Environment

A room inside a ‘carbon-minimal’ building is seen in an undated handout photo. One of Canada’s first ‘carbon-minimal’ buildings made with hempcrete is officially open this week and it’s located on the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-UBC

UBC students construct one of Canada’s first ‘carbon-minimal’ hempcrete buildings

Hempcrete captures carbon from the atmosphere as it set and turns to a concrete-like material

A room inside a ‘carbon-minimal’ building is seen in an undated handout photo. One of Canada’s first ‘carbon-minimal’ buildings made with hempcrete is officially open this week and it’s located on the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-UBC
A rendering of the proposed Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project, located to the northwest of the existing Roberts Bank terminals in Delta. Ottawa has approved the project subject to 370 legally binding conditions to protect the environment, including to prevent harm to local species, but environmentalists fear the worst. (Port of Vancouver image)

Ottawa cites jobs, capacity, approves B.C.’s Roberts Bank Terminal 2 port expansion

Approval of port expansion a ‘death sentence’ for southern resident killer whales: environmentalist

A rendering of the proposed Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project, located to the northwest of the existing Roberts Bank terminals in Delta. Ottawa has approved the project subject to 370 legally binding conditions to protect the environment, including to prevent harm to local species, but environmentalists fear the worst. (Port of Vancouver image)
The PRIMED facility at Blind Channel will be a testing ground for clean energy projects. Photo courtesy PRIMED

UVic research lab plans to harness the power of the ocean in the Discovery Islands

Clean energy project to be showcase for coastal communities looking to get off diesel

The PRIMED facility at Blind Channel will be a testing ground for clean energy projects. Photo courtesy PRIMED
Friends of Bowker Creek Society president Gerald Harris explains how the salmon fry emerge over days, even weeks before heading out to sea. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff)

VIDEO: Oak Bay fry emerge, swim to Salish Sea in bid to bring salmon back to Bowker Creek

After hunkering down in Bowker Creek a while, fry emerge April 18

Friends of Bowker Creek Society president Gerald Harris explains how the salmon fry emerge over days, even weeks before heading out to sea. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff)
From left, European Union Deputy Secretary General and Political Director of the European External Action Service Enrique Mora, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, France’ Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, and Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, pose for members of the media as they arrive at Karuizawa Station for a G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Karuizawa, Japan, Sunday, April 16, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Andrew Harnik

No date for coal phase out as G7 environment ministers wrap meeting in Japan

Leaders reaffirmed need for a ‘predominantly decarbonized power sector’ by 2035

From left, European Union Deputy Secretary General and Political Director of the European External Action Service Enrique Mora, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, France’ Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, and Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, pose for members of the media as they arrive at Karuizawa Station for a G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Karuizawa, Japan, Sunday, April 16, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Andrew Harnik
Overgrow UVic planted a small garden on the lawn in front of the library on campus. This act of ‘Guerilla Gardening’ was an effort to bring awareness to the importance of biodiversity. (Courtesy of Shay Ogurek)

‘Guerilla gardeners’ plant native species on UVic lawn but school quickly digs them up

Environmental studies studies sent message about biodiversity on campus

Overgrow UVic planted a small garden on the lawn in front of the library on campus. This act of ‘Guerilla Gardening’ was an effort to bring awareness to the importance of biodiversity. (Courtesy of Shay Ogurek)
Rainbow trout, photo taken by Laryn Gilmour

Engineering firm fined $1M over B.C. spill linked to 85 trout deaths

Keller Foundations Ltd. was ordered to pay over 2018 incident in West Vancouver

Rainbow trout, photo taken by Laryn Gilmour
(L-R) Coun. Korleen Carreras, Coun. Sunny Schiller, energy minister Josie Osborne, MLA Bob D’Eith, and MLA Lisa Beare, all helped announce $26 million in new funding to help B.C. increase its number of EV charging stations. (Brandon Tucker/The News)

B.C. receives $26 million in new funding for EV charging stations

Provincial government sets target of 100% light-duty vehicle sales being EVs by 2035

(L-R) Coun. Korleen Carreras, Coun. Sunny Schiller, energy minister Josie Osborne, MLA Bob D’Eith, and MLA Lisa Beare, all helped announce $26 million in new funding to help B.C. increase its number of EV charging stations. (Brandon Tucker/The News)
Workers stand in the water storage tank construction site in Paris, Wednesday, April 5, 2023. A costly and complex clean-up is resuscitating the River Seine just in time for it to play a starring role in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The city and its region are rushing to make the Seine’s murky waters swimmable, so it can genuinely live up to its billing as the world’s most romantic river. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Fancy a dip? An Olympic reboot underway for Paris’ toxic River Seine

