Event - Urban Forests & Political Ecologies Conference 2013: Celebrating Transdisciplinarity

This event will take place April 18 - 20, 2013 at Hart House, University of Toronto, 7 Hart House Circle, Hoskin Avenue and Queen's Park Crescent West. It will be held in Toronto and is presented by the Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto.

Registration is now open! On Conference days, registration opens at 7:30am. Along with the Conference itself on April 18th and 19, 2013 from 8:30am-5:00pm in Hart House's Great Hall, there is an art exhibit running simultaneously in the East Common Room.

Festivities also include a Networking Soiree on April 18th from 7-10pm at the Panorama Lounge at $30, and on April 20, 2013, field tours of the Humber Arboretum & Centre for Urban Ecology, and the Alternative Campus Tour at York University at $35. Cost Information: Full Registration - $375; One Day Registration: - $200; Full Student Registration - $150; Networking Soiree - $30; Field Tours - $35

For more information and to register:
Email: a.veneziano@utoronto.ca
Phone: 416-978-5480

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CRY WOLF: An Unethical Oil Story (Video)

DeSmogBlog investigates the controversial decision by Alberta's government to ignore the threat of rapid industrial expansion in the Alberta Tar Sands region, and instead kill thousands of wolves to appear to be doing something to save dwindling woodland caribou populations. Through interviews with scientists, wildlife experts and a First Nations chief, the myth of Canada's "ethical oil" is further exposed as oil industry greenwashing. To learn more click here.

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Cry Wolf: An Unethical Oil Story

As reported in Desmogblog over the last several months, Alberta has killed more than 500 wolves using aerial sharpshooters and poisoned bait in order to conceal the impact of rapid industrial development on Canada’s iconic woodland caribou.

Independent scientists say that declining caribou health stems chiefly from habitat destruction caused by the encroachment of the tar sands and timber industries. But in a perverse attempt to cover industry’s tracks, the Alberta government is ignoring the science and shifting the blame to a hapless scapegoat: the wolf.

As DeSmogBlog reported earlier this year, the Alberta Caribou Committee, tasked with the recovery of the province’s dwindling caribou populations, is dominated by timber, oil and gas industry interests. Participating scientists have been silenced—their reports rewritten and their recommendations overlooked.

The prospect of the expansion of this unscientific wolf cull, projected to claim the lives of roughly 6,000 wolves over the next five years, has outraged conservationists and wildlife experts. While the wolves dodge bullets and poison, this scandal is flying largely under the public radar.

A team of DeSmogBlog researchers traveled to the Tar Sands region to investigate the dirty oil politics behind this fool’s errand. Here is our first report: Cry Wolf: An Unethical Oil Story.

Is this what “ethical oil” looks like?

Rather than relying on science to protect caribou habitat and restore this iconic species, Alberta is killing wolves in order to protect unfettered industrial development.

As a result, our unethical oil addiction is leading to one of the most shameful wildlife control programs ever imagined. Government complicity, on both the federal and provincial levels, leaves biologists caught up in the mix with no higher power to appeal to. Real science is shelved, while industry-friendly political decisions prevail.

What does this say about the state of our democracy when scientists are ignored and industry profits are prioritized ahead of safeguarding iconic wildlife species?

Stay tuned for more details as DeSmog continues their investigation into this controversial issue.

Take Action

You can make a difference by participating in these actions to stop the unscientific wolf cull.

Tell the Canadian government: Stop your tar sands wolf kills. More than 200,000 voices in opposition to the wolf killings.

DeSmogBlog petition on Change.org

Tell Canada’s federal Environment Minister Peter Kent, who considers the cull “an accepted if regrettable scientific practice,” to put an end to the reckless wolf slaughter.

Alberta Provincial petition: Put some pressure on at the provincial level too, by signing this petition to Frank Oberle, Minister of Alberta’s Sustainable Resource Development and Fiona Schmiegelow from the University of Alberta.

National Wildlife Federation Action Center: American residents can go here to send a letter to their senator or representative in order to connect the dots between the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and the wolf cull. Also watch National Wildlife Federation scientist David Mizejewski on the Today Show http://blog.nwf.org/2012/03/nwf-on-nbc-dont-poison-tar-sands-wolves/ and read NWF’s report http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/Media-Center/News-by-Topic/Wildlife/2012/02-06-12-Tar-Sands-Development-to-Lead-to-Poisoning-of-Wolves.aspx on the plan to poison wolves to protect tar sands interests.

For more information on the tar sands, check out DeSmogBlog’s tar sands action page.

And for those who may be unfamiliar with what the ‘ethical oil’ campaign is, check out our previous coverage of the Sierra Club’s John Bennett and Ethical Oil Institute spokesperson Kathryn Marshall on CBC’s Power and Politics with Evan Solomon.

For more information, click here.

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Endangered Species

On World Animal Day 2010, it is fitting that we acknowledge the long list of endangered species* that are at risk of becoming extinct due to human habitation and the changing environment.

Animals and plant life are at risk in largely due to humans. As human populations have grown in the last 150 years we have seen much higher rates of extinction. These rates are commonly associated with the destruction of habitat attributable to human activity.

These activities include over population and overbuilding, over exploitation of the species by hunting, illegal wildlife trade, and pollution.

We need to see legislation and building laws which protect sensitive habitats. Natural preserves are another way of protecting pockets of land for creatures to live in, but our interdependent ecosystems do not recognize park boundaries and every creature on earth has a role in the environment.

There are a total of 1,589,361 known plant and animal species on planet earth. The 59,811 vertebrate animals include 5,416 mammals, 9,956 birds, 8,240 reptiles, and 6,199 amphibians. The 1,203,375 invertebrate animals, include 950,000 insects, 81,000 molluscs, 40,000 crustaceans, 2,175 corals and 130,200 others.

There are a total of 297,326 plants, 980 conifers, 13,025 ferns and horsetails, 15,000 mosses, 9,671 red and green algae, 10,000 lichens, 16,000 mushrooms, 2,849 brown algae and 28,849 others.

Unfortunately, there is also a long list of endangered plants and animals. (See the list of endangered species by country, state or region or see, a complete list of endangered species, and a complete list of endangered plants.

These are the endangered species amongst the roughly two million species we know about, however, there an estimated nine million species yet to be discovered by science. Sadly many of these species will go extinct before we even acknowledge they exist.

For more information see world animals and endangered species.

*Endangered Species Day is celebrated in USA on the Third Friday of May, it is a celebration of wildlife and wild places, it was started in 2006 by the US Congress to recognize the national conservation effort to protect endangered species and their habitats.


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World Animal Day 2010

World Animal Day is celebrated each year on October 4. It started in Florence, Italy in 1931 at a convention of ecologists as a way of highlighting the plight of endangered species. On this day, animal life in all its forms is celebrated, and special events are planned on locations all over the globe.

October 4 was originally chosen for World Animal Day because it is the feast day of Francis of Assisi, a nature lover and patron saint of animals and the environment. Numerous churches throughout the world observe the Sunday closest to 4 October with a Blessing for the Animals.

However, World Animal Day is not an exclusively Christian event, the day is observed by animal-lovers of all beliefs, nationalities and backgrounds. World Animal Day is not linked to any one individual, organization, or campaign, but belongs to everyone.

The number of World Animal Day events taking place throughout the world has increased year upon year and with your help we can ensure the trend continues. World Animal Day is reporting that in 2010, hundreds of events are taking place in more than 73 countries around the globe.

For more information go to World Animal Day.


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