A commentary by Ken Wu, the executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance.
“In crisis lies opportunity,” so the maxim goes. As terrible as COVID-19 is, the resulting lockdown has given us a vital opportunity.
Read moreTODAY: Earth Day’s 50th Anniversary – Support Nature in the time of COVID-19!
To Ecosystem Enthusiasts!
TODAY, April 22, 2020 is the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day held back on this day in 1970 that touched off the modern environmental movement!
Alberta government about to "de-park" or eliminate protected areas in Alberta
Dinosaur Provincial Park will experience the closure of a campground, while 19 protected areas will be eliminated.
The Alberta government is moving to "de-protect" or eliminate by May 1st at least 19 Provincial Parks and Natural Areas (10 parks, 9 natural areas), which could open them up to industrial resource extraction, as well as 146 Provincial Recreation Areas, totalling 16,000 hectares (including threatened and endangered grasslands, aspen parkland and foothills ecosystems).
Read moreManitoba Tour Success - THANK YOU!
World renowned conservation biologist Dr. Reed Noss and the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance's executive director Ken Wu finished a series of presentations last week in Manitoba on Feb. 10 and 11 speaking on the science and politics of expanding the scale of ecosystem protection in Canada. It was a great tour! Thanks to Dr. Kristen Lowitt for organizing the Brandon talks as well as Dr. Chris Malcolm, the Brandon University Faculty of Science, and Lowitt's colleagues for supporting the Brandon talks, and in Winnipeg to Emily Thoroski for organizing the presentations, and to the Wildlife Society of Manitoba, Dr. Nicola Koper, Dr. Rick Baydak, Dr. Jim Roth and Dr. Jane Waterman of the Faculty of Environmental Science and Studies and their grad students at the University of Manitoba for supporting the events! And thanks to all the enthusiastic conservationists who showed up!
Globe and Mail Article: For Vancouver Island’s old-growth explorers, naming trees is a delight – but saving them is a challenge
By Justine Hunter. Photos by Melissa Renwick.
Conservationist Ken Wu has chronicled B.C.'s ancient trees and given them catchy names, hoping it will build support to keep them standing. Now, the province faces crucial choices about logging, biodiversity, Indigenous rights and the fate of the forests
Read moreSEND a MESSAGE: Protect BC's Endangered Old-Growth Forests!
** SEND a MESSAGE Below! (and see new update - Nov. 2020)
BC’s old-growth forests are vital to support many unique and endangered species, First Nations cultures, B.C.’s multi-billion-dollar tourism industry, and to provide clean water for communities and wild salmon. In addition, and they store more carbon per hectare than even tropical forests do.
Read moreHow is the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance Any different? What's the point in Yet Another Environmental Group?
A common question that is asked is "How is the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance different than all those environmental organizations out there? Why not just support those groups that exist now?"
The answer is that our mandate has some vital differences from what is done so far by the status quo of the conservation movement - differences we believe that build on the existing necessary work of the movement, but constitute a vital niche for us that must get filled.
Read moreWhat will it take to save nature?
If we want to see the protection of endangered forests, grasslands, wetlands, and native ecosystems across Canada on a much larger scale, it will take:
Expanding the conservation movement to really engage “non-traditional allies” (eg's. businesses, unions, diverse faith groups, scientists and academics, multi-cultural outreach, outdoor recreation groups) to build sufficient clout to change policy.
Major support for Indigenous Protected Areas proposals, policy-wise and funding.
Fighting for places, not just policies, by supporting local conservation champions.
Why should you help fund the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance? An overview
The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance was launched just over one year ago, in the fall of 2018, with an ambitious goal to scale up the protection of all native ecosystems in Canada - from coniferous to deciduous forests, from grasslands to wetlands, from freshwater to marine ecosystems - to reach a target of 50% protection of lands and waters across Canada by 2030. At the same time we aim to set an example to help transform the approach of much of the environmental movement to move beyond primarily engaging environmental activist constituencies to focus much more on “non-traditional allies” to broaden the movement.
