GreenWatch

B. McPherson Would you kill this magnificent creature and hang it on a wall? The alliance of Coastal First Nations have declared a ban on trophy hunting for bears in their traditional territories. Protection of bears will be monitored and enforced by a coalition of ten nations including the Haida from Haida Gwai(formerly Queen Charlotte Islands). In a strong statement issued on September 12, Kitasoo/Xaixais Chief Doug Neasloss declared that the bears will be protected by any means. This is the result of several years of working with the provincial government to halt trophy hunting. "Despite years of effort by the Coastal First Nations to find a resolution to this issue with the Province this senseless and brutal trophy hunt continues.” Chief Doug Neasloss First Nations spokesman pointed out that the trophy hunters often shoot their quarry by the shoreline where they come to look for food. The native people are not against a food hunt, but that the tr...

Forest Ethics Advocacy is sponsoring this competition Got talent? The Great Bear Rainforest needs you to participate in our 'Great Bear's Got Talent' contest! The winner gets an all-expense paid trip for two from Vancouver into the Great Bear Rainforest. ForestEthics Solutions is working with Greenpeace and Sierra Club BC to raise awareness about the Great Bear Rainforest - home to thriving schools of salmon, grizzly bears, coastal gray wolves, bald eagles and iconic species like the white Spirit Bear. An outpouring of public support will inspire the provincial government and other organizations to complete the forest safeguards the Great Bear needs to survive and thrive. How it works: You create an artful and stirring homage to this majestic rainforest and enter it in the contest. 

Your tribute can be anything: song, dance, painting, animation, or any other art form. It just needs to celebrate the magic of the Great Bear Rainforest t...

By B. McPherson Hearings are scheduled to start in Kitimat, BC, to hear the public speak about their interest in the proposed Enbridge Gateway Pipeline that is proposed to dig its way through the Great Bear Rain Forest to bring crude oil from the Alberta oil sands to the BC coast at the end of Douglas Channel. The Calgary based company has proposed the construction of twin pipelines that would snake from outside of Edmonton to the village of Kitimat. One pipeline would carry crude oil west while the second pipeline would carry the solvent needed to make the crude flow, east for reuse. Enbridge is the same company that has its megaproject in the US stalled, the Keystone Pipeline. The proposed route through British Columbia is a poor choice because it targets the untouched temperate rain forest, it ends at the head of a tortuous fiord, and many of the native land claims involving this land have yet to be settled. Prime Minister Harper has stated that a pipeline ...

By B. McPherson The decision to delay the building of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline until after the US presidential elections next year may doom the project. Opposition to the building of the oil pipeline which would connect the oil fields of Alberta to refineries in Texas has been loud and growing. The proposed route of the Keystone pipeline would take it across the Nebraska Sandhills, an environmentally sensitive treasure. Any breaches in the pipeline could easily contaminate the Ogllala aquifer. This aquifer is the supplier of water to much of the Midwest, both cities and aqriculture. Those that support the building of the $7 billion project point out the economic benefits of the pipeline. Many people would be employed in good paying jobs; oil from Canada is a stable source; there could be a reduction in oil tankers plying the Gulf of Mexico. At first glance, this looks like a victory for environmentalists. It is not. It puts the focus on a different environmental treasu...