parts and services and ensuring that there are local repair services. [National Farmers Union]

Younger people are interested in repairing clothes rather than throwing them out but lack the necessary skills. Levi’s has launched the Wear Longer Project to help fill the skills gap, providing guides on how to sew on a button or a patch, hem a skirt, or fix a tear. [Earthbound Report, Levi’s Wear Longer Project]

Economics

“For many communities, the [oil and gas] industry isn’t just jobs. It’s the economic engine funding hospitals, schools, arenas, roads and the very existence of their towns. Abstract talk of an energy transition can feel threatening when it overlooks this.” [The Conversation]

“Sufficiency is often framed as a call to live with less. In reality, it is a demand to decide together what we truly need to live well on a finite planet.” [Undark]

Find Out More

The Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy is hosting a video conference on Canada in the Age of Electricity: What is required for Canada to continue decarbonizing and electrifying while maintaining affordable and reliable power on February 5. [School of Public Policy]

The Wildlife Conservation Society is hosting a free one-hour webinar aimed at people making or informing decisions about peatlands anywhere in Canada on February 2. [Wildlife Conservation Society]

Nature’s Wonders

Cows are smarter than you think. An Austrian cow named Veronika uses sticks, rakes, and brooms to scratch her back, using both ends of the same object for different tasks. [BBC]

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/apmckinlay/55038809619

EcoFriendly West informs and encourages initiatives that support Western Canada’s natural environment through its online publication and the Nature Companion website/app. Like us on Facebook, follow us on BlueSky, X, and Mastodon, or subscribe by email.