Alberta Parks Management
The Alberta government is reviewing and updating their parks system legislation. They intend to compile and streamline three Acts dealing with provincial parks, wilderness areas, and heritage lands. Highlights of the proposed legislation can be found on their website.
The Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) wrote the Minister of Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture, and posted their letter on their website. The letter is especially interesting because its main points summarize proper protected area management, and are applicable worldwide.
AWA believes that the legislation should include emphasis on the role that a parks and protected areas network would play in protecting or improving ecological integrity in Alberta. Considering that under 2% of the land in three of Alberta’s six Natural Regions has protection, and some lack management plans, AWA is advocating committing resources to completing a protected area.
A park’s or protected area’s first priority should be to preserve the ecological integrity – human activities should be limited accordingly. In a 2008 survey, 72.7% of Albertans reported that they think there should be increased investment for more land to be set aside to protect natural areas in an undisturbed state. There should be no motorized or industrial access to existing Wildland Parks. Protection should also be prioritized over recreation.
Species at risk and their habitat must be viewed as important and their needs met. All concerned government departments should support wildlife and wildlands protection, and the public should be consulted rather than simply notified.
Protected area legislation must include specific measures to protect species at risk and their habitat. Legislation must be science-based, and governments must be committed to providing sufficient funding to support scientific research. Clear rules and regulations, adequate levels of enforcement staffing, and proper signage and related visitor education about the park’s purpose or allowed activities should exist.
In Alberta, the current system of naming areas “Recreation Area” or “Wilderness Area” suggests their intended use, whereas the legislation suggests using a similar name for all areas.
I was thinking that the letter has good conservation principles, then I noticed who wrote it – Conservation Specialist Nigel Douglas. Hopefully the Alberta government will listen to him.
Tags: Alberta, Alberta Wilderness Assoc, AWA, Conservation, ecological, parks, protection, species, Wildlife
Eco-Summer Fun
With children spending more time around home in the summer, it can become a challenge to keep them entertained. Since so many kids like computers, how about helping them to learn about our planet and its wildlife while they have fun?
The most complete online kid friendly information that I’ve found recently belongs to Earth Day Canada. Their EcoKids website has a few online games, and I learned that it’s harder than it looks to catch fish in the wildlife Fishing Frenzy game! Kids (or adults!) can create your own comic strip in Animal Antics, starring Xalibu the Pawer.
The games and info come in 8 different categories, including Wildlife, Climate Change, Water, First Nations, and others.
If getting your environmentally friendly kids to clean their room is a battle, check out the Waste section “I Don’t Want To Clean My Room” that includes a cartoon about recycling what kids find in their room. The final page is a simple game.
In the Have Your Say section, EcoKids ask children “How are you going to enjoy nature this summer?” The answers include getting outside and enjoying the sunshine, and I agree. It’s healthy for kids to get outside, and they learn so much about our world when they explore your garden or nearby park.
Tags: children, Climate Change, computers, Earth Day Canada, EcoKids, summer, Wildlife
African Mammals Decline
A recent study shows that populations of large mammals such as zebra, buffalo and lion in the African national parks declined by an average of 59% between 1970 and 2005, a recent Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Cambridge University, RSPB and UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre study found.
According to the Guardian (and a study in Biology Conservation), this includes the famous tourist safari destinations Masai Mara in Kenya and the Serengeti in Tanzania.
Western African parks averaged an 85% decrease in wildlife. Human activities including the bushmeat trade have taken a heavy toll on the wildlife. But one hopes that protected areas would keep the animals safe, particularly where tourist dollars pour into the local economy by people wanting to see the “Big Five” – lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard and rhino.
Outside the parks, the news is even worse. There, in many cases the African animals including the rhino are close to extinction. Of special concern are migratory animals such as the wildebeest, who venture through unprotected areas every time they migrate. The African Conservation Foundation has an online article about why the lack of dry and wet season habitat is depleting the migratory mammals populations.
A beacon of hope shines from South Africa, whose 35 reserves averaged an increase of 25% in wildlife populations. South Africa has more money to invest in conservation, more staff to patrol and stop poaching, and better preservation of park habitats and boundaries.
Another ray of hope is that many of the declines have slowed over time. Park management has improved. Now, urgent efforts are needed to better protect the animals and secure the future of the parks.
Tags: Africa, African Conservation Foundation, Big Five, Biology Conservation, bushmeat, Guardian, mammal, Masai Mara, national parks, population, Serengeti, South Africa, Wildlife, Zoological Society of London
Wildlife Friendly Gardens
It’s Canada Day today, and many Canadians will be spending time in their gardens. And, of course, there are many summer days and evenings coming up that will be ideal to spend in a garden. If you like to see wildlife around your garden, there are several websites you will enjoy reading.
The National Wildlife Federation has a page on how to attract butterflies to your garden. Apparently native flowering plants with red, yellow, orange, pink and purple blossoms are in demand by butterflies. Most of the 700 or so species of butterfly found in North America like to feed in the sunlight, and need continuous bloom throughout the season. Flat stones provide space for butterflies to rest which, just like many people, enjoy relaxing in sunlight. Visit the Federation’s website for more information. They have quite a good section on attracting wildlife to your garden.
