Ecosystem

From the Brim to the Dregs.

by Liza Morris

We have all heard stories of abundant runs of salmon, innumerable towering old growth trees and frequent teeming pods of whales in and around the Georgia Strait. However, in the past decades, the serious decline in various species has become drastic.

Life is at its most abundant where land and water meet, whether the water is salty or fresh.

Story and photos by Maggie Paquet

Two ecosystem types are among Earth's most important and most abused: estuaries and wetlands.

Has the web of life been broken, beyond any hope of repair?

by Maggie Paquet ©

Back in autumn 1999, newspapers and at least one national magazine carried an article by Tom Reimchen of the University of Victoria Biology Department on the links between bears, salmon, and forests in the coastal ecosystems of British Columbia.

Non-profit conservancies can work with land holders to protect critical areas.

by Sheila Harrington

Land trusts are non-profit, often charitable, conservancies that work with land holders to protect areas that are critical to the health and survival of threatened animals, plants, and wetlands, as well as areas of cultural or historical significance.

Our report on last issue's Footprint Quiz tells you how well you're doing.

by Norberto Rodriquez dela Vega

The Ecological Footprint concept was developed at the University of BC by Dr. William Rees and Dr. Mathis Wackernagel in 1995. It is a representation of how much of the Earth's biologically productive land is required to produce the food we consume, the wood to build our houses, to give room for infrastructure (roads, services and installations), and to assimilate our wastes.

The Ecology Action Centre (EAC) of Halifax Nova Scotia, with support from the Sierra Legal Defence Fund, is taking the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to court. The Centre is proceeding with a legal action to protect Canada's marine fish habitat. They have brought an application for judicial review of a variation order issued by the Regional Director-General of DFO. The variation order would re-open the Canadian side of the highly productive and ecologically sensitive fishing ground called Georges Bank to groundfish draggers.

The global water crisis is the greatest ecologi­cal and human threat humanity has ever faced.…By 2030, global demand for water will exceed supply by 40% – an astounding figure foretelling of terrible suffering.

Excerpts from a speech by Maude Barlow to the Environmental Grantmakers Association