Read moreEndangered Ecosystems Alliance - News Media Coverage in 2018 and 2019
The following list (with links) are some of the news media coverage of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance and our campaigns since our launch over a year ago (this is not a complete list). Through the news media we have reached millions of Canadians on our campaigns, and hundreds of thousands more people via social media.
Read moreOpinion Piece (in the Times Colonist): Saving Old-Growth Requires More than Government Talk
The Times Colonist has recently printed an opinion piece by the Endangered Ecosystem Alliance’s Ken Wu. For brevity several key lines were cut. We print the original article here in its entirety followed by a link to the online article in the newspaper
Read moreSEND a MESSAGE! Expand Canada's Protected Areas System for our Health, Wealth, and Survival!
PLEASE SEND a MESSAGE BELOW to the federal, provincial, and territorial governments of Canada to take a pivotal step to avert both the extinction and climate crises by committing to protect and restore 50% of Canada in all types of land and marine ecosystems by 2030. Currently 11.7% of Canada’s land area is protected, and 14% of Canada’s marine waters have some degree of protection.
Read moreVancouver Sun op-ed by Ken Wu: What will it take to save BC's old-growth forests?
The recent fires raging in the Amazon have begun to focus the world’s attention on the destruction of forests in general — including the logging of B.C.’s magnificent, old-growth, temperate rainforests — the grandest forests on earth next to the U.S. redwoods.
Read morePush to Scale-up Ecosystem Protection at GlobalClimate Strike
Push to Vastly Scale-Up Nature Protection as Conservationists Join Greta Thunberg’s Global Climate Strike – the largest environmental protests in world history!
Read moreEndangered Ecosystems Alliance commends $175 million federal support for Indigenous Protected Areas and Clayoquot Sound
Endangered Ecosystems Alliance commend the Federal Government for $175 million Conservation Funding for 27 Indigenous Protected Areas.
Read moreBC Government’s announces protection for 54 of BC’s biggest trees.
July 17, 2020
BC Government’s announces protection for 54 of BC’s biggest trees.
Conservationists consider it a first small step forward, with a long way to go.
Read moreSouth Okanagan National Park Reserve Moves Forward - Canada's Greatest Conservation Opportunity
Canada’s Greatest Conservation Opportunity, the South Okanagan National Park Reserve, Takes a Major Leap Forward with a new Agreement.
The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) commends the federal government, BC government, and the Osoyoos and Lower Similkameen Indian Bands for signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to negotiate the park’s establishment.
Read moreJune 5 - World Environment Day: Conservationists call for an ambitious 50% Protection Target for Canada by 2030
Today on World Environment Day (June 5), conservationists with the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) are calling on the Canadian government to support an ambitious 50% protection target of all land and freshwater areas by 2030 for Canada and the world, including setting science-based targets for all ecosystem types. In November of 2020, nations around the world will gather in Beijing, China to negotiate a new international protected areas target (which is currently 17% by 2020) for Earth’s land area at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity’s conference.
Read moreIMAX Film Featuring Renowned Canadian Video Artist to Highlight Vancouver Island’s Endangered Old-Growth Forests
The magnificent but endangered old-growth forests of Vancouver Island are about to get a large-scale national audience on IMAX screens across Canada as the film Embers and the Giants premieres at the Images Festival in Toronto this week (Thursday, April 18) and later this fall in IMAX cinemas across Canada in Victoria, Sudbury, Edmonton and Montreal.
Read moreDefend and Strengthen Ontario's Endangered Species Act
Ontario supporters, please take just a minute by March 4 to tell the Doug Ford government to back away from trying to weaken the Endangered Species Act by making it easier for industries to circumvent protection measures, and instead to strengthen the act by closing the "exemptions" loopholes for industries threatening endangered species. There are over 230 plant and animal species that are at-risk of extinction or of disappearing from Ontario, and the province is one of the most species-rich jurisdictions in Canada. The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance is working with Ontario environmental groups to weigh-in on this issue. Go to the Ontario Nature page.