Many migrating birds spend their summer in Canada. Nature Canada’s website has 12 Ways to Make Your Backyard Bird-Friendly. The same native plants that you use to attract butterflies will appeal to birds. Provide a water source such as a bird bath, preferably on a pedestal in case you have a cat in your neighborhood.
How about planting a tree? Apparently, trees are so good that hospital patients tend to recover from surgery more quickly when they can see trees from their hospital room, according to Seaworld and Busch Gardens. Trees not only help our planet by producing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide, they also tend to make us feel peaceful. They also provide a home for birds and other animals. As Busch Gardens’ website suggests, “Dig a hole. Plant a tree. Repeat”.
Enjoy gardening. Happy Canada Day!
Tags: bird friendly, birds, Busch Gardens, Butterflies, Canada Day, Canadian, gardens, National Wildlife Federation, Nature Canada, Seaworld, Wildlife
Wildlife Photos
The International Conservation Photography Award winners show the most incredible photos of an amazing subject – the wildlife of our planet. Several years ago I happened to be in Alberta during the summer when the Award winner’s photos were exhibited at the local museum. Over several weeks, I visited the display about 8 times and told everyone who would listen that they should go.
The Award seems to have expanded since then and now include landscapes, flora, communities at risk, and Puget Sound at Risk. They kindly post some of the winner’s photos online, and you can visit them at their website.
If you’re going to be anywhere near the Seattle area this summer, you have until September 6th to visit the display of Award winner’s photographs. The exhibit is at the Burke Museum, who is also kind enough to put a sampling of the photographs online. Burke’s selection is the same quality that I saw in Alberta, and it is exciting to see them in real life (versus online only). I mean, have you ever seen a photograph of a beluga whale or seal or giraffes look like that before?!
That’s not to say that looking at cool wildlife photographs online is anything less than fun. There’s a display of 99 of the best wildlife photographs as showcased by the National Geographic at Cool Pictures/Cool Stuff. National Geographic is a world leader in photography, and their best of the best shows it.
Altogether, each and all the photographs show us what an incredible world we live in.
Enjoy!
Tags: Award winners, Burke, Cool Pictures, International Conservation Photography, museum, National Geographic, nature, photos, Puget Sound, Seattle, Wildlife
Friendly Mascots
“Mascot”, according to Wikipedia, means any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck and that represents a group with a common public identity such as a school, professional sports team, society, non profit organization, or zoo. For this Friday File I thought you might like to ‘meet’ a few friendly mascots.
(c) Alison Sheepway / WWF-Canada
Among NGO’s, the World Wildlife Fund’s Panda Bear is likely the best known logo/mascot. Chosen in 1961 when WWF was started, the panda was selected in honor of Chi Chi, who lived at the London Zoo and was the only giant panda in the Western world at that time. You can see how WWF’s logo changed through the years on their website. The Panda’s most recent appearance was lounging in a chair on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill as part of the G8/G20 Global Day of Action, urging world leaders to act on climate change at the G8/G20 summit that is scheduled for Ontario later this month.
Other mascots also carry important messages, such as the blue drop that supports water conservation for the Whatcom Water Alliance. The Alliance is a regional group in Washington state that promotes water conservation by coordinating public information and related conservation activities. It rains a lot in the Pacific Northwest – so the mascot is named Wayne Drop! He has an online photo gallery of his time at Discovery Days.
Just north of the border, the Vancouver Aquarium has a beluga whale mascot named Bee Bop. The Aquarium is proud to be home to several beluga whales, and offer visitors a chance to get close to them. A Beluga Encounter is an interactive experience that offers a view into beluga communication, while visiting the animals in the behind-the-scenes marine mammal habitat.
Mascots sometimes party together. Gordo, the Royal Ontario Museum’s dino mascot, and the Toronto Zoo’s Explorer Bear joined Toronto Public Library’s Dewey Decimal mascot in a public appearance together earlier this Spring. They were announcing the expansion of the popular Sun Life Financial Museum + Arts Pass Program (MAP).
Overseas, mascots can be found in a wide range of animals including gazelles, parrots, cockatoos and other mostly attractive species. The value of flagship species and adorable mascots would make this article too long, so suffice it to say that Time Magazine got it right on in their recent article about why Madagascar needs a mascot.
Do you have a favorite mascot that you’d like everyone to know about?
Tags: animal, Bee Bop, beluga, G8/G20 Global Day, mascot, panda, ROM, Toronto Public Library, Toronto Zoo, Vancouver Aquarium, Wayne Drop, Whatcom Water, Wildlife, WWF
Wildlife Trivia
Considering the popularity of shows like Jeopardy, it occurred to me that you might enjoy an online wildlife trivia game.
The Oracle Education Foundation’s ThinkQuest has six online animal quizzes, with one for each continent. They’re egalitarian – they all have 10 questions each. Your scores on them, however, may not be so equal!
The North American quiz addresses a range of subjects from the type of habitat bobcats prefer, to what type of North American animal has a social structure like that of humans.
The South American one tests your knowledge of what sounds a Collared Peccary makes, how an Anaconda kills its prey, and other questions.
