Blog

Welcome

The team at Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Fund is thrilled to launch this new website and the beginning of our new blog. In future postings, we will share exciting news and insights about the many initiatives and events happening in our rich and wonderful biosphere. We will also share postings from various Escarpment experts and personalities.

We have been working hard on the website re-launch, as well as many other exciting activities. Please check back often for your team's observations and musings. And if you can please consider donating the the Fund. Your support will help us keep and maintain the Niagara Escarpment, — one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. (more about biodiversity in future posts).

We hope you enjoy the new website and we welcome your thoughts and feedback. Please also check out our other new website Flavours of the Biosphere: Niagara Escarpment, where you can explore and discover the fresh, lush agricultural offerings and recreational activities in the Escarpment region. We will be launching a series of webisodes starring TV personality Anthony Regan and esteemed Chef John Cirillo that celebrate the many delicious foods and flavours available in the region. Recipes featured in each video will be available to download, offering you some mouth-watering and meal ideas to enjoy with family and friends.

Brock University raises the flag

Brock University raised a United Nations flag at its St. Catharines campus on January 26 to celebrate its geographic location within the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated the Niagara Escarpment a Biosphere Reserve in February 1990.

The ceremony was co-ordinated by Brock’s newly established Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC), which was created to pursue transdisciplinary research at the University concerning the environment, sustainability and social-ecological resilience.

The symbolic event strengthens the institution’s commitment to innovative and sustainable research, teaching and service in line with a more active role in UNESCO’s World Biosphere Reserve Network.

Brock is one of only a handful of Canadian universities to be distinctly situated within a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The Niagara Escarpment is one of 16 reserves in Canada, and is part of a network of 580 UNESCO biosphere reserves in 114 countries.

“Brock’s location in a World Biosphere Reserve highlights the imperative of reconciling economic and social development with ecosystem integrity,” says Ryan Plummer, director, ESRC. “In response, the ESRC brings together individuals from across Brock University and beyond to engage in the enterprise of sustainability science and embrace UNESCO’s invitation to become a site of excellence.”

The ESRC will contribute to Brock’s institution-wide efforts to create transdisciplinary spaces by strengthening existing research networks at the institution, and between the University and its local and global communities. It will also help to foster the growth and development of new research partnerships looking at wide-ranging issues under the umbrella of sustainability.

David A. Walden, Secretary-General of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, welcomed Brock’s willingness to serve as a bridge between research and community action. ‘‘As we approach the conclusion of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), education institutions have a crucial role to play in translating knowledge about sustainability into practical tools and resources.”

The ESRC’s key areas of research include water resources and resilience, environmental governance, climate change and adaptation, social justice and First-Nations equity issues.

“The future of humanity depends on our ability to transcend the often contradictory relationships between economic practices, social progress and the natural environment,” said Thomas Dunk, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences. “Brock’s location in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is strong reminder of our responsibilities as educators and researchers in this regard.”

Brilliant video about gratitude

There is an absolutely brilliant video about gratitude at TED.

We were really drawn in. It is so very positive.

Very excited about our collaboration with The Weather Network. Jim Cuddy and Sarah Harmer have said yes to interviews. (Jim Cuddy and Sarah Harmer!)

November and Robert Bateman

There is so much going on!

Look for us on The Weather Network soon. More in a few days.

I was at a presentation by our patron Robert Bateman on Monday night and — thanks to his wondrous staff member and gate-keeper Alex — I actually got to meet with him backstage. It was an incredible honour.

Mr. Bateman’s presentation was amazing on a personal and professional level. (Apparently my art teachers at Sheridan College were correct; this is how an artist thinks.)

Mr. Bateman is articulate, passionate and entertaining in an easy-going manner — like your favorite teacher or professor.

There were close to 300 people in attendance on a Monday night from my growing town at the base of the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve.

He gave us insight into his life, his art and his beliefs for the environment. It was not what I expected at all — engaging and fun, and then challenging (but politely so).

If you get a chance to see Robert Bateman, do.

If I can parse some of his presentation: 1) get kids outside; 2) be willing to pay (pennies) more for what you eat, 3) get to learn about what it takes to make what you eat — where it comes from, what it took to produce and transport; and finally, 4) get your own sweet self outside. There was lots more, of course.

