Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

James Snider @jamessnider.bsky.social · 11d

Earlier this week, I joined CP24 to discuss the findings of Living Planet Report Canada and what’s needed for wildlife conservation in Canada.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=SuOQ...

52% of species are decreasing in abundance, World Wildlife Fund report says

YouTube video by CP24

m.youtube.com

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WWF-Canada @wwfcanada.org · 16d

“Following five decades of persistent declines in wildlife populations, now is not the time to walk back protections for wildlife & habitats. Rather, Canada has a growing responsibility to scale up efforts to restore, protect & steward what remains of species’ habitats.” – @jamessnider.bsky.social

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WWF-Canada @wwfcanada.org · 16d

🚨 BREAKING: All major groups of wildlife in Canada are in decline

#LPRC2025: Across 910 species of birds, fish, mammals, reptiles & amphibians, wildlife populations in Canada have declined by 10%, on average, since 1970.

BUT not all is lost. Together, we can help nature heal & wildlife recover.

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Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) @cms.int · Jul 22

Wetlands are disappearing and with them, vital lifelines for migratory species. 🦆

@ramsar.org's new #GlobalWetlandOutlook2025 reveals we could lose 1 in 5 wetlands by 2050. 🐆

Discover why protecting wetlands is essential for the future of migratory species & our planet: www.cms.int/en/news/migr...

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Mike Flannigan @mikeflannigan.bsky.social · Jul 12

Area burned in Canada for 2025 is now at 5.6 M ha exceeding the total for the entire 2024 fire season. This fire season is not as bad as 2023 that had 9.37 M ha burned by July 12, 2023. However, 2025 is a very active year with 365 fires out of control and 2 months still left in the fire season.

Map of Canada showing locations of fires and their status as of july 12, 2025

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Unofficial TorontoStar (All News) @torontostar-rss.bsky.social · Jul 12

‘Sheila just went for it’: York University scientist Sheila Colla remembered as a fierce advocate to save wild bees

Colla, 43, died Sunday of cancer. She successfully fought for the rusty-patched bumblebee to become the first bee listed as an endangered species in Canada and the U.S.

www.thestar.com

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Keith Stewart @climatekeith.bsky.social · Jul 7

The Premiers of Ontario and Alberta are calling for the utter destruction of Canada's existing climate action plan: repeal Impact Assessment (c-69), industrial carbon price (GGPPA), O&G emissions cap, clean electricity regs & parts of Species at Risk Act (plus clean water for FNs legislation).

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Seth Klein @sethdklein.bsky.social · Jul 2

Under Prime Minister Mark Carney's plan to speed up development in the country's "national interest", projects will get the green light before they are reviewed, writes Anna Johnston www.nationalobserver.com/2025/07/02/o...

Bill C-5 is not just bad policy, it’s a constitutional mess

Under Prime Minister Mark Carney's plan to speed up development in the country's "national interest", projects will get the green light before they are reviewed.

www.nationalobserver.com

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Senator Paula Simons 🇨🇦 @senatorpaulasimons.bsky.social · Jun 26

For all you Canadian parliamentary nerds - debate on the third reading of Bill C-5 has just begun. You can watch the live stream right here The first speech this morning is from the bill's sponsor, Senator Hassan Yussuff. #cdnpoli #SenCa #SenateofCanada

Senate sitting no. 16

senparlvu.parl.gc.ca

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WWF-Canada @wwfcanada.org · Jun 3

What's at stake with Bill 5? 🤔

"Our data shows that without action, Ontario is on the path to losing iconic species such as the Eastern wolf, American badger & barn owl... The hopeful news is that we also know how to reverse the path we’re on." — WWF-Canada's Emily Giles

Read the op-ed here. ⬇️

Giles: Ontario must not dismantle protection for endangered wildlife

Bill 5 would scrap the province’s landmark Endangered Species Act — at a time when we are increasingly concerned about our natural world.

ottawacitizen.com

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Fatima Syed @fatimabsyed.bsky.social · Jun 2

"All attempts to fast-track to the Ring of Fire will fail"

"Ontario is trying to legislate us out of the conversation. That won’t work”

"If you pass Bill 5, you can say goodbye nature"

First Nations demand the Ontario gov't revoke Bill 5. It's the most powerful stand off I've seen at Queens Park

The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · Jun 2

First Nations promise "a long and very unnecessary fight" over Ontario government's attempt to accelerate Ring of Fire development and limit endangered species protections under Bill 5. VIA @fatimabsyed.bsky.social: thenarwhal.ca/ontario-bill...

Broken trust and Bill 5: First Nations leaders at Queen’s Park | The Narwhal

First Nations leaders travelled hundreds of kilometres to declare Ontario’s law to speed up Ring of Fire development is creating ‘a long and very unnecessary fight’

thenarwhal.ca

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Aerin Jacob, PhD @aerinj.bsky.social · May 27

"Companies are coming and promising prosperity. I don't believe in it because I'm still suffering from your prosperity... We have to stop this bill."

Michael Koostachin, Friends of the Attiwapiskat River, explains what is on the line with Ontario's Bill 5.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKGc...

Bill 5 Address at Queen's Park - Standing Committee on the Interior (May 26, 2025)

YouTube video by Legal Advocates For Nature's Defence

www.youtube.com

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Elaine Anselmi @elaineanselmi.bsky.social · May 27

With so much talk of speeding up processes and approvals for development, it's pretty timely that this draft environmental assessment came out on a proposed road to the Ring of Fire. There's a reason it took so long to produce: it contains A LOT of critical information: thenarwhal.ca/ontario-ring...

