Environment

Lidia Caamal Puc sits on a dirt road in her community of “Vida y Esperanza,” or Life and Hope, where forest was cleared for the Maya Train route in Quintana Roo state, Mexico, Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. “I think that there is nothing Maya” about the train, said Puc. “Some people say it will bring great benefits, but for us Mayas that work the land, that live here, we don’t see any benefits. Rather, it will hurt us, because, how should I put it, they are taking away what we love so much, the land,” she said. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Maya Train project raising Indigenous concern along Mexico’s Caribbean coast

Protests continue as Mexican government exempts train from environmental impact studies

Lidia Caamal Puc sits on a dirt road in her community of “Vida y Esperanza,” or Life and Hope, where forest was cleared for the Maya Train route in Quintana Roo state, Mexico, Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. “I think that there is nothing Maya” about the train, said Puc. “Some people say it will bring great benefits, but for us Mayas that work the land, that live here, we don’t see any benefits. Rather, it will hurt us, because, how should I put it, they are taking away what we love so much, the land,” she said. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo has been working with other conservation groups, governments and zoos to breed, translocate and release endangered northern leopard frog tadpoles into British Columbia’s wetlands. The endangered northern leopard frog is shown in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo.

Team releases endangered northern leopard frog tadpoles into B.C. wetlands

Frog plays an important role in its ecosystem, where it transfers nutrients between water and land

The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo has been working with other conservation groups, governments and zoos to breed, translocate and release endangered northern leopard frog tadpoles into British Columbia’s wetlands. The endangered northern leopard frog is shown in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo.
Southern resident orcas off the shores of Tofino. (Photo credit: John Forde and Jennifer Steven)

$3.1 million pumped into B.C. marine noise reduction as advocates call for targets

Efforts underway to help protect endangered killer whales from increased traffic

Southern resident orcas off the shores of Tofino. (Photo credit: John Forde and Jennifer Steven)
One of the work parties that helped removed 1,500 metres of wire fencing from the Pend D’Oreille Valley this year. of Photo: TWA

West Kootenay seniors do the hard work to restore habitat

Barbed wire fencing has impeded wildlife movement through the Pend d’Oreille Valley corridor

One of the work parties that helped removed 1,500 metres of wire fencing from the Pend D’Oreille Valley this year. of Photo: TWA
Save Old Growth announced its impending return to action with a series of vandalism across Vancouver July 28. On Aug. 2, the group ran its first traffic blockade in a month near Stanley Park. (Save Old Growth website/screenshot)

Save Old Growth resumes B.C. traffic disruptions with Vancouver blockade

Environmental group back in action after 1 month pause

Save Old Growth announced its impending return to action with a series of vandalism across Vancouver July 28. On Aug. 2, the group ran its first traffic blockade in a month near Stanley Park. (Save Old Growth website/screenshot)
FILE - Climate activists Elizabeth Wathuti of Kenia, Vanessa Nakate of Uganda and Helena Gualinga of Ecuador attend the climate protest alongside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, May 26, 2022. A group of top climate scientists say the world needs to think about the ultimate climate catastrophe, human extinction, and how possible it is. They are calling on the world’s main climate science body to look at the ultimate climate catastrophes, no matter how remotely unlikely they are. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

Chances of climate catastrophe are ignored, scientists say

“I do not believe civilization as we know it will make it out of this century”: B.C. scientist

FILE - Climate activists Elizabeth Wathuti of Kenia, Vanessa Nakate of Uganda and Helena Gualinga of Ecuador attend the climate protest alongside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, May 26, 2022. A group of top climate scientists say the world needs to think about the ultimate climate catastrophe, human extinction, and how possible it is. They are calling on the world’s main climate science body to look at the ultimate climate catastrophes, no matter how remotely unlikely they are. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)
An Oak Bay Police Department (OBPD) car parked outside the office on Monterey Avenue. (Black Press Media file photo)

Tyre Extinguishers: Environmental activists deflate tires on 34 SUVs in Greater Victoria

The group, called Tyre Extinguishers, wants to eliminate SUVs in cities

An Oak Bay Police Department (OBPD) car parked outside the office on Monterey Avenue. (Black Press Media file photo)
As plastic continues to pollute the ocean, Oceana Canada is calling on the government action (credit Oceana Canada/Elemental).

Plastic predicament: Federal group urges action on packaging legislation in Canada

Oceana Canada is calling on the government to reduce the amount of harmful single-use plastics

As plastic continues to pollute the ocean, Oceana Canada is calling on the government action (credit Oceana Canada/Elemental).
FILE - Wildfires burning hundreds of miles away create smoky conditions Monday, June 13, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska’s remarkable wildfire season includes over 530 blazes that have burned an area more than three times the size of Rhode Island, with nearly all the impacts, including dangerous breathing conditions from smoke, attributed to fires started by lightning. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

