World Conservation Day 2020: What is a conservancy and why does the word matter?
Conservation Volunteers, Crowsnest Pass, Alberta (Photo by NCC)
The word “conservancy” can be a mouthful. Even after 17 years at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I sometimes feel like I have marbles in my mouth as the word leaves my lips. I say the words “nature” and...
A peak experience at Buffalo Pound
Buffalo Pound Lake, SK (Photo by Bill Armstrong)
Many Canadians, I think, perceive Saskatchewan to be one billiard table-flat, never-ending field of wheat. Not so. To prove my point, I recently made a second visit to a property at Buffalo Pound Lake, where the Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC) is...
Celebrating and conserving all-Canadian wildlife
Eastern wolf (Photo by Rebecca Rogge, iNaturalist)
Every nation plays an important role in stopping wildlife extinction. Here in Canada, we have an estimated 80,000 known wild species. They range from pygmy shrew to polar bear, and from stellate sedge to Sitka spruce. Canada plays a critical role...
Grasslands: Climate change’s unsuspecting heroes
Napanee Plain Alvar Nature Reserve, ON (Photo by Vincent Luk & Evermaven)
Carbon is the backbone of life on Earth. It makes up everything we do, everything we eat, and it even makes us up. Carbon is stored in different reservoirs, which broadly include land, water and the atmosphere. Carbon cycles from one reservoir to...
Giving back to the land
Boggy River in the summer (Photo by NCC)
One of the most rewarding parts of my job as natural area manager with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is working with landowners who want to donate their land to us. It is humbling to know that they support NCC’s vision —...
Our connection to nature
Kids in nature (Photo by NCC)
“Go outside and play.” I can still hear my grandmother saying these words to me when I was a little kid. I bet you’ve heard this a few times yourself. Maybe you’ve even said it to your own kids. The truth is, “go...
Tales of recovery: Cooper's hawk
Cooper's hawk (Photo by Jim Johnson, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Not that long ago, we used the “Santa Claus method” to classify wildlife. There was the nice list. Animals like deer and trout and ducks were on that list. These were mostly animals that we liked to hunt and fish, but also animals that...
Navigating a course for Canada's Marine Protected Areas on World Oceans Day
Rocks and ocean as seen on the Dr. Bill Freedman Nature Reserve (Photo by NCC)
Oceans and coasts are a key part of Canada’s environment, economy and identity, and yet most of us are unaware of how they are protected, and why conserving them is critical. Precious resources rich in life Oceans touch every Canadian...
Nature-based solutions: a carbon approach
Misty Darkwoods forest, BC (Photo by Bruce Kirkby)
Many Canadians have been affected either directly or indirectly by some of the more serious effects of our rapidly changing climate. While different regions across the country experience these effects differently, urban and rural residents across...
Gotta catch 'em all? Count me in!
Carden Alvar butterfly count, 2017 (Photo by NCC)
As part of the 2019 Carden Alvar Butterfly Count, we were armed with a few nets and catching jars as our mighty group of eight, comprised of Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) staff and conservation volunteers, set out on a mission: to identify...
