Environment

The Fraser River watershed is among the most threatened in Canada, according to the World Wildlife Foundation. The province has committed $100 million toward a permanent to fund protect watersheds. (Jessica Peters/Abbotsford News)

B.C. floats $100M to protect provincial watersheds

BC Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau calls the funding a start, but wants to see details

The Fraser River watershed is among the most threatened in Canada, according to the World Wildlife Foundation. The province has committed $100 million toward a permanent to fund protect watersheds. (Jessica Peters/Abbotsford News)
Waves and foam erupt from the Pacific Ocean during high tide at the mouth of the Quillayute River in La Push. (Black Press Media file photo)

Canadian environmental groups praise UN accord to protect marine life on high seas

New treaty to apply to nearly half of world’s surface

Waves and foam erupt from the Pacific Ocean during high tide at the mouth of the Quillayute River in La Push. (Black Press Media file photo)
B.C. Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau speaks to media ahead of the throne speech at the legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, February 6, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

B.C.’s 2023 budget not addressing the urgency of environmental issues: Furstenau

BC Greens, Wilderness Committee find some praise, but many faults with provincial budget

B.C. Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau speaks to media ahead of the throne speech at the legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, February 6, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
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)

Oceana Canada celebrates commitment to protect B.C. Seamounts

Offshore area 4 times the size of Vancouver Island due to become protected

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)
Hundreds turned up to support old growth protections during the march and rally Feb. 25. (Hollie Ferguson/News Staff) Hundreds turned up to support old growth protections during the march and rally on Feb. 25. (Hollie Ferguson/News Staff)

VIDEO: Neil Young sings at Victoria super-rally to protect old growth forests

People gathered at the B.C. Legislature after a march, to call for action on old growth protection

Hundreds turned up to support old growth protections during the march and rally Feb. 25. (Hollie Ferguson/News Staff) Hundreds turned up to support old growth protections during the march and rally on Feb. 25. (Hollie Ferguson/News Staff)
As climate change pushes some plants northward, a new study suggests several unique species in Yukon and Alaska could have nowhere to go. Snow-covered hills in the Porcupine River Tundra in the Yukon Territories, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Rick Bowmer

Climate change could leave Yukon plants with nowhere to go: study

Some plants expected to lose nearly all suitable habitat within the next two decades

As climate change pushes some plants northward, a new study suggests several unique species in Yukon and Alaska could have nowhere to go. Snow-covered hills in the Porcupine River Tundra in the Yukon Territories, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Rick Bowmer
There are plenty of streets to explore in communities around the province. This view, from the top of Giant’s Head Mountain in Summerland, shows a portion of the lakefront area in that community. (John Arendt - Summerland Review)

Summerland to represent Earth Day Canada campaign

Community selected from 254 municipalities across Canada

There are plenty of streets to explore in communities around the province. This view, from the top of Giant’s Head Mountain in Summerland, shows a portion of the lakefront area in that community. (John Arendt - Summerland Review)
Jeffrey Ellom, the child and youth education coordinator at the Victoria Compost Education Centre, with one of the outdoor worm composting bins at the Fernwood site. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff)

VIDEO: Victoria educator exposes the secret world of worm herders

Victoria Compost Education Centre hosts free online lesson March 4

Jeffrey Ellom, the child and youth education coordinator at the Victoria Compost Education Centre, with one of the outdoor worm composting bins at the Fernwood site. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff)
Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault rises during Question Period, Thursday, February 16, 2023 in Ottawa. Two environmental groups and a British Columbia First Nation say the federal government is recommending an order to protect the critically at-risk northern spotted owl. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Federal protection proposed for critically at-risk spotted owls in B.C., groups say

Just three of the tiny owls are known to be in the wild in B.C.

Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault rises during Question Period, Thursday, February 16, 2023 in Ottawa. Two environmental groups and a British Columbia First Nation say the federal government is recommending an order to protect the critically at-risk northern spotted owl. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
The Saanich Inlet Protection Society will be hosting a public forum on Feb. 17 on two controversial expansion projects on the Bamberton lands that are being proposed by Malahat Nation. (Black Press Media file photo)

Society addresses public concern over contentious Malahat projects

Environmental Assessment Office says Saanich Inlet expansion projects don’t meet threshold for review

The Saanich Inlet Protection Society will be hosting a public forum on Feb. 17 on two controversial expansion projects on the Bamberton lands that are being proposed by Malahat Nation. (Black Press Media file photo)
The Saanich Inlet Protection Society will be hosting a public forum on Feb. 17 on two controversial expansion projects on the Bamberton lands that are being proposed by Malahat Nation. (Citizen file photo))

Society to hold public forum on controversial Malahat projects

Meeting an opportunity for people to ask questions and voice their concerns

The Saanich Inlet Protection Society will be hosting a public forum on Feb. 17 on two controversial expansion projects on the Bamberton lands that are being proposed by Malahat Nation. (Citizen file photo))
An eagles nest in a tree near Wallace Drive in Saanich is the source of concern for residents who worry a new sewer line will put the protected bird in peril. (Courtesy of Wayne Joslin)

Threat to eagle’s nest delays work on Central Saanich sewer line

Concerned residents raise awareness of a tree home to bald eagles that would be impacted

An eagles nest in a tree near Wallace Drive in Saanich is the source of concern for residents who worry a new sewer line will put the protected bird in peril. (Courtesy of Wayne Joslin)
Deepsea fragile pink sea urchin aggregating to feed on decaying seaweed at the Endeavour site during a 2016 expedition, is seen in this image provided February 7, 2023. Pink urchins like these are expanding their territory into shallower B.C. water. Researchers say the movement is a sign of how fast climate change is impacting life in the water. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Ocean Networks Canada/WHOI

B.C’s pink sea urchins are on the move to shallower waters thanks to climate change

UVic researchers say climate change and ‘The Blob’ changing way these fragile sea creatures behave

Deepsea fragile pink sea urchin aggregating to feed on decaying seaweed at the Endeavour site during a 2016 expedition, is seen in this image provided February 7, 2023. Pink urchins like these are expanding their territory into shallower B.C. water. Researchers say the movement is a sign of how fast climate change is impacting life in the water. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Ocean Networks Canada/WHOI
A defaced road sign of a logging truck is seen near the protest site of Fairy Creek on southern Vancouver Island on Oct. 4, 2021. British Columbia’s forest minister Katrine Conroy says the province is working to implement a strategic review of B.C.’s old-growth management and is working with First Nations and other partners to develop a new long-term strategy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward A defaced road sign of a logging truck is seen near the protest site of Fairy Creek on southern Vancouver Island on Oct. 4, 2021. British Columbia’s forest minister Katrine Conroy says the province is working to implement a strategic review of B.C.’s old-growth management and is working with First Nations and other partners to develop a new long-term strategy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

RCMP’s shorter version of injunction prompts court’s acquittal of B.C. protester

Judge rules RCMP script didn’t give sufficient information about the injunction terms

A defaced road sign of a logging truck is seen near the protest site of Fairy Creek on southern Vancouver Island on Oct. 4, 2021. British Columbia’s forest minister Katrine Conroy says the province is working to implement a strategic review of B.C.’s old-growth management and is working with First Nations and other partners to develop a new long-term strategy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward A defaced road sign of a logging truck is seen near the protest site of Fairy Creek on southern Vancouver Island on Oct. 4, 2021. British Columbia’s forest minister Katrine Conroy says the province is working to implement a strategic review of B.C.’s old-growth management and is working with First Nations and other partners to develop a new long-term strategy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Heavy equipment at work at Coastal GasLink pipeline crossing at the Lho Kwa (Clore River) in northwestern B.C. (David Suzuki Foundation photo)

Feds quietly backed off while Coastal GasLink pipeline work killed fish in B.C.