Ring of Fire road report highlights impacts to Ontario First Nation | The Narwhal

Environmental impacts and hundreds of recommendations outlined in report on northern Ontario road project, as Doug Ford government pushes to speed up Ring of Fire mining

thenarwhal.ca

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WWF-Canada @wwfcanada.org · May 23

“The headline message is, this is a globally significant area. The amount of carbon here is vast. From a conservation perspective, it reaffirms the importance of special management & stewardship activities." — WWF-Canada's @jamessnider.bsky.social on the importance of the Hudson James Bay Lowlands

James Snider @jamessnider.bsky.social · May 22

Recent research from a multi-year collaboration between the Mushkegowuk Council, McMaster University and @wwfcanada.org further underlines the globally significant carbon storage in the Hudson James Bay Lowlands: www.timminstoday.com/local-news/n...

New study reveals massive carbon stores in Hudson and James Bay peatlands

'The headline message is, this is a globally significant area,' says James Snider

www.timminstoday.com

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James Snider @jamessnider.bsky.social · May 22

Ontario’s #Bill5 that is in hearings today, poses considerable threat to the HJBL through proposed changes to environmental assessment, creation of “Special Economic Zones” and broader changes to Ontario’s legal framework for environmental protection like repealing the Endangered Species Act.

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James Snider @jamessnider.bsky.social · May 22

And, also to better understand the risks we assume if planning, assessment and regulatory oversight of proposed development is weakened.

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James Snider @jamessnider.bsky.social · May 22

This research helps reinforce a needed baseline information on the carbon storage benefits of this globally significant ecosystem— one that is increasingly under pressure from proposed development.

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James Snider @jamessnider.bsky.social · May 22

Recent research from a multi-year collaboration between the Mushkegowuk Council, McMaster University and @wwfcanada.org further underlines the globally significant carbon storage in the Hudson James Bay Lowlands: www.timminstoday.com/local-news/n...

New study reveals massive carbon stores in Hudson and James Bay peatlands

'The headline message is, this is a globally significant area,' says James Snider

www.timminstoday.com

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James Snider @jamessnider.bsky.social · May 22

Hearings for Ontario’s Bill 5 - which includes systematic weakening of environmental protections, including for Species at Risk, and raises considerable concerns on consultation with Indigenous Peoples — are underway now. Live stream is here: www.ola.org/en/legislati...

Committees (room 151) | Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Watch a live stream of committees from the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

www.ola.org

Reposted by James Snider

WWF-Canada @wwfcanada.org · Apr 25

🚨 Ontario’s latest attack on environmental safeguards could drive endangered species to extinction. 🚨

Bill 5, which would scrap the Endangered Species Act, sidelines science & oversight to hand power to politicians & developers, putting 270+ endangered species & their habitats at even more risk.

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Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦 @brianbanks.bsky.social · Apr 17

"This is not streamlining — it’s steamrolling," said Laura Bowman, lawyer at Ecojustice. "Doug Ford and his government are putting profit over people and ecosystems, plain and simple."

(From a press release that just landed in my inbox.)

James Snider @jamessnider.bsky.social · Apr 17

Just in time for the long weekend: Ontario announces intent to repeal Endangered Species Act and replace it with new Species Conservation Act: ero.ontario.ca/notice/025-0...

Proposed interim changes to the Endangered Species Act, 2007 and a proposal for the Species Conservation Act, 2025 | Environmental Registry of Ontario

The current approach to the protection and conservation of species at risk is complicated, takes too long to complete, and causes unnecessary delays and costs for housing, transit, and critical infras...

ero.ontario.ca

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James Snider @jamessnider.bsky.social · Apr 17

Just in time for the long weekend: Ontario announces intent to repeal Endangered Species Act and replace it with new Species Conservation Act: ero.ontario.ca/notice/025-0...

Proposed interim changes to the Endangered Species Act, 2007 and a proposal for the Species Conservation Act, 2025 | Environmental Registry of Ontario

The current approach to the protection and conservation of species at risk is complicated, takes too long to complete, and causes unnecessary delays and costs for housing, transit, and critical infras...

ero.ontario.ca

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Nate Howes TWN @natetwnclimate.bsky.social · Mar 23

Record greenhouse gas levels helped bring temperatures to an all-time high in 2024, accelerating glacier and sea ice loss, raising sea levels and edging the world closer to a key warming threshold, @wmo-global.bsky.social said in its annual #climate report. www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/clim...

Record 2024 temperatures accelerate ice loss, sea level rise: UN weather body - The Weather Network

Annual average mean temperatures stood at 1.55 degrees Celsius (2.79 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels last year, surpassing the previous 2023 record by 0.1 C, the World Meteorological Organizat...

www.theweathernetwork.com

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · Mar 19

If you've ever said "that journalist interviewed me for half an hour and quoted just one sentence," or "that journalist interviewed my academic archnemesis in an article about my work," or "why is the headline of the article about my work so bad," you need to read this. 🧪

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · Mar 19

Here's part two of my series with @brettfavaro.bsky.social on tips for speaking to journalists as a scientist, this week focusing on things every scientist should know about how interviews work (and do not work). Please read and share!

www.southernfriedscience.com/advice-for-t... 🧪#SciComm

Advice for talking to the media as a conservation scientist: Part 2, mechanics of the interview

By David Shiffman and Brett Favaro. Many environmental scientists understand that there is value in communicating about their work through the media, as publicity can help raise public awareness o…

www.southernfriedscience.com

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Aerin Jacob, PhD @aerinj.bsky.social · Mar 14

Looking for a postdoc in 🇨🇦?

Liber Ero Fellowship
liberero.ca

* Applied conservation science
* Leadership training
* Open to int’l applicants
* Due Nov 1

🌎🧪🦤

Liber Ero Fellowship Program

liberero.ca

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