RESTORE COOTES

This has nothing to do with the upcoming election, and all to do with helping the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) win $25,000 from, gulp, an oil company. The plan is to use the cash to re-naturalize the famous "Burlington Heights" overlooking Cootes and the Hamilton Bay, reversing 200 years of environmental degradation The RBG describes the project this way: Royal Botanical Gardens will carry out the following activities: - Recreate pre-settlement vegetation communities by planting native plant species and removing non-native plant species that pose a threat to the area's environmental sustainability. This will also alleviate the need for power mowing, which will help reduce our carbon footprint. - Rejuvenate the land by converting an abandoned parking lot to a natural setting, to promote the growth of new vegetation from surrounding woodlands. - Convert a former maintenance works area to seasonal wetlands. - Highlight the area's historical and natural si...

What would the world look like if Nature had rights? Looking to give the natural world a chance, it appears Bolivia is moving to awarding nature equal rights to humans. plastic litter in Spencer Creek, Dundas ON - photo by Randy Kay Never mind the fact that human rights are often trampled when government or corporate power/profit is concerned, but this initiative at least recognizes the fact that all species deserve a fair chance. And the law recognizes the interconnectedness of all living things, and the fact that we NEED the natural world to survive. It is a promising development, and hopefully the message of conservation will become part of the human consciousness around the world.