EcoWest News, September 9, 2025

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

Five key takeaways from the 2025 Climate West Forum: drought management is key to adaptation, youth are the future and need support and empowerment, the importance of place-based climate adaptation, the benefits of working with nature, and the importance of cooperation and interconnectedness in resilience building. [Climate West]

Whale watching, once sold as conservation and education, has “tipped into relentless pursuit, a circus at sea” with dozens of vessels crisscrossing the Salish Sea in search of whales. [Strong Coast]

“If British Columbians want to dent the trend towards ever more devastating flooding … the province needs to change the way it grows and harvests trees … Flood risk isn’t just about how much forest is removed. It also depends on where the logging happens, the shape and size of the watershed, the slope and sun exposure, and the presence of natural storage areas like lakes.” [The Tyee]

Across Canada

Canadians want to adopt heat pumps, EVs, and other clean technologies but upfront cost, lack of charging stations for apartments and townhouses, and lack of information are holding them back. [Clean Energy Canada]

Wildfire retardants establish a barrier by making forests less flammable, but they contain high levels of phosphorous and heavy metals and can have a significant impact on aquatic ecosystems and water quality. [The Narwhal]

“If we prolong our dependence on fossil fuels for too long with the expectation that we will offset that by simply storing carbon underground, we’re likely saddling future generations with a nearly impossible task.” Underground storage capacity is 10 times less than previous estimates. [Rocky Mountain Outlook]

Around the World

What happens when nature disappears from our language and our lives? “Experts say that detachment from nature is at the root of many of the environmental problems the world faces today.” [Grist]

Making a Difference

The Snk'mip Marsh Nature Sanctuary had become an ecological dead zone after being mined for gravel and topsoil. Seven years of intensive restoration work have transformed it into an oasis of green. [Valhalla Foundation for Ecology]

Community RePaint is a UK-wide paint reuse network that collects and redistributes leftover paint. They sell the cheapest paint currently available in the UK made of 97% recycled paint. [The Guardian]

The National Theatre in London is planning to use natural dyes, harvested from their rooftop garden, in all future productions. [The Guardian]

Biodiversity

Canada needs both broad conservation measures (such as protected areas) to maintain overall biodiversity and targeted single-species conservation (such as captive breeding) to maintain small, range-restricted populations. [The Conversation]

You can’t protect what you can’t see. The Blue Corridors platform tracks the migratory patterns of 7 whale species and the threats they face from fishing, noise, and industrial activity. [Inside Climate News]

“As the field of aeroecology progresses … it could lead to aero protected areas, akin to the role of marine protected areas in the ocean … places in the sky that are particularly critical not only to large numbers of birds and bats but also to insects.” [Smithsonian]

Nature’s Wonders

Canada Post has issued a set of stamps highlighting the beauty and importance of Canadian fungi and lichens. [Canada Post]

A rainy summer has yielded a bumper crop of fungi in Alberta’s Bow Valley. “Like all things nature, sometimes they have to be appreciated from a position of worship — and that is getting down on your knees for a good close-up look.” [Rocky Mountain Outlook]

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/apmckinlay/54051219241

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.