Good to Know

  NATIVE TREES AND BIRDS Planting native trees is extremely important as there is a crucial link between the role native plants play in the proper functioning of ecosystems. Native trees, in particular are essential for the well- being of birds. Native trees support a wide array of pollinators, moths, beetles, and other invertebrates, while non-native trees are virtually devoid of invertebrates in their canopies, namely, lots of bugs for birds to devour. When scientists with the help of expert birders carried out research on ravines in Toronto, they found the same number of birds visiting native trees and non-natives, but the ones visiting non-natives left immediately, as there was no food for them.   One non-native tree that conservationists and ecologist decry is the Norway maple -in the words of Aldo Leopold, a pioneering ecologist “the colourless fast- growing Norway maple has persistently been planted by misguided suburbanites.”      In ...

   WHY ARE BIRD POPULATIONS DECLINING ?         As someone who has championed the preservation and  restoration of our green spaces to protect our bird population,  I was quite disturbed by Trump’s rant where he identified wind   turbines as “killing fields” for birds.  I decided to check the stats from the Trump’s own government’s  Fish and Wildlife Service. I was stunned beyond belief! Feral, stray, and domestic cats kill more than  2 BILLION and  400 MILLION  birds each and every single year!  So if Trump really cared about birds, he should have been urging cat owners never to let their cats outside! I also discovered that 599 MILLION BIRDS are killed in collision with glass-clad buildings like the Trump Towers!   When we add the number of birds  killed by cats and  glass clad towers we r...

OPEN LETTER TO LEADERS OF THE WORLD As we are bombarded daily with dire warnings about the fate of Mother Earth, I am beginning to realize that for the first time in the history of humans on the planet, we are all facing a life-threatening global crisis that is affecting every single country in all corners of the earth.  We are all connected to our green spaces in the fragile web of life.  Each and every organism in this web has a special function, a specialized niche, and a unique role to play.  The value and importance of each of each strand may not be obvious until it is destroyed. The extinction of one species can ripple right through the web of life and negatively impact the health and well being of all of us. If too many strands are shredded they may never be repaired.       Bumblebees are master pollinators as they will visit flowers, even when it’s overcast and rainy. Honey bees can detect when it’s going to rain and will stay inside thei...

  DEAR LEADERS OF THE WORLD  Today everyone on our precious Earth is facing a global crisis – an international emergency . Every single person, in every single country on our planet will feel the unexpected impacts of climate change -the young, the old, the rich, the poor, our wildlife, and our pets. In the last few years we have either experienced or witnessed the catastrophic impacts of climate change around the world.   After the hottest years on record, we have witnessed an alarming increase in famine-producing droughts, deadly and destructive floods, the fast melting of our Arctic permafrost   (releasing   methane - most potent greenhouse gas, and ancient viruses) and glaciers, and the acidification of our oceans.   Credible and authoritative  experts    on our  CLIMATE CRISIS all agree that drastic action is needed now    In 2019,   climate change scientist concurred that climate change is more extre...

QUOTABLE QUOTE I f we killed humans at the same rate we are contributing to the death of helpless wild animals we would extinct in 17 days!! 

ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT 2020  It has just come to just come to my attention that changes have been proposed in the omnibus Bill 108, will result in drastic and dramatic changes to the endangered Species Act and other vitally important Acts. This wrecking ball approach to reforming the Act is truly lamentable on so many levels. This is the worst time in the history to ignore our Earth’s SOS calls for help. Look around you, everywhere you look you will observe how our activities have   forced Mother Earth on life support. Global overheating has triggered  life-threatening  famine -producing  droughts, property -damaging  and emergency-declaring  killer floods,  out -of -control forest fires, soaring and life -threatening temperatures, more dangerous  and frequent hurricanes, the desertification of fertile farmlands, melting polar caps, dangerously rising sea levels, the disappearance of wildlife including precious pollinators, and...

   HELLO WORLD LEADERS We are facing a global emergency.  For the first time in history we are all being impacted by global overheating, climate crisis, and unprecedented extreme weather events that are more frequent, more severe, and last longer.   The bold actions you take today will determine if our children and our children’s children will embrace a future with hope and optimism or face a future filled with fear and dread.   

Add caption