Sustainability

Bats don't need pesticides or electricity to kill mosquitoes - they only need a nice place to live.

by J. Cates

Bela Lugosi gave them a bad rep. But bats are good pals. They're a natural, all-purpose insecticide, and incredibly efficient at their job. One of the little critters can eat 500 mosquitos in an hour, and thousands in a single night, and they'll help you clear the air around your home with no chemicals and no electric zappers.

Seed exchange ensures the survival of genetic diversity.

by David Hiatt

I first started saving seeds when I discovered that a variety of squash that I was fond of growing was no longer being offered by Stokes; fortunately, I had about 10 seeds left, so at the end of the next year I saved a fruit for seeds and have been growing it and saving seeds for some time.

The community marketplace not only provides health benefits, it also contributes to the quality of life in rural settings.

Community marketplaces and related endeavours, such as farmers' markets, seed exchanges, and simple networking, are among the best features of rural life. Indeed, such amenities also produce benefits for city dwellers, as produce is frequently brought into urban settings to be sold country style. Vancouver's Granville Island is one of the most successful of such city marketplaces.

The 1998 salmon fishery gave countless examples of ways to conduct safer fisheries, using conventional and alternative fishing technologies.

by David Lane, T . Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation fisheries researcher

This summer saw the largest experiment in BC history in selective salmon fishing. Literally, the entire coast became a selective fishing zone to protect threatened coho salmon in the North Thompson River and upper Skeena River.

by Maggie Paquet 1999

Ecotourism has been touted as being the panacea for preserving wilderness, biodiversity, local economies, and indigenous cultures. It is considered by many to be the "non-consumptive" alternative to industrial uses for land whereby communities can develop "sustainable" economies.

Residents continue to defend their watersheds and promote sustainable forestry.

by Kathy Loxam

Summer of 1999 finds Slocan Val ley residents facing the perils of ongoing logging and road building in many of their consumptive use watersheds and the threat of new logging activities in at least five more. Despite this threat, residents are gearing up for FLOW 99, a major conference in August which will bring together experts and activists from around BC and the US Pacific Northwest.