NATIONAL WILDLIFE WEEK: STARTS APRIL 10
With April around the corner comes the annual celebration of National Wildlife Week – a time to educate young people about wild plants and animals. The theme this year is Explore and Embrace a Special Wild Place. The Week is led by the Canadian Wildlife Federation, and involves a number of partners involved in wildlife and habitat conservation. Activities are planned in a variety of areas. For links to more information, a National Wildlife Week Contest and 20 Things You Can Do for Wildlife, visit http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/wildlife/wildweek/intro-e.html
ATOCAS BAY WETLAND RESTORATION
Countless hours of partner and volunteer work are paying off in restoring wetlands in Atocas Bay about 75 kilometres east of Ottawa in the community of Lefaivre on the Ottawa River. Once a forgotten stretch of farmland, the area is one of the most productive for breeding waterfowl in Ontario. Environment Canada and its partners have worked to restore the wetlands that are on the north-south Mississippi Flyway (not all of these partners have been active in this project, really only Ducks Unlimited has done the restoration piece). Prior to the restoration effort, there were only two or three pairs of ducks found nesting on the property. In a very short time, surveys showed 11 different species of nesting ducks and a variety of other bird species, as well as moose, white-tailed deer and short-eared owls. Project partners included Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service, Ducks Unlimited Canada, the Ontario Ministries of Natural Resources and Agriculture``and Food, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and Wildlife Habitat Canada. Contributions for Atocas Bay came from all of the partners in the form of direct dollars and in-kind support.
CAP TOURMENTE SNOW GOOSE SEASON
The unique Greater Snow Goose hunt at the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area in Quebec is once again open for registration. Only 1,240 hunters are permitted to participate – their names are drawn through a lottery to be held in mid-May. Each winner can invite three guests, and hunters are taken to the hunting area by horse-drawn sled. There are decoys, high-tide and low-tide blinds and other services available. Located 50 kilometres east of Quebec City, the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area allows this special hunt only once a year. It is designed to help maintain healthy numbers of Snow Geese in the area.
PROTECTING QUEBEC’S COMMON EIDER
With its distinctive white feathers along its back, the Common Eider is a sea duck found along northern coastlines, and a subspecies nests in colonies on islands in the St. Lawrence estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is the only duck that produces the commercial eiderdown. Under the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture program, Environment Canada is a partner with Ducks Unlimited Canada, Société Devetnor and the Société de la faune et des parcs du Québec in working to conserve the habitat for the ducks. By monitoring populations and protecting and managing nesting sites, the Plan partners are helping to reach a goal of ensuring there are 40,000 nesting pairs of the ducks in the St. Lawrence estuary and 20,000 on the Lower North Shore.
ONTARIO HABITATS NORTH TO SOUTH
Stretching from the far North to the populated South, the province of Ontario has a wide variety of habitat with unique features. Environment Canada is an active partner in the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture and its many conservation activities designed to preserve the habitats for bird populations. The priority landscapes for the Joint Venture involve the Hudson Bay Lowlands, the Boreal Forest, the Clay Belt and Great Lakes-St. Lawrence shorelines. For instance, the Hudson Bay Lowlands stretch from Quebec to Manitoba covering about 265,000 square kilometres and contain tidal flats and inland beach ridge complexes with freshwater marshes, sedge meadows and swamps. The coast is important to migrating and breeding waterfowl such as Canada Geese, Atlantic Brant and Black Scoters. Potential threats to the area are climate change, hydro-electric development, mining and peat and petroleum extraction.
