Newsletter #5
Sierra Club - Chebucto Group
Welcome to the 5th issue of Sierra News.
In this issue: Upcoming Events
Conservation Working Group Update
More information on the World Wildlife Fund and Shell
Atlantic Coast Ecoregion Report
Pesticides Campaign
Excomm List
We always need volunteers! Contact any excomm member for more info.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Tuesday, May 27, 7 p.m.
The next meeting of the Conservation Working Group will be held at 2099
Gottingen Street (Oxfam office). For more information, contact Nadia at
425-5119 or Cass
Wednesday, May 28, 11:30 a.m.- 1:00 p.m.
Members of the Conservation Working Group will be hosting a Jim Campbell's
Barren information table in front of the Halifax public library on Spring
Garden Road. Letters and petitions will be available to sign. To
volunteer, contact Ron at 425-7381, or show up in front of the library at
11:30.
June 21-22
Sierra Club Outing: kayaking at Lower Prospect. More details next week.
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CONSERVATION WORKING GROUP UPDATE Contributed by Nadia Stuewer
The Conservation Working Group continues to work on the Jim Campbells
Barren issue, in conjunction with the more than 30 other organizations
who are members of the Coalition to Save the Barrens. The Coalition is
aiming to complete its petition drive by the end of May, when the petitions
will be presented to the Premier. Petitions can be picked up at p'lovers in
Park Lane. Completed (or partially completed) petitions should be
returned to the Conservation Working Group meeting on May 27, or dropped
off at the Oxfam office anytime before then.
The Group will continue to work on other aspects of Nova Scotia's protected
areas systems plan. We are currently investigating why candidate areas
are being included in some integrated management plans by Local and Regional
Development Authorities.
Group members are contacting local federal election candidates to ask them
about environmental issues.
A Forestry Issue sub-committee was formed. Anyone interested in working
on forestry issues should contact Ron at 425-7381.
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WWF AND SHELL
As stated last week (Chebucto Newsletter #4), the World Wildlife Fund has
nominated Shell Canada for a B.C. environmental award. Please refer to
last week's newsletter for more details. Several people requested the
WWF's address. It is:
WWF Canada
90 Eglinton Avenue, # 504
Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Z7
tel: 1-800-26-PANDA
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ATLANTIC COAST ECOREGION Contributed by Allison Denning
It should come as no surprise that Nova Scotia is part of a larger
Atlantic Coast ecoregion that stretches from Newfoundland to the southern
tip of Florida. It is a migration corridor for many species of wildlife.
Within this ecoregion, there are many small and relatively isolated
protected areas to ensure the survival and prosperity of these many
migratory species. Until recently, provinces and states, through public
and private initiatives, have undertaken the protection of these areas
individually, without necessarily examining the larger picture.
The Sierra Club has recently moved beyond the barriers of state
and national borders. It has created the Atlantic Coast Ecoregion
Committee in order to address the larger, ecosystem-wide issues. The goal
of the Sierra Club Atlantic Coast Ecoregion Committee is to "establish an
interconnected network of national parks, national forests, wildlife
refuges, national seashores, scenic and wilderness areas, state,
provincial, and local public lands and private reserves throughout the
greater Atlantic ecoregion, for the purpose of preserving and restoring
native biodiversity from Florida to Newfoundland".
The Nova Scotia Sierra Club group (the Chebucto Group) has
recently become an active member in the Atlantic Coast Ecoregion Committee
in order to ensure protection of wildlife in the Canadian portion of the
ecoregion. It is essential that boundaries be established not on the
basis of politics, but based on ecosystem boundaries and migratory routes.
The only way to ensure the survival of our wildlife is to protect their
homes, and this cannot be done on an isolated basis. It is only with the
combined participation of all relevant persons, and the creation of a
protected corridor that we can maintain the necessary habitat and assist
in the protection of wildlife. This initiative is thus essential to the
health of our region and should be considered a success story in
environmental protection worthy of Action 21 recognition.
ACE Meeting
On April 26-27 1997, the Atlantic Coast Ecoregion Committee (ACE)
met in Washington, D.C. to discuss some of its most recent initiatives.
Representatives from most Atlantic coast states were present in addition
to myself representing Nova Scotia.
At the two day session, several projects receiving ACE attention
were detailed. The first was a project to combat the human population
density problem along the Eastern seaboard, through a project entitled
"livable cities" and a report entitled "Sprawl". One specific area
targeted for increased urbanization was Chapman's Landing in South
Carolina. Using indigenous species as rationale for its conservation, the
Sierra Club successfully ensured the protection of this unique wilderness
area. In addition there have been several initiatives by members of ACE to
ensure the protection of a variety of species, such as the sea turtle,
sharks, and butterflies. Their ideas included a boycott on sea-turtle
unfriendly shrimp traps, information programs about the current practices
of removing fins from sharks and allowing the body to sink and drown, and
an education program of placing butterflies in schools to demonstrate
lifecycles and migration patterns.
There was much interest in the environmental issues from Nova
Scotia and much discussion as to how the issue of the delisting of Jim
Campbell's Barrens could be addressed, such as through the media, through
petitions and through articles in Sierra Club magazines. The next
meeting for the ACE was set for October 4-5, 1997, in Halifax. For more
information about ACE, contact Allison Denning at 425-1379.
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CPR! THE CAMPAIGN FOR PESTICIDE REDUCTION Contributed by
Angela Rickman
On May 5, the Campaign for Pesticide Reduction (CPR!), a
coalition of environmental and labour organizations, announced that
communities from coast to coast will be pressing their municipal
government for local by-laws banning unnecessary pesticide use. Sierra
Club of Canada's national office is working on the campaign as part of the
steering committee of CPR! the Campaign for Pesticide Reduction. There
is a support kit available for the campaign, including information on
pesticides, municipal by-laws, names and addresses of contact people in
other communities working on the bylaw campaign, and press information.
If you would like to participate in this campaign, please contact
one of the Conservation Working Group co-chairs, Nadia (tel: 425-5119) or
Cass,
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CHEBUCTO GROUP EXCOMM
Chair (away until July) Paul Falvo 492-1995 pfalvo@chebucto.ns.ca
Vice (Acting) Chair Nadia Stuewer 425-5119 n_Stuewe@bass.stmarys.ca
Conservation Nadia Stuewer 425-5119 n_Stuewe@bass.stmarys.ca
Cass Elliott 455-3852 au361@chebucto.ns.ca
Outings Henrietta Mann 496-8235 HMANN@shark.stmarys.ca
(away until mid-June)
Programme Jack Devenney 463-0090
Henrietta Mann 496-8235 HMANN@shark.stmarys.ca
(away until mid-June)
Youth Arciris Garay 443-8472 af169@chebucto.ns.ca
Membership Allison Denning 425-1379 adenning@is2.dal.ca
Derek Fenton 423-6486 Habitat2%HX1FHM%DFOSF@maritimes.dfo.ca
Secretary Allison Denning 425-1379 adenning@is2.dal.ca
Publicity Heather Breeze 429-5094 aa670@chebucto.ns.ca
Jeff Johnston optimal@istar.ca
Treasurer Jack Devenney 463-0090
Fund Raising vacant
Web Master Ben Tremblay 423-8682 ab006@chebucto.ns.ca
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