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Environmental news stories
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Environmental links
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Local organizations
Amphibian Conservation Club (A.C.C.) -
news and information
Clarence-Rockland Environmental
Society
Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club
Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre
Problems with Wildlife? - Caring for animals
Turtle Care Centre
needs help with volunteers and donations
Wildlife Ontario
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Amphibian Conservation
Club (A.C.C.)
(A frog's story....) It started in April 2003, when a kid, who had already formed an Amphibian
Conservation Club (A.C.C.) the previous Fall, set out to explore Petrie Island.
Eleven year old, Gabrielle, the founder, wanted to adopt our habitat and found out through Friends of Petrie Island (FOPI)
that eventually it would be filled in with sand for a future parking lot, part of a beach development. She had
recruited 10 members, ages 7-14 years old, who became part of the Habitat Team and other families from communities
inside and outside the greater Ottawa area who became ACC-Petrie Island Ambassadors.
Their goal was to learn all they could about amphibians so that they could translocate our
species and friends successfully to our new habitat that offered many of the same features and more.
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Clarence-Rockland Environmental Society
The Clarence-Rockland Environmental Society (CRES) is a group of residents from all parts
of the municipality who want to raise environmental awareness and protection. They gathered for the first time
in the spring of 2003 and continue to meet every 4th Tuesday of the month at école Ste-Trinité in
Rockland. For more information, please check out their Web page on this site. Click here.
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Click here to see Clarence-Rockland's refuse 'n recycling news
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Ottawa-Carleton
Wlidlife Centre
Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre closes rehabilitation facility/hotline service
OTTAWA, Nov. 29, 2002 – The Board of Directors of the Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre (OCWC) regret to announce that they
will be closing the Moodie Drive wildlife rehabilitation facility, and its Conflict Resolution telephone hotline
service. The Centre finalized its decision at its annual general meeting November 28.
The Board blames actions by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) and a lack
of support from the City of Ottawa’s Emergency & Protective Services (EPS) staff for the loss of what has been
a widely used and valued community service for the past 15 years. More...
More information about the Wildlife Centre, including a story that suggests "Ottawa
City council seeks return to progressive wildlife service", can be found on the Wildlife Ontario site.
Problems with Wildlife? Questions? Caring for animals
If you are having a problem with wildlife you can be sure you are not alone. Although it
can be extremely frustrating, it is important to remember there is a solution and it is a TEMPORARY situation.
More...
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Turtle Care Centre
Turtle Crossing: If you see these signs along the road,
they have been placed there by
the Turtle S.H.E.L.L. Tortue
organization, a registered Canadian charitable organization dedicated to turtle Safety Habitat
Education Long Life.
Thanks to the dedicated work by Rockland's "Turtle Lady", Michel Andre-St.Cyr,
the group was established in the fall of 1999, to care for
turtles, install highway turtle crossing signs, to provide public education and awareness of the plight of our
indigenous turtle populations and habitats.
The organization could use volunteers and donations for their Turtle
Care Centre.
If you can help, call: (613) 446-9927 or check out
our "Turtle"
page for more.
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 Wlidlife
Ontario
This Web site is privately run and offers advocacy assistance for Ontario's wildlife. It
includes assistance to wildlife problems, a message board, a questions and feedback section, news, issues and alerts,
resource links, and a link to "Problems with Wildlife, noted above. More...
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Environmental Links
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Air Quality Ontario
This is where you go if you want to learn more about air quality and actions
you can take.
Amphibian Conservation Club (ACC)
The Amphibian Conservation Club (ACC) is a youth (9-14 years old) club aimed
at the protection and conservation of amphibians in the Ottawa area.
Canadian Environmental Auditing
Association
Mission: To encourage the development and discipline of environmental auditing and
the improvement of environmental management of public and private organizations through environmental auditor certification
and the application of environmental auditing ethics, principles and standards.
ClimateArk - Premier Climate Change
Portal
A Climate Change Portal and Search Engine dedicated to promoting public policy
that addresses global climate change through reductions in carbon dioxide and other
emissions, renewable energy, energy conservation and ending deforestation.
Community Nature Watch
Their goal is to protect and enhance the natural heritage of eastern Ontario.
in carbon dioxide and other emissions, renewable energy, energy conservation and ending deforestation.
Composting Council of Canada
A national non-profit, member-driven organization with a charter to advocate
and advance composting and compost usage.
Environment Canada
Environment Canada's Internet resource for weather and environmental information.
The Green Lane TM helps connect Canadians, exchange information and share knowledge for environmental decision-making.
Environment News From MSNBC
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Environmentally
Friendly Cleaning Products
Inexpensive "old-fashioned" substances can
easily replace more toxic cleaners and
chemicals around the house.
Ontario Ministry of Environment &
Energy
Ontario Waste Management Association
...speaks for nearly 300 independent companies in the private sector who provide the products and services for
a better environment. Our business is to protect the environment through the proper management
of waste and recyclable materials.