Alaska experiencing wildfires it’s never seen before

530 wildfires already recorded this year, worst of season yet to come

FILE - Wildfires burning hundreds of miles away create smoky conditions Monday, June 13, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska’s remarkable wildfire season includes over 530 blazes that have burned an area more than three times the size of Rhode Island, with nearly all the impacts, including dangerous breathing conditions from smoke, attributed to fires started by lightning. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
A polar bear is seen walking along the road in Churchill, Man. Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. Climate change and human impacts on the land are behind a growing number of encounters between people and polar bears around the Arctic, new research concludes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Landfills and climate change increasing polar bear-human conflicts in Arctic: report

Climate change diminishing food supply for bears, while making the Arctic more hospitable for humans

A polar bear is seen walking along the road in Churchill, Man. Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. Climate change and human impacts on the land are behind a growing number of encounters between people and polar bears around the Arctic, new research concludes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Skills Cente staff Alison Girard, Jay Shete, and Alia Locken display some of the work the Skills Centre has accomplished in the last year. Photo: Submitted

After 25 years of West Kootenay success, future shines bright for Skills Centre

“Several of our programs ran at full capacity, and the rest were almost full,” says Morag Carter.

Skills Cente staff Alison Girard, Jay Shete, and Alia Locken display some of the work the Skills Centre has accomplished in the last year. Photo: Submitted
Members of the community touring the Jewel Lake area prescription area. Photo: Dan Macmaster

Boundary wildfire risk reduction a model of collaboration

The project was undertaken in an area 20 minutes north of Greenwood

Members of the community touring the Jewel Lake area prescription area. Photo: Dan Macmaster
Burnaby vet technician Jocelyn Marsh shows off part of her pill bottle return program. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)

B.C. veterinarian has plan to eliminate millions of pieces of plastic from Canadian clinics

Very simple changes can have a large impact if adopted broadly, Jocelyn Marsh says

Burnaby vet technician Jocelyn Marsh shows off part of her pill bottle return program. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)
A colder, wetter spring may not necessarily mean an influx of mosquitoes in Nanaimo and elsewhere in B.C., says an entomologist at the University of B.C. (Stock photo)

B.C. mosquito boom may not hatch despite buzz about colder spring: expert

Entomologist discusses weather’s effects on the irritating insect

A colder, wetter spring may not necessarily mean an influx of mosquitoes in Nanaimo and elsewhere in B.C., says an entomologist at the University of B.C. (Stock photo)
The Canadian Coast Guard ship called John P. Tully has been used to bring scientists to the Explorer Seamount — Canada’s largest underwater mountain. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)

West Coast expedition off B.C. explores never-before-seen deep-sea habitat

‘We are going to habitats that nobody’s mapped before, that nobody’s seen before’

The Canadian Coast Guard ship called John P. Tully has been used to bring scientists to the Explorer Seamount — Canada’s largest underwater mountain. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)
The move to ban single-use plastics will prevent 33 billion units of forks, bags, six-pack rings and other plastics from landfills. (Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Single-use plastic ban a ‘monumental’ step in protecting Canada’s oceans: advocate

Canada is planning phased-in ban on the manufacture, import, sale and export of plastics

The move to ban single-use plastics will prevent 33 billion units of forks, bags, six-pack rings and other plastics from landfills. (Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS)
A northern red-legged frog pictured in 2020. (Photo/Robin Doty Blymyer)

Nature Trust of B.C. protecting nearly 150 acres of rare Gulf Island climate zone

143.5-acres purchase aims to protect endangered species in new conservation zone on Saturna Island

A northern red-legged frog pictured in 2020. (Photo/Robin Doty Blymyer)
Two Save Old Growth protesters blocking Highway 1 at the Columbia River Bridge in Revelstoke. The group’s co-founder Zain Haq says he’s gone into hiding out of fear of deportation. (Josh Piercey/Revelstoke Review)

Save Old Growth organizer fears his climate activism has made him a target for deportation

Zain Haq, who is in Canada on a study permit, says he’s gone into hiding

  • Jun 20, 2022
Two Save Old Growth protesters blocking Highway 1 at the Columbia River Bridge in Revelstoke. The group’s co-founder Zain Haq says he’s gone into hiding out of fear of deportation. (Josh Piercey/Revelstoke Review)
Todd Maliteare, Bruce Cameron and Dr. David Suzuki. (Submitted/file photos)

PODCAST: David Suzuki gets charged up over electric vehicles

TODAY IN B.C.: Columnist Bruce Cameron and builder Todd Maliteare also talk EVs

Todd Maliteare, Bruce Cameron and Dr. David Suzuki. (Submitted/file photos)
Save Old Growth announced the return of their highway blockades as of June 13 during the 2022 Thrifty Foods Victoria Day Parade. A new group, Clear The Road, which is frsutrated with the regular blockades is now pursuing a class-action lawsuit against Save Old Growth. (Black Press Media file photo)

B.C. commuters consider lawsuit over logging protest highway blockades by Save Old Growth

Drivers have missed appointments and work shifts, lost out on money, says Clear The Road group

Save Old Growth announced the return of their highway blockades as of June 13 during the 2022 Thrifty Foods Victoria Day Parade. A new group, Clear The Road, which is frsutrated with the regular blockades is now pursuing a class-action lawsuit against Save Old Growth. (Black Press Media file photo)