Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Natural Heritage Conservation Program
Against the backdrop of the COP15 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, an international conference focused on halting and reversing biodiversity loss through the protection and conservation of the natural environment, Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is pleased to be named a lead conservation organization that will continue delivering the Government of Canada’s Natural Heritage Conservation Program (NHCP).
A report from one of the country’s largest and longest-standing conservation organizations shares the positive results it’s having on biodiversity and climate change thanks to support from Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Natural Heritage Conservation Program. During the past two years of the program, Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) has delivered 106 habitat projects in areas of the country with the greatest conservation need.
Fifty years ago, nations gathered to create the world’s first global agreement to conserve a habitat. This had long been undervalued, and as a result was rapidly disappearing. Fifty years ago, there was a global call to action to save our wetlands. On February 2, 1971, the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance was adopted in Ramsar, Iran. Often referred to as the Ramsar Convention, its purpose was to stop the worldwide loss of wetlands. Today, 171 countries, including Canada, are parties to the convention. The Ramsar Convention has helped many wetlands. More than 2,400 wetlands around the world have been designated as Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance. Canada has 37 Ramsar sites, including two Nature Conservancy of Canada helps protect in B.C., the Columbia Wetlands and in Creston Valley. World Wetlands Day marks the signing of the Ramsar Convention and is a day to highlight the importance of wetland conservation Despite a global agreement and a special day of recognition, we have not been kind to wetlands over the last half century. Over the past 50-years, over one-third world’s remaining wetlands have been lost. They continue to disappear at a rate faster than forests, and the loss is accelerating.