Ottawa
Field-Naturalists' Club
The OFNC's Conservation Committee has been in existence for 32 years. Today, it continues a long tradition of working
for the preservation of natural environments in the Ottawa region and beyond.
Recycling Council of Ontario
...is a not-for-profit organization committed
to minimizing society’s impact on the
environment by eliminating waste.
South Nation Conservation
From headwaters north of Brockville, the South Nation River flows northeast for
175 kilometres (109 miles), and empties into the Ottawa River near Plantagenet. The watershed is a complex ecosystem
which South Nation Conservation is mandated to protect. "Our mission is to ensure that the management of natural
occurrences, natural resources and human activities results in the protection or improvement of our water resources."
Turtle S.H.E.L.L.
Tortue
An organization, a registered Canadian
charitable organization dedicated to turtle
Safety Habitat Education Long Life.
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 Canaan Road ~
Bird
Watching
( Close to 100 species identified... More...)
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Canaan Road - Enviro-Driving Tip:
In many areas of Ontario, including Clarence-Rockland, We see many species
of wild animals on the roads. Please drive with extra care along Canaan Road
where moose and deer are also seen on a regular basis.
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 Bog to Bog, a project is working with
landowners to protect and link isolated natural areas with a series of forested corridors, is focusing on lands
from Ottawa, east to Voyageur Provincial Park, and north of Highway 417. Participating landowners will help connect
significant natural areas, such as the Alfred Bog, Mer Bleue Bog and the Larose Forest, with a series of forested
corridors.st. More...
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 The Eastern Ontario Biodiversity Museum
The EOBM was the only independent, regionally-based, full-service natural history museum in Ontario, with a focus
on exhibits, collections, and research. It became a leader in biodiversity education in Eastern Ontario, through
school and public programmes, field outings, and publications. Sadly, the museum closed in 2005 due to a lack of
funding support.
However, you can still participate in Eastern Ontario biodiversity through the Eastern Ontario Natural History
Observer Network and the e-mail "NatureList". Send an e-mail to:
mailman-request@thenaturejournal.com.
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 Stretching across 1.5 million hectares, from Algonquin Park to the Quebec border to the St Lawrence
River, the Eastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF)
is no ordinary woods.
It is a group of dedicated individuals and organizations working together to sustain and ensure the health of the
forests of eastern Ontario - now and for the future. This alliance of people concerned with the sustainability
of Eastern Ontario forests is truly the backbone of the Eastern Ontario Model Forest.
More...
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 The Nature of the
Rideau River
The scientists of the Canadian Museum of Nature and their partners have completed the Rideau River Biodiversity
Project. Get in on the action and explore the resources. Find out why biodiversity is important to you. More...
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Promote the judicious use of private lands in Prescott-Russell to ensure sustainability of
natural resources. More... |
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Environmental News Stories
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Mammal believed extinct found in mossy forest
Airlines slow down flights to save on fuel
Deep-sea fish on the verge of extinction
Hinterland Who's Who flies again
Human activity and the environment
Attack of the lawn-eating grubs
Giant research balloon launched to study ozone layer
Drivers, stop your engines! Gasoline industry and government
launch anti-idling campaign
Pesticides and cancer
Ontario: Immediate access to air pollution information
Common pesticide ending up in semen of farmers
Weedkiller targeted by city poses risk
2,4-D found in semen and urine of farmers, study reveals
Stop trapping squirrels
Retailer joins fight to solve orphan problem
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| Mammal believed extinct found in mossy forest |
(CBC News - Friday,
May 2, 2008) Scientists have rediscovered a "beautiful little animal" last seen 112 years
ago in the mossy forests of the Philippines and long thought to be extinct.
 A team of
Filipino and American researchers announced Friday they captured a greater dwarf cloud rat in the Philippines'
Mount Pulag National Park. The little mammal weighs about 185 grams and has dense soft reddish-brown fur, a black
mask around large dark eyes, small rounded ears, a broad and blunt snout and a long tail covered with dark hair.
This illustration of the greater dwarf cloud rat (Carpomys melanurus) was published in 1898 as
part of the formal description of the then new species. That description was based on the only other sighting of
the mammal in 1896. (Thomas, Oldfield. On the Mammals obtained by Mr. John Whitehead during his recent Expedition
to the Philippines)
"This beautiful little animal was seen by biologists only once previously, by a British researcher in 1896
who was given several specimens by local people, so he knew almost nothing about the ecology of the species,"
Lawrence Heaney, curator of mammals at Chicago's Field Museum, said in a release. "Since then, the species
has been a mystery, in part because there is virtually no forest left on Mount Data, where it was first found."
Over the spring, Heaney's team conducted the first comprehensive survey of the small mammals in the mossy, or cloud,
forests of Mount Pulag National Park. Their findings included the dwarf cloud rat, a smaller relative of the giant
clouds rats, mammals found only on Luzon Island, in the Philippines, but widespread and comparatively well known.
