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.
Across the West
Winnipeg is the largest city in Canada without a municipal compost program. Compost Winnipeg, a social enterprise business, is helping to fill the gap. [The Narwhal]
Three unbanded wild burrowing owls have been spotted in southwestern Manitoba and they are all using artificial nest burrows installed by the Manitoba Burrowing Owl Recovery Program. [Facebook]
Troy McMullin, Canadian Museum of Nature, will discuss lichens, their ecological functions, and some species that can be found on the Prairies in a June 29 Native Prairie Speaker Series webinar. [Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan]
Corporate purchases of renewable energy in Alberta have resulted in “2 gigawatts of clean energy feeding into the grid — more than enough electricity to power all the homes in Calgary, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and Red Deer combined.” [Pembina Institute]
Wildlife biologist Wayne McCrory has spent nearly five decades working to reduce conflicts between bears and people in Western Canada and has helped to protect more than 1.25 million acres. [The Tyee]
Canada’s biosphere reserves will receive $11.3 million over 3 years from the federal government. Biosphere reserves incorporate 3 zones – a core protected area, a buffer zone, and a transition area where people live and work using the area’s natural resources in a sustainable manner. There are 7 biosphere reserves in Western Canada: Riding Mountain, MB; Redberry Lake, SK; Beaver Hills, AB; Waterton, AB; Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound, BC; Mount Arrowsmith, BC; and Clayoquot Sound, BC. [Government of Canada]
Across Canada
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) is the largest private investor in European airports. An international collaboration hopes to put pressure on OTPP to withdraw its support for airport expansions, such as one in Bristol, UK. [The Ecologist]
Around the World
“Overly focusing on technological innovation will miss the basic changes needed to drive the clean energy transition … including required breakthroughs on collaboration, collective action, communication, governance, and business model reforms.” [Union of Concerned Scientists]
Tires release more than 1 trillion particles for each kilometer driven contributing to both air and water pollution. The particles are so fine they can enter your organs via your bloodstream and many are carcinogenic. [Gizmodo]
Californians could get a tax credit for not owning cars – an incentive for everyone to reduce their dependence on cars. [Planetizen]
Can conventional agriculture learn from Indigenous peoples who have farmed without irrigation for millenia? “Conventional farms should strive to keep every drop of rainfall on the farm, rather than draining it away,” including treating roads as water channels. [Modern Farmer]
Research Matters
Artificial Light at Night: State of the Science 2022 provides an overview on how artificial light affects the night sky, wildlife and ecology, human health, public safety, energy use and climate change, social justice, and a discussion of the emerging threat from light pollution caused by objects orbiting the Earth. [International Dark-Sky Association]
Nature’s Wonders
The extremely rare Streambank Lupine continues to bloom along the Fraser River corridor. The species grows on gravel/sand streambanks and relies on flooding to transport seeds to new locations. [Delta Optimist]
Thermal and infrared imaging are invaluable in studying the nocturnal behaviour of birds and mammals. [The Revelator]
Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/apmckinlay/42217315812
EcoFriendly West informs and encourages initiatives that support Western Canada’s natural environment. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or subscribe by email.