The European version involves lemming migrations, one of Europe’s most famous animal phenomenons. In fact, six of the ten questions center around lemmings. If you’d like to play with a quiz that tests your knowledge of more European animals, check out Animal Corner.
Animal Corner is a British website features both their native and international wildlife. Their animal sections have color photos that act as links to information about each animal. It’s an online version of the wildlife encyclopedias that absorbed many of my reading hours when I was a child. It has a 10 question online quiz that tests your knowledge of 10 different British animals.
The Australian ThinkQuest animal quiz features six animals, including the well known Platypus, Bandicoot, and Brown Kiwi, the not so well known Greater Bilbie, and a mystery animal.
The African animal one asks about an Okapi’s relatives, how deep a meerkat’s burrow is, and for other knowledge.
The Asian quiz actually tests your knowledge about ten different animals, including the Siberian and the Bengal tigers. I scored my best score on this one tied with the South American quiz. I guess those hours of reading animal encyclopedias paid off!
If by any chance the ThinkQuest games are too easy for you, there’s a more difficult animal quiz that even includes technical terms such as vernal pools and spongioforms. It’s produced by the Massachusetts Envirothon, a statewide environmental education program for high school aged teenagers and their advisors. My score was both sadly funny and a suggestion that I might want to find those wildlife encyclopedias and read them again!
Tags: animal, Oracle Foundation, quiz, ThinkQuest, trivia, Wildlife
See Wildlife Apps & Crittercams
Wildlife apps and cams can be a fun way to learn about animals. From the new iPhone and iPad app iGorilla that helps users watch gorillas in Virunga National Park, to crittercams showing the world as animals see it, technology is giving us new ways to tune in and be with the animals. Be sure you catch the article Wildlife Apps & Crittercams in this blog’s Friday File!
Conservation Quotes
Have you ever looked up wildlife conservation quotes online? Leading quotation websites include conservation and the environment. Here are a few of my favorites from this week’s readings:
From the Quote Garden :
Don’t blow it – good planets are hard to find. – Quoted in Time
We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. – Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732
In light of the current oil spill, a controversial challenge from Greenpeace seems to ring loudly: It wasn’t the Exxon Valdez captain’s driving that caused the Alaskan oil spill. It was yours. – Greenpeace advertisement, New York Times, 25 February 1990.
Sites like BrainyQuote also have some good wildlife conservation quotes.
I feel like I’m nothing without wildlife. They are the stars. I feel awkward without them. – Bindi Irwin
The quicker we humans learn that saving open space and wildlife is critical to our welfare and quality of life, maybe we’ll start thinking of doing something about it. – Jim Fowler
My belief is that what comes across on the television is a capture of my enthusiasm and my passion for wildlife. – Steve Irwin. If you’re a Steve Irwin fan, BrainyQuote has 37 quotes by him online. One of his most well known quotes is: I believe sustainable use is the greatest propaganda in wildlife conservation at the moment.
Do you have any favorite wildlife conservation quotes that you’d like to share with this blog’s readers?
Tags: Bindi Irwin, Brainy Quote, Conservation, Greenpeace, Jim Fowler, Quote Garden, Steve Irwin, Thomas Fuller, Wildlife, wildlife quotes
Global Conservation Act 2010
An announcement about important Washington DC news is making the rounds. On Friday, March 26th, members of the U.S. Congress from both parties introduced legislation called the Global Conservation Act of 2010. This broad reaching legislation would help direct the strategic and diplomatic resources of the American government towards helping to stop animal extinctions and natural resources depletions around our world.
This is exciting legislation, that gives greater hope for our world’s wildlife. The U.S. government does not have a coordinated umbrella strategy for stopping the destruction of our natural world, in spite of the fact that six federal agencies conduct conservation programs. The Global Conservation Act of 2010 would require that these agencies develop a plan to:
- Protect millions of square miles of land and sea,
- Address illegal and unregulated fishing around the world,
- Safeguard the natural sources of fresh water to several major population centers around the world,
- Stop the worst wildlife trafficking operations, and
- Stabilize environmental destruction trends in areas vulnerable to conflict and instability
The legislation includes plans to help protect our world’s most ecologically and economically important wilderness and marine areas. Doing this will promote global security.
Beyond the shores of the United States, the bill encourages the involvement of other countries, including the EU, Japan, China and India.
If you live in any of the regions that the cosponsors are from, how about calling their office to say thank you? Or if you live elsewhere in the U.S., how about calling your congress representative and providing your support for this legislation? It’s such a great example of political representatives putting the interests of our world ahead of their narrower party interests, and they deserve our support. The bill is cosponsored by Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Norman Dicks (D-WA), James Moran (D-VA), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), Judy Biggert (R-IL), and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).
If you’d like to read more about this legislation, check out the Pew Charitable Trusts website.
Tags: Albio Sires, Carolyn Maloney, Conservation, conservation program, Dave Reichert, Global Conservation Act, James Moran, Jeff Fortenberry, Judy Biggert, legislation, Norman Dicks, Pew Charitable Trust, Russ Carnahan, US government, Vernon Ehlers, Wildlife