Danilo Balete, the project's co-leader with the Philippine National Museum, spied the rat in a patch of mature
mossy forest high on Mount Pulag, at about 2,350 metres above sea level. It was in the canopy of a large tree,
on a large horizontal branch covered by a thick layer of moss, orchids and ferns, about five metres above ground.
"We had suspected from its broad, hand-like hind feet that it lived up in big trees, but this is the first
evidence to confirm that," said Balete.
Because this is the first time the dwarf cloud rat has been seen in its natural habitat, scientists will study
the mammal in depth to figure out how they evolved and how to keep them around.
"Finding this animal again gives us hope for the conservation of one of the most diverse and threatened mammal
faunas of the world," said William Stanley, collections manager of mammals at the Field Museum.
Much of the mossy forest in Mount Pulag National Park where the biologists found the dwarf cloud rat was logged
during the 1960s, and few large trees remain. The mossy forest has been gradually regenerating, but many local
people now have vegetable farms there and some of the mossy forest has disappeared as a result.
The research team suspects the rat lives only high in the big canopy trees in mature mossy forest, at elevations
from about 2,200 to 2,700 metres, high in the mountains of the Central Cordillera.
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| Airlines slow down flights to save on fuel |
Drivers have long known that slowing down on the highway means getting more miles to the gallon. Now airlines are
trying it, too — adding a few minutes to flights to save millions on fuel.
Southwest Airlines started flying slower about two months ago, and projects it will save $42 million US in fuel
this year by extending each flight by one to three minutes.
On one Northwest Airlines flight from Paris to Minneapolis earlier this week alone, flying slower saved about 613
litres of fuel, saving the airline $535 US. It added eight minutes to the flight, extending it to eight hours,
58 minutes.
"It's not a dramatic change," said Dave Fuller, director of flight operations at JetBlue, which began
flying slower two years ago. More...
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| Deep-sea fish on the verge of extinction |
By Omid Ghoreishi - Epoch Times
Jan 12, 2006
A group of biologists from the Memorial University of Newfoundland say that the number of some deep-sea fish species
in the north Atlantic has declined to the extent that the species meet the World Conservation Union (IUCN) criteria
for being critically endangered.
"Our results indicate that urgent action is needed for the sustainable management of deep-sea fisheries,"
say the researchers in a paper published in the Scientific journal Nature.
The study is focused on five species that live on or near the bottom of the Canadian waters in the northern Atlantic
Ocean, namely the roundnose grenadier, onion-eye grenadier, blue hake, spiny eel, and spinytail skate.
"This study is unique because we had such a long time series for these species, knew or could infer their
generation time, and were able to apply the IUCN criteria," says Jennifer Devine, one of the researchers.
"We believe our study is a crucial piece in the growing pile of evidence that fishing in the deep-sea has
detrimental and far-reaching effects on the entire deep-sea ecosystem."
According to the study, the species have decreased between 87 and 98 percent over only 17 years. Also, the two
grenadier species have declined by 93.3 and 99.6 percent over a 26-year period.
"No population fluctuates as much as 90% naturally, especially in such a stable |
environment as the deep-sea. Any changes made to halt these population declines would not be evident for several
generations — approximately 100 years," says Devine.
A decline in the oceanic cod, rays, tuna, and other types of fish due to over-fishing in the 1960s and 1970s
caused a shift in commercial fishing to the deep-seas. Devine says prior to the 1970s, deep-ocean trawling on the
continental slope was non-existent, but it has become important all over the world as shelf fisheries declined.
And this is the reason they believe trawling has had an impact on deep-sea fishes and the deep-sea ecosystem.
Because of slow growth, late maturation, long life, and low fertility rates, deep-sea fish are extremely vulnerable
to over-fishing.
As one of the initiatives to stop the rapid decline of these species, the researchers have suggested the establishment
of "deep-sea protected areas".
"A recent article in Science has shown how a marine protected area in shallower habitat has been effective.
Additionally, we have seen the call for reduced fishing mortality on deep-sea stocks in the Northeast Atlantic
and believe that could be an appropriate conservation measure," says Devine.
Devine says that so far, they have seen no sign that their research has caught the attention of the authorities
or that there is any action planned to help the situation.
Read The Epoch Times here.
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READER ALERT: This page occasionally updated... you will find
broken links. 
A story
in a 2002 summer issue of the Ottawa Citizen talking about the white grubs that invade our lawns. Here are links
to similar information.
Ontario's new
on-line emissions reporting registry - OnAIR - will make polluters more accountable to the public by providing
regular information about what emissions are being put into the air and by whom. 
Sunday, May 26, 2002
The Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre is having to find space for about 100 orphaned squirrels and
has placed another 50 with 'foster parents.' Home Depot is joining the campaign to convince homeowners to stop
live-trapping, which adds to the orphan problem.