A costly and complex cleanup is resuscitating the Seine with an eye on 2024

Workers stand in the water storage tank construction site in Paris, Wednesday, April 5, 2023. A costly and complex clean-up is resuscitating the River Seine just in time for it to play a starring role in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The city and its region are rushing to make the Seine’s murky waters swimmable, so it can genuinely live up to its billing as the world’s most romantic river. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
The Gitxaała First Nation Flag flies in Kitkatla in June 2022. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)

First Nation in Supreme Court trying to enforce B.C. ‘duty to consult’ on mineral rights

Legal action seeks to overturn mineral rights claims and suspend further claim in Gitxaała territory

The Gitxaała First Nation Flag flies in Kitkatla in June 2022. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
The Gitxaała First Nation Flag flies in Kitkatla in June 2022. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)

Gitxaała Nation enters first-of-its-kind mineral rights challenge in B.C. Supreme Court

Legal action seeks to overturn mineral rights claims & suspend further claim in Gitxaała territory

The Gitxaała First Nation Flag flies in Kitkatla in June 2022. (Photo: K-J Millar/The Northern View)
The view of the herring spawn from Cardena Crescent in Port McNeill. (Stephanie Manke photo)

Herring spawn documented for perhaps first time ever off Port McNeill

Herring are not a spawn-and-die species as they can live for 8+ years

The view of the herring spawn from Cardena Crescent in Port McNeill. (Stephanie Manke photo)
The BC Coroners Service confirmed that 619 people died during the 2021 heat dome between June 25 and July 1. (Black Press Media file photo)

CRD and UVic launch project to improve response to extreme heat events

The project is using a mixed-methods research process

The BC Coroners Service confirmed that 619 people died during the 2021 heat dome between June 25 and July 1. (Black Press Media file photo)
Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said government is looking into the issue of banning bear-spray. While legal, criminals have been using it in urban areas. (Contributed)

B.C. government looking into whether to ban bear-spray across province

Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth acknowledged such a move could impact wilderness safety

Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said government is looking into the issue of banning bear-spray. While legal, criminals have been using it in urban areas. (Contributed)
Threatened yellow-montane violets in the Mt. Tuam protected area on Salt Spring Island. (Photo by Laura Mattias)

Islands conservancy receives funding to address biodiversity loss

Three-year funding boost ensures the continuation of species-at-risk program

Threatened yellow-montane violets in the Mt. Tuam protected area on Salt Spring Island. (Photo by Laura Mattias)
(Black Press Media Creative)

How coconuts protect the Jersey Shore, other eroding coasts

Coastal communities around the world are adding a tropical twist to shoreline…

(Black Press Media Creative)
A close-up of a log of coconut husk known as coir along the bank of the Shark River in Neptune, N.J., Jan. 31, 2023 where the American Littoral Society is doing a shoreline restoration project incorporating coconut fibers. The material is being used in shoreline stabilization projects around the world. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

It’s natural: Coconuts become tool in shoreline protection

Husks being used on shorelines around the world, including in Canada

A close-up of a log of coconut husk known as coir along the bank of the Shark River in Neptune, N.J., Jan. 31, 2023 where the American Littoral Society is doing a shoreline restoration project incorporating coconut fibers. The material is being used in shoreline stabilization projects around the world. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
Coho is one of the many salmon species that spawns in Little Qualicum River. (Submitted photo)

Nature Trust of B.C. raising funds to protect land in Little Qualicum River

Crowdfunding campaign launched with goal to raise $415,000 by April 30

Coho is one of the many salmon species that spawns in Little Qualicum River. (Submitted photo)
The eradication of Fallow Deer on Sidney Island has renewed questions about the ethics of deer culls. (Parks Canada/Submitted)

Parks Canada plan to eradicate invasive deer from B.C. island approved

Sharpshooting of 500-1,000 deer from helicopters, on the ground will proceed off Greater Victoria

The eradication of Fallow Deer on Sidney Island has renewed questions about the ethics of deer culls. (Parks Canada/Submitted)
The eradication of Fallow Deer on Sidney Island has renewed questions about the ethics of deer culls. (Parks Canada/Submitted)

Sidney Island strata narrowly approves Parks Canada plan to eradicate invasive deer

Professional sharpshooting of deer from helicopters, on the ground, set to start this winter

The eradication of Fallow Deer on Sidney Island has renewed questions about the ethics of deer culls. (Parks Canada/Submitted)