Author Archives: Judy But

Discover the Don Speaker Series: Toronto’s Trees – Beyond the Ice Storm

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The Don Watershed Regeneration Council and Toronto and Region Conservation is launching a 2-hour speaker series event on October 23, 2014 from 7 to 9 pm at the Auditorium of the North York Central Library (5120 Yonge Street) featuring the 4 special presentations:

1) Karen Clarke-Whistler, TD Chief Environment Officer on “The Economic Value of Toronto’s Trees”
2) Dr. Dawn Bazely, York University Professor, Department of Biology on “The Biological Threats to Toronto’s Trees”
3) Kim Statham, City of Toronto’s Program Standards & Development Officer on “Toronto’s Urban Forest: Challenges and Opportunities”
4) Daniel Larocque and Mike Jones representing the Leslieville-Riverdale Tree Project on “Community Action to Protect Toronto’s Trees”

Gabriella Kalapos, the Executive Director at Clean Air Partnership, will be moderating the event.

Event is free but advanced registration is required!

If you are interested in attending, please register online at:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/discover-the-don-speaker-series-torontos-trees-beyond-the-ice-storm-tickets-12710759223

Ecosystems valuation analysis on off-site benefits from protected areas

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In May 2013, Spatial Informatics Group submitted a report to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources which presented an ecosystems valuation analysis on the off-site benefits from protected areas’ ecosystem services in Ontario. Two approaches were used in this study. The value transfer approach was used to assess the North Shore area. Four ecosystem service models were developed using the ARIES (ARtificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services) approach to assess the Algonquin Provincial Park and Lake of the Woods region. Recognizing the socio-economic, biophysical and recreational aspects of different lands under park management, the findings from this report confirm that the models developed for this study could be transferred or adapted to similar contextual settings. It was concluded that the ecosystem services framework is a very valuable tool for assessing and measuring the contributions of parks and protected areas and for evaluating the potential impacts of alternative management scenarios.

Assessment of Potential Biodiversity Market Partnerships in Ontario

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Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) is a non-profit organization based in Ontario that manages the rehabilitation of ecological services in communities across Canada and participates in the Canadian voluntary compensation market. Due to the challenges of adopting Payments for Ecological Service, AMOVEO, a student organization at the University of Waterloo, partnered with ALUS in 2012 to examine the industries that could be potential target markets for ALUS’ ecological services program. Recommendations were also made to assist in developing ALUS’ operations and to provide assistance when targeting potential investors.

Ontario Nature’s Report on Biodiversity Offsetting: First-Year Results

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With the support of Metcalf Foundation, Ontario Nature initiated a project on biodiversity offsetting in July 2013 to explore the issues, risks and benefits of biodiversity offsetting with a diverse group of stakeholders and its implications in a policy context. This report presents the first-year results of this project.

Analysis for Great Lakes Nutrient Initiative: Lake Erie Cost of Algae Scoping Report

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In Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the federal government will invest $16 million in the Great Lakes Nutrient Initiative for a four-year period to address the recurrent toxic and algae issues in Ontario’s Great Lakes. For the Great Lakes Nutrient Initiative, Environment Canada retained Midsummer Analytics to provide insight on the factors and methodologies for evaluating the impacts of algal blooms in the Lake Erie Basin and to study the impacts on the ecosystem goods and services delivered by Lake Erie.

National Focal Point Contacts on IPBES Panel

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Pursuant to the United Nations Environment Programme executive director’s letter on February 15, 2013, all member states submitted their National Focal Point contact details to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Secretariat. The National Focal Point contact list contains Canada’s key point of contact on the IPBES panel.