© Conservation Council of New Brunswick 2024
In this edition of EcoNews, we bring you some news your Conservation Council has been working hard to deliver for many years, and, we bring you another story that we’ve long wished we didn’t have to share. Read on for this good news/bad news edition—and stay cool in this heat!
"Nature Is Our Best Neighbour"
The good news first, of course. Last week, the provincial government added more than 90,000 hectares of new protected natural areas. It was a watershed moment for nature protection and one that your Conservation Council, along with our allies, have worked toward for many years. As a supporter, you own a piece of this win, too. We know many of you used our letter-writing tool to call for more protected areas four years ago—so thank you for standing up with us for our land, water and wildlife. Click below to see how you can help spread the good news, and to see our hopes for the remaining 300,000 ha the province has pledged to protect by the end of the year.
The 2022 Herbicide Spray Map Is Out
We know—it’s not the follow-up story that we wanted to share, either. But it’s true, the map showing the vast swaths of clearcuts that will be sprayed with glyphosate-based herbicides is now available online. Our team is poring over the map to bring you spraying hotspots near communities, waterways and parks. Stay tuned to our website and social media for more. Want the old-fashioned, taxpayer-funded spraying to stop? Click below to use our updated letter-writing tool to make your voice heard and demand a ban on glyphosate spraying in the Crown forest.
$3.5-Billion Oceans Plan Will Protect Right Whales And Crack Down On Marine Polluters
Back to some good news: This week the federal government released new details on its expanded and now $3.5-billion Oceans Protection Plan. We bring you some highlights of the plan, which includes new measures to protect vulnerable species such as Atlantic salmon and North Atlantic right whales, as our team digs deeper into the specifics. We fully expect the expanded plan will include measures to crack down on pollution and disease from open net-pen salmon aquaculture, support the development of sustainable fisheries and help fisheries and coastal communities deal with the impacts of climate change, like the effects of ocean acidification on lobster in the Bay of Fundy and sustainable oyster aquaculture along the Northumberland Strait.
Resources To Beat The Heat
And back to the bad news—though we imagine it’s not exactly news, at this point. New Brunswick is getting a bit of the jaw-dropping temperatures people in Europe have been suffering through this past week. Today most regions in the province are under a Level 1 heat alert, meaning vulnerable populations—particularly younger children and older citizens, and people with respiratory and heart problems—are advised to take extra care to keep cool. Temperatures are in the low 30s but feel up to 40 C with humidity, meanwhile no-swimming advisories have been issued for four beaches—Parlee Beach, Murray Beach, Oak Bay Provincial Park, and Meenan’s Cove Beach—due to high levels of E. coli. For some tips on keeping cool during heat waves, and to learn more about what is driving extreme weather (and what citizens, governments and industry can do about it), click below for resources in our For The Love of New Brunswick Climate Solutions hub.
Last Of The Right Whales Screening Tomorrow In Shediac
Tomorrow is the big night: Our Fundy Baykeeper, Matt Abbott, will moderate a panel with local fishers and marine mammal experts following the screening of award-winning documentary The Last Of The Right Whales at the Shediac Multipurpose Facility. Click the link below for full details and to reserve your tickets!
We work hard to ensure a strong environmental voice is heard in the New Brunswick print, radio and television media. Click the link below for the latest stories Conservation Council staff have been called upon for expertise, analysis and commentary:
July 2022: Nature Roundup: One Step Closer To Ecological Forestry — Review the full coverage from last week’s protected natural areas announcement.
July 2022: Climate Roundup: No Room For LNG Export If We Want To Hit Climate Goals — Review comments from our resident climate change expert, Dr. Louise Comeau, on the federal government’s oil and gas sector cap and trade discussion paper.