Feeling cooped up with the lockdown? Imagine living in a 200-ft-tall redwood tree for more than two years. Twenty years ago, Julia Butterfly Hill did just that, to draw attention to the continued clearcutting of California’s remaining redwood forests.
Jim Bronson and Sandi Goldie are offering their first online 5 session class “Getting Into Action” with solutions, based on the book Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed for Reversing Global Warming by Paul Hawken.
Yellow Point’s own Goldenrose and Carolyn are making short videos on What to Plant at the End of April (early May), How to grow Potatoes, How to Pot on Tomatoes, How to Pot on Cabbage, and a new one each week. They are all... Read more
Wild pollinators such as butterflies and bees are crucial to human survival. Climate change and widespread pesticide use are compromising their habitat and food sources. The David Suzuki Foundation’s Butterflyway Project encourages to people to step up and help our... Read more
Takaya led a remarkable life for a wolf. His adventuresome spirit brought him to an unlikely place. His calm demeanour, fabulous good looks, resilience and intelligence brought him fame. For many years he lived alone on Discovery Island, off Victoria, until he swam... Read more
Orca Awareness Month 2020 (June) will be a spontaneous upsurge of creativity spreading the “help whales” message in a time of physical-distancing. We can’t have talks & meetings so will do public art displays. 73 remaining SRKWs have never needed us more.
Ann Mortifee is an inspirational leader in both the environment and the arts. She is Canada’s National Performing Treasure, a recipient of the Order of Canada, beloved by thousands for her penetrating wisdom and humanity….
The classes at Ecole Willows Elementary have been restoring a very unhealthy area in Uplands Park for the past 4 years. It was an area ploughed in the 1850’s to create part of Uplands Farm growing non-native agrarian grasses to feed the cattle. By 2016, there were... Read more
This 50th Anniversary for Earth Day, in this pause in our ‘normal’ we have the space to reconnect to what matters and to envision, imagine and create our new way forward.
In his daily briefing on April 9, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: “Our country will come roaring back.” I understand why he might want to reassure people that everything would be fine, that this is just a temporary, if large, disruption to business-as-usual. But it’s much more than that.
We face not one but three simultaneous inter-connected crises: the COVID-19 Emergency, the Climate and Biodiversity Emergency, and the Crisis of Capitalism. We urgently need connected constructive responses. When you recall the movie When Harry Met Sally, your horny... Read more
You can join with others who are eager to get into action on projects to reverse global warming! Go to bcdrawdown.org to learn more about the book Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming.
Because of Covid-19 we stand yet again at a crossroads of history. Too often in my lifetime we have stood at this same crossroads, and each time we have taken the wrong path. Will we get it right this time?
Can we call city parks, even large uncultivated ones, “natural”? Given that over half of humanity now lives in cities, and that by 2050 an estimated 68% will, preservation of large urban green spaces is the only way most kids will grow up without “NDD”
It seems amazing that medical and political officials obsess about social distancing but have NOTHING to say about the cause of the pandemic – i.e. nothing about addiction to animal products. (Telling us don’t go outside, but keep buying meat?!?)
The Compost Education Centre has moved all their gardening workshops online. Many of them are free! Check them out here: https://www.compost.bc.ca/education/workshop-series/ Linda Gilkenson’s Gardening Tips! You can receive tips by email from this west coast... Read more
The Highlands District Community Association (HDCA) has learned that the BC Government had Permitted a proposed strip mine in the District of the Highlands. This approval came three years after the application, yet only a few hours after the Government had declared a... Read more
Forest-Bathing! Confused or mystified about this trendy new panacea for all that ails us? Sara Ivens’ book is a good book for beginners and experienced tree lovers alike. Forest Therapy has many virtues. It’s an easy read. Ivens captures the reader on the... Read more
If you’re like me, you might look at this book and wonder how dry and boring it might be. This book is a wonderful surprise in that regard; once I started I could not put it down. This story contains so much information and is rounded out in such a way that you will soon find something that will pique your interest and take you down the rabbit hole.
Sadly, there is not much good news about the state of the Earth these days. Climate change becomes more real as it starts to bite — just ask the Australians — and there is growing awareness of and concern about the extinction crisis we are triggering. We do have positive options, good choices and many opportunities.
Some readers will doubtless recognize the reference to E.F. Schumacher’s classic 1973 book Small is Beautiful, in which he introduced the world to the concept of “Buddhist economics.” The book’s sub-title was “Economics as if people mattered,” which today we might amend to read “Economics as if people and the planet mattered.”
An effective old growth strategy is one important part of a long-term forest asset stewardship plan to ensure nature’s endowment of forests best serve the public’s interests in changing times. Effective old growth forest conservation, protection and management will be... Read more
Anyone interested in the importance and value of old trees, should find this interesting. For years foresters have assumed that old trees have stopped growing and in many cases are decadent. Good we have forest researchers to do this important research. From The... Read more
The City of Victoria has finally filled the newly funded position of Urban Forest Manager. We look forward to working with Brooke Stark, former manager of Parks Operations, in her new role. She will now be responsible for long-term planning, the city’s natural area... Read more
Dr. David Suzuki (@DavidSuzuki) is Canada’s most iconic environmentalist and even in his eighties, he’s still fighting for our future. Skaana celebrates the end of the decade by recycling our premiere episode where we talked about fake facts, toxic whales and taking... Read more
When I first moved to James Bay, I often awoke to the sound of robins warbling in the trees, the chatter of sparrows and the sight of swallows elegantly swooping in between buildings. Sadly, this is no more. There is a strange silence in my neighbourhood. The reason?... Read more
While there has been an increasing public focus on climate change in the past few years, and a slow awakening to the threat it poses, we have yet to wake up fully to an even bigger problem. I noted in a September column that we face not only a climate emergency but an extinction emergency.
