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
Climate change is altering the landscape and disrupting aquatic habitats in the Hudson Bay Lowlands, a fragile, interconnected web of snow, water, plants, and animals. [The Conversation]
University researchers are teaming up with the City of Saskatoon to collect debris that enters the river and to analyze the water for harmful pollutants. [CBC]
Wind energy is booming in Alberta, but it’s killing a lot of bats. “Slowing down turbines in low wind conditions especially at night can help save the bats.” [CTV]
Researchers and volunteers are scrambling to save Vancouver Island Marmots, Canada’s most endangered mammal. [Canadian Geographic]
Across Canada
A 22-storey student residence at St. Mary’s University, Halifax, is replacing its concrete façade with a solar wall. [The Energy Mix]
New city-owned buildings in Toronto now have to limit their “upfront embodied emissions intensity”—the carbon pollution associated with manufacturing, transporting, and installing major building components. [The Energy Mix]
Around the World
Three Hawai’i communities are engaging in Indigenous stewardship of wedge-shaped pieces of land stretching from mountain to sea. [Mongabay, Ecology and Society]
Textile, apparel, and furniture manufacturing facilities with flat roofs and expansive facilities could benefit from rooftop solar. [Gizmodo]
EVs can take us to a cleaner future, but we need to steer them to get there by increasing public transit, choosing more efficient vehicles, and reusing and recycling batteries. [The Equation]
Suburbs are a climate disaster, but they can be redeemed by updating zoning bylaws and parking requirements. [Nature]
Have Your Say
The federal government is asking for the public’s input on shaping a biodiversity strategy to halt and reverse nature loss in Canada. The online survey is available until July 14.
Vancouver is asking for input from residents as the city revamps its noise bylaw. [CBC]
DIY
There’s a real need for citizen science projects that focus on insects – all of them – not just the cute ones. [Knowable]
Urban beekeeping operations may be creating a food shortage for native bees. If you want to prevent biodiversity loss, grow a pollinator garden. [Anthropocene]
A Sask Polytechnic student has started a pollinator garden in Prince Albert, SK, to teach people about the native ecology and the importance of native plants. [Saskatoon StarPhoenix]
Saanich Pulling Together invites volunteers to help with invasive plant management and habitat restoration in community parks with volunteer Lead Stewards planning, guiding, and monitoring the restoration activities in their particular park. [Saanich]
Nature’s Wonders
Seabirds are ecosystem engineers, distributing nutrients (guano) that feed plankton, seagrass, and coral reefs that in turn nurture fish and marine mammals. Restoring seabird populations could bolster ocean ecosystems. [Inside Climate News]
Lars Chittka has spent 30 years studying bees, and he’s convinced they are highly intelligent, sentient beings. [The Guardian]
Over 300 insects can be found in a cow patty. Only 3 of them are harmful. [Global News]
Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/apmckinlay/52108581246
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 Twitter, or subscribe by email.