I will write more in a bit about the exciting stuff that we are doing with The Weather Network.

2011 another hot year so far

Eight months into the year, six nations have seen record high temperatures, including Kuwait, Iraq, Armenia, Iran, and Republic of the Congo, reports Jeff Master’s Wunderblog. To date no record lows have been recorded in any country in the world so far. This is similar, though not quite as extreme, to last year when twenty countries broke all time highs with none hitting an all time low.

On August 3rd, Kuwait made a number of new records when it hit 127 Fahrenheit (53.3 Celsius) at Mitrabah: a record for Kuwait, for an Arabic nation, and a world record for the month of August.

Asia has suffered under incredible heat over the summer with Kuwait’s record number, Iraq’s, and Iran’s all falling in the top ten highs ever recorded on the continent.

High temperatures, along with drought and fires, have also plagued much of the US this summer with Texas experiencing its worst drought since the Dust Bowl. In July Oklahoma recorded the highest average temperature over a month (89.1 Fahrenheit) of any of the all 50 states.

And in Ontario, Canada, the northern forest fires from heat and lack of rain forced evacuations in several communities.

Globally, last year was tied for the warmest on record since tracking begin in 1880. According to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) the warmest years to date are: 2005 and 2010 (tied), followed by 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2009. (2000-2009 was the warmest decade yet.)

Scientists say the world is warming due to greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels and deforestation among other human impacts.

In the summer time, when the living is beer

If you’re like many Canadians who have enjoyed a beer lately, did you know that a virus-resistant barley variety from Ethiopia is to thank for saving the Western world’s beer industry?

Here’s little piece from USC Canada’s site that hits me where I live:

We might not be drinking much beer today if it wasn’t for Ethiopian farmers. Back in the 1980s, a barley virus threatened the survival of the large and lucrative North American beer industry. The few varieties of barley being planted here weren’t resistant to yellow dwarf – a virus with the potential to destroy entire crops worldwide.

By going back to Ethiopia – where peasant farmers safeguard the largest barley diversity in the whole world – North American researchers were able to find a virus-resistant gene in a heritage barley variety, bringing it back to North America to rescue the industry.

Beer is one of the world’s oldest beverages, with its history dating back to the sixth millennium BC. It’s recorded in the written history of Ancient Iraq. The earliest Sumerian writings contain references to beer.

A prayer to the goddess Ninkasi known as “The Hymn to Ninkasi” serves as both a prayer as well as a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people. (And for cultures that have had too much beer.)

So cheers to Ethiopian farmers and the power of biodiversity!

Beware the Giant Hogweed

Here is a mighty invasive species that is definitely not part of our natural biodiversity but is rapidly taking over.

The first time I saw Giant Hogweed, I was at an outdoor wedding party and was amazed by its eight-foot height and umbrella flower. I asked the owner of the property what it was and he said,: “Some kind of wild rhubarb.”

Lucky I didn’t touch it, pharma labels sometimes say: that it “May cause swelling, blisters, scars and blindness.”

ABC news has aptly dubbed it the “plant from hell.”

Giant hogweed, native to Central Asia, has spread through parts of the United States and Canada, including Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and British Columbia.

Sap from the giant hogweed contains a toxin that, activated by sunlight, burns human skin and may cause eye damage.

Sightings of Heracleum mantegazzianum have shot up this season, spurring New York State officials to set up a 14-man crew to nip the scourge in the bud.

This is quite unlike the reaction I got when I reported it growing along a stream bank to “local authorities” five years ago. “It’s not on the list,” they said. They have since awakened to the threat and your local Ministry of Natural Resources and Conservation Authority are treating this puppy very seriously.

Last summer in Ontario, hogweed panic prompted almost 50 calls a day to an invasive species hotline run by the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The plant is a prolific breeder that thrives in cool, wet places such as garbage dumps, ravines and stream beds. Growing up to 15 feet high, it looks like enormous Queen Anne’s lace, with delicate sprays of flowers the size of parasols.

The plant is enchanting to children, parents fear. “It’s very Alice in Wonderland,” blogger Bethany Lee told The Globe and Mail.

Although children are drawn to the plant, exposure to the sap rarely requires medical attention, noted Howard Shapiro, Toronto’s associate medical officer of health.