Fisheries officers cited safety concerns, but critics say none existed

  • Feb 8, 2023
Heavy equipment at work at Coastal GasLink pipeline crossing at the Lho Kwa (Clore River) in northwestern B.C. (David Suzuki Foundation photo)
This photo made available by NASA shows the planet Jupiter, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, on June 27, 2019. On Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, scientists said they have discovered 12 new moons around the gas giant, putting the total count at a record-breaking 92. That's more than any other planet in our solar system. (NASA, ESA, A. Simon/Goddard Space Flight Center, M.H. Wong/University of California, Berkeley via AP)

Jupiter’s moon count jumps to 92, most in solar system

Astronomers have discovered 12 new moons around Jupiter, putting the total count…

This photo made available by NASA shows the planet Jupiter, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, on June 27, 2019. On Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, scientists said they have discovered 12 new moons around the gas giant, putting the total count at a record-breaking 92. That's more than any other planet in our solar system. (NASA, ESA, A. Simon/Goddard Space Flight Center, M.H. Wong/University of California, Berkeley via AP)
Chief John Powell, centre, of the Mamalilikulla First Nation, sits with Joyce Murray, back left, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, and former chief Richard Sumner during an announcement about a new marine refuge in the Gwaxdlala/Nalaxdlala (Lull Bay/Hoeya Sound) area in Knight Inlet on B.C.’s central coast, at the International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) in Vancouver, on Sunday, February 5, 2023. The federal and British Columbia governments alongside 15 coastal First Nations have officially endorsed the blueprint for a vast network of marine protected areas along the west coast of Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Governments, B.C. coastal First Nations endorse marine protection action plan

New protected areas coming between the top of Vancouver Island to the Canada-Alaska border

Chief John Powell, centre, of the Mamalilikulla First Nation, sits with Joyce Murray, back left, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, and former chief Richard Sumner during an announcement about a new marine refuge in the Gwaxdlala/Nalaxdlala (Lull Bay/Hoeya Sound) area in Knight Inlet on B.C.’s central coast, at the International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) in Vancouver, on Sunday, February 5, 2023. The federal and British Columbia governments alongside 15 coastal First Nations have officially endorsed the blueprint for a vast network of marine protected areas along the west coast of Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Bats come out of the Volcan de los Murcielagos, a cave that is home to three million bats, in the Balam-Ku reserve, in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. One version of the Maya Train plan had the tracks passing less than a half mile from the bat cave. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

In Mexico, worry that Maya Train will destroy jungle

$20 billion dollar project envisioned to grow economy of some of country’s most impoverished areas

Bats come out of the Volcan de los Murcielagos, a cave that is home to three million bats, in the Balam-Ku reserve, in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. One version of the Maya Train plan had the tracks passing less than a half mile from the bat cave. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
B.C. has received only 18 per cent of federal support to deal with the effects of the 2021 atmospheric river that caused flooding and landslides across the province, including Merritt. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. has received less than 20% of federal funds promised for 2021 flooding, landslides

More funding expected to arrive in March 2023, but pace appears slow so far

B.C. has received only 18 per cent of federal support to deal with the effects of the 2021 atmospheric river that caused flooding and landslides across the province, including Merritt. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Joyce Murray, minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, rises during question period on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, in Ottawa. Federal politicians are expected to make a significant announcement on ocean protection during an international conference in Vancouver on how to take action on promises to protect the marine world made at recent global environment meetings. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Global ocean conservation conference in B.C. hopes to build on Montreal agreements

Significant announcements expected on ocean protection initiatives

Joyce Murray, minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, rises during question period on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, in Ottawa. Federal politicians are expected to make a significant announcement on ocean protection during an international conference in Vancouver on how to take action on promises to protect the marine world made at recent global environment meetings. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld