Pricing the priceless: How the economics of natural capital can help us all better value nature
Walking through Emma Young forest, ON (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
Putting a price tag on nature is challenging. Some people don’t believe it can be done. Some people hate the idea of it. Most will have no idea what it means. But there are new and emerging approaches to help us put a price on the services...
The forgotten habitat
The living room before the minimalism challenge. (Photo by NCC Staff)
Staff at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) are incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to diverse habitats across Canada. From land to air to water, inhabited by the tiniest insects to the largest mammals, there aren’t many habitats we...
My winter hike at Big Valley
Looking out over Big Valley, SK. (Photo by Bill Armstrong)
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) has a knack for giving their properties memorable names. On a (relatively) mild February day, I set out to get acquainted with Big Valley, north of Regina, at the southwestern edge of Last Mountain Lake in...
Open your ears to conservation
Listening to bird songs, Warbler Alley, Brooms Brook, Codroy Valley, Newfoundland and Labrador (Photo by NCC)
There are many ways to be green. Whether you do so by recycling, minimizing your carbon footprint or cleaning up and restoring land, every day we can all discover more ways to help combat climate change. One way Canadians can do their part is...
The hummingbird's igloo
Sweetiebird, an Anna's hummingbird, in her igloo. (Photo by Eric Pittman)
I always thought of hummingbirds as warm-weather birds. So I was surprised to see an Anna's hummingbird building a nest in early February. I was even more surprised because it was its sixth nest in a year, built in our yard. I live in Victoria,...
Heard it from a Scout: A beginner's guide to winter camping
Scouts pitch insulated tents to keep warm in winter. (Photo by Scouts Canada)
During the winter months, most Canadians dream of flying south to escape the snow, ice and below-zero temperatures. Scouts, on the other hand, like to get outside by heading to campgrounds to enjoy all that nature has to offer. A scout’s...
What nature means to an 89-year-old
Author Zoë and her granny standing beside Lake Ambleside in England. (Photo by Zoë Arnold/NCC staff)
At six months shy of 90 years of age, my granny Vera is a strong-willed (some might say stubborn) English woman. Each time she boards the double-decker bus, she insists on climbing the narrow, winding stairs up to the top deck. As the bus begins...
Leave only footprints: Minimizing your impact in nature
Grace and Pepper exploring the winter wonderland (Photo by NCC)
Nature has been my greatest teacher. As a child growing up in the semi-desert of the Okanagan in British Columbia, I learned not to touch prickly pear, which plants smelled the most like sage and to move away from the warning rattle of a...
Natural Continuities: Connecting to nature through photography
Looking out over a pond at the MacMillan Nature Preserve. (Photo by Sara Schiavello)
This month, our class from Mr. Senisi’s Grade 12 photography class at St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic High School in Woodbridge, Ontario, hosted a photography exhibit called Natural Continuities: A Photography Exhibit in Honour of Lyn...
12 tweetable facts about Chinese zodiac animals
Sable Island horses (Photo by Bill Freedman)
Lunar New Year is a celebration of the first day of the first month in the lunisolar calendar. The tradition, believed to have started as early as 2300 BC, is based on a 12-year-long cycle, with each year in the cycle corresponding to a particular...