Tell the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission to not renew the military’s permit to access our public parks! In 2015 the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission issued a 5-year permit allowing the U.S. Navy to occupy five Washington State... Read more
The BC government wants to turn an existing park into a bus depot, despite the presence of a salmon spawning creek and many trees. The details are on the website: https://www.savecraigflowercreek.org and we have a petition started here:... Read more
On December 31, 2019, BC Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church extended Coastal GasLink’s injunction order from an interim injunction to an interlocutory injunction. Members of the Wet’suwet’en nation have been stewarding and protecting their traditional territories... Read more
On Wet’suwet’en Territory, The Hereditary chiefs and matriarchs were holding a ceremony to honour the memories of the missing and murdered indigenous women when they were arrested on February 10, 2020. The hanging of red dresses along fences posts and trees has been a... Read more
The Midwinter Solstice is nearly upon us, and it is a powerful time of the year. For our ancestors, the shortening days and the growing cold must have been a source of concern every year; would the sun come back, would winter end?
This 5G technology will be another layer of microwave radiation blanketing the environment with no way of escaping the proven health effects from this technology.
Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice, talks with Mark Leiren-Young about Canada’s new laws to finish shark-finning & cancel cetacean captivity and fighting for legal rights for animals and vegans.
The Highlands District Community Association (HDCA) announced this week that it has petitioned the BC Government to reject the 2017 Application by OK Industries (OKI) for a strip mine. The petition, conducted over the summer, was tabled today in the BC Legislature by... Read more
Thank you to everyone who wrote emails and letters, and spoke to council on behalf on Victoria’s trees — we were successful! Mayor and council have just approved a significantly stronger tree protection bylaw.
Council has adopted amendments to the Tree Preservation Bylaw aimed at protecting the urban forest, while the City focuses on planting more trees. As part of the City’s Urban Forest Master Plan, the City is reviewing and renewing our Tree Preservation Bylaw to ensure... Read more
Firstly, a huge pat-on-the-back is in order for all of us: all of your letters to council, phone calls and actions back in July made a difference! Because of you, the city and developer increased the required greenspace in the development proposal from 25% to 40%. As... Read more
The Yellow Point Ecological Society (YES) created this short video, narrated by Guy Dauncey, highlighting ways we can protect the forest. For more details, please visit the YES... Read more
Fall is a great time to start trees from seeds or nuts. Plant them in pots you can keep in a cool place indoors. (Research the type of trees you want to start on the internet first – the methods are different for many species.
Interested in knowing more about trees and how best to protect and preserve them? The City of Victoria Urban Forest Master Plan (2013) is a wonderful document brimming with useful and relevant information about trees. It is not only a fascinating read, but an easy... Read more
These native plants will add to the biodiversity in the park, as well as increase tree coverage in the region. There will be 23 species planted in total, including Garry oaks, Douglas fir…
On Saturday, October 19, Geoffrey was on the 5 p.m. edition of the local Live CHEK NEWS with a rare bird sighting in the Panama Flats. The bird is a Yellow-browed Warbler from Siberia. Geoffrey Newell is the leader of our monthly Bird Walks in Uplands Park. He is one... Read more
I watched this beautiful documentary about the lone wolf on Discovery Island, off Oak Bay shoreline. The film is made by local wildlife photographer Cheryl Alexander. It’s on CBC, The Nature of Things: Takaya, Lone Wolf and will be repeated on TV, on the CBCNN... Read more
Great news! North Cowichan Councillor Rob Douglas, has just let us know Resolution B 156 Regional Management of Forests, was passed this morning at the UBCM Convention in Vancouver. This resolution is copied below. Maybe now BC forestry will be above politics and... Read more
Estimates are that about 20,000 people attended today’s climate action strike and march with parts of Government, Belleville, Douglas and Fort Street closed off to traffic as the group moved from the lawns of the Legislature up Douglas to Fort Street. People of... Read more
Despite heavy rain, about 300 people, mostly teachers, parents and youth, turned out Monday for the Climate Action Teach In and Rally at the Legislature. There was a definite buzz of energy with connections and conversations made and visits to a variety of exhibitors,... Read more
Fall is a great time to plant trees! In the Pacific Northwest, fall may be the best time to plant trees. They have time to develop roots before it gets cold. They also benefit from developing yet more roots in spring — before they have to start using some of... Read more
At a time when urban forests are rapidly diminishing, the City of Victoria this year made a commitment to expanding and protecting ours, by adding $1 million to the Parks budget. It also committed $850,000 annually going forward.
Environmental activists Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot have helped produce a short film highlighting the need to protect, restore and use nature to tackle the climate crisis. Living ecosystems like forests, mangroves, swamps and seabeds can pull enormous quantities... Read more
