‘Canada is Burning’; Community Climate Activists Recognize National Day of Action

Community activists gathered outside the office of MP Michelle Ferreri on Wednesday to sign an open letter requesting rapid government action to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, and to draw attention to the forest fires caused by climate change.

All photos by Felicia Massey.

The campaign, originated by 350.org, outlines that the campaign has communities across Canada rising up to demand an immediate end to fossil fuel subsidies and a just transition to 100 per cent renewable energy.

This National Day of Action was announced for June 28 in light of recent wildfires in hopes to “bring the heat to our federal leaders.”

The group lobbied outside MP Ferreri’s office (417 Bethune St.) with signs about the climate crisis as they gathered signatures.

“Canada is burning and it’s time for our g government to put it out,” the group’s message reads. “That means tackling the climate crisis by ending fossil fuel subsidies and implementing an urgent and ambitious Just Transition that leaves no one behind.”

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Kawartha Land Trust to Receive $1.7 Million from Environment and Climate Change Canada

Kawartha Land Trust (KLT) is set to receive $1.7 million over five years from Environment and Climate Change Canada's (ECCC) Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund (NSCSF), furthering its land protection efforts in the Kawarthas announced Monday.

Shoreline of Kawartha Land Trust’s new Otonabee River Property, secured with support from the Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund (Photo by Veronica Price-Jones/KLT)

As a direct result of the funding, KLT acquired 200 more acres of wetlands and forests in the Kawarthas through the securement of two new properties. They now protect over 5,070 acres of land in the Kawarthas, including 1,739 acres of wetlands.

The newly protected 200 plus additional acres of wetlands and forests includes 154 acres in Kawartha Lakes and 58 acres in Otonabee-South Monaghan township. Both properties include Provincially Significant Wetlands (PSW) and the Kawartha Lakes property is noted as an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI).

The goal of this project is to protect CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents) conversion through the protection of natural habitat in the Kawarthas by inspiring landowner participation in protecting carbon on their lands through a mix of land protection options and the outright purchase/protection of land with high carbon storage value vital habitat for plant and animal species, including a number of at risk species.

“We are so lucky in the Kawarthas to live where people have been caring for the land for generations, leaving a lasting natural legacy for today,” says John Kintare, executive director of Kawartha Land Trust. “The funding from ECCC’s Nature Smart Climate Solution Fund will allow Kawartha Land Trust to reach out to key landowners across our landscape to help them understand the part their land plays in our local ecosystem. We will work with all who are willing to secure important carbon stores and enhance land management so that our local lands can have a global impact.”

ECCC announced the details of the investment over five years to support KLT’s ‘Sequestering Kawarthas’ Carbon Through Partners in Conservation’ project through the ECCC’s Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund.

The NSCSF is a $631 million, ten-year fund to support projects that restore and enhance wetlands, peatlands and grasslands that store and capture carbon through nature-based solutions.

“Canada matters in the global fight to conserve and protect biodiversity. We are home to twenty four percent of the world’s wetlands, twenty five percent of temperate rainforest areas and twenty eight percent of remaining boreal forests,” says The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, minister of environment and climate change. “These ecosystems are globally significant as they absorb carbon, mitigate against the impacts of climate change, and protect biodiversity.”

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Random Acts of Green's HallowGreen Challenge Encourages Green Initiatives this Halloween

Random Acts of Green’s HallowGreen Challenge encourages everyone to scare away eco-anxiety by creating a more enviromentally-friendly Halloween.

Photo courtesy of Random Acts of Green.

Random Acts of Green’s seventh annual HallowGreen Challenge encourages people of their day-to-day actions’s impact on the planet, move beyond “just recycling” by exploring new ways to be green.

Both local and global green organizations come together to promote and participate in the online challenge to build awareness. Random Acts of Green says this keeps everyone engaged in climate action like composting, air drying clothing or refusing single-use plastics.

Citizens, school boards, classrooms, offices and businesses are encouraged to take part in the HallowGreen Challenge and build awareness about climate action and the planet while participating in spooky season and Halloween festivities.

Waste statistics surrounding Halloween traditions suggest hundreds of thousands of pounds of pumpkin rot in landfills every year and a single trick-or-treater generates about one pound of trash from candy wrappers alone according to a press release.

“Our 7th annual challenge continues to inspire folks to rethink how we celebrate holidays like Halloween in a way that does not create added waste for the environment,” says Alannah Hardcastle, Random Acts of Green social impact manager.

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Photos: High School Students Stage Protest For Climate Action

Students from Peterborough Alternative & Continuing Education (PACE) staged a walkout from school and protested to spread awareness about climate change as part of a movement named “Fridays for Future” at Confederation Park on Friday.

Photo by Luke Best.

The students were part of the Youth Leadership in Sustainability program held in partnership with Trent University.

Aisling MacQuarrie,16, is a Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School student who is taking Youth Leadership in Sustainability. A program that prepares grade 11 and 12 students for leadership roles in sustainability initiatives at the local and global levels. Photo by Luke Best.

“In 2019, the city announced a climate crisis and they also committed to reducing greenhouse gases by 40 per cent by 2031. We're here to remind them of that promise and make sure they're upholding and making actions to get there,” said Aisling MacQuarrie, grade 11 student. “We wanted to try to make more of a difference in our community.”

Fridays for Future is a youth-led global climate strike movement that started in August 2018 when then 15-year-old Greta Thunberg began a school strike for the climate.

For three weeks leading up to the election, she sat outside Swedish Parliament every school day, demanding action on the climate crisis.

Mayor Diane Therrien encouraged the students in their protest and movement before heading to the Peterborough Environmental and Climate Action Expo (EnviroX). Photo by Luke Best.

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