Environment

The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo has been working with other conservation groups, governments and zoos to breed, translocate and release endangered northern leopard frog tadpoles into British Columbia’s wetlands. The endangered northern leopard frog is shown in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo.

Team releases endangered northern leopard frog tadpoles into B.C. wetlands

Frog plays an important role in its ecosystem, where it transfers nutrients between water and land

 

Fred Milne Park in Sooke saw the drilling of a new water well on Thursday. The project is jointly funded by the Sooke Community Association and Juan de Fuca Electoral Area. (Kevin Laird - Sooke News Mirror)

New well at Sooke park will reduce water costs

$140,000 project funded by local government, community association

 

Southern resident orcas off the shores of Tofino. (Photo credit: John Forde and Jennifer Steven)

$3.1 million pumped into B.C. marine noise reduction as advocates call for targets

Efforts underway to help protect endangered killer whales from increased traffic

 

A Canada goose family enjoys a Monday morning breakfast together at Oak Bay’s Kitty Islet. Bruce Harrison of Ducks Unlimited Canada said the abundance of geese in B.C. causes water contamination, algae blooms and messy sports fields. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)

Canada goose poop problem in Greater Victoria needs new solutions, experts say

Egg sterilization only goes so far; robotic fox, feces Zamboni tried elsewhere

A Canada goose family enjoys a Monday morning breakfast together at Oak Bay’s Kitty Islet. Bruce Harrison of Ducks Unlimited Canada said the abundance of geese in B.C. causes water contamination, algae blooms and messy sports fields. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)
The Atkins Road culvert where a fish ladder has been built along Millstream Creek. The Peninsula Streams Society is hosting a pair of working parties this Saturday and Sunday to prepare the fish ladders for the fall return of fish to the watershed. (Courtesy Peninsula Streams Society)

Volunteers needed to prep West Shore fish ladders

Peninsula Streams Society organizing working parties on Millstream Creek Saturday and Sunday

The Atkins Road culvert where a fish ladder has been built along Millstream Creek. The Peninsula Streams Society is hosting a pair of working parties this Saturday and Sunday to prepare the fish ladders for the fall return of fish to the watershed. (Courtesy Peninsula Streams Society)
A Victoria exterior cleaning company was fined $11,000 in June after bleach it was using last year to remove moss from roofs ended up in Sidney’s Reay Creek, killing more than 300 fish and other animals. (Courtesy of Ian Bruce/Peninsula Streams Society)

Victoria company fined $11,000 one year after bleach spill kills fish in Sidney

Dead fish initially found in Reay Creek by child in 2021; province issued penalty

A Victoria exterior cleaning company was fined $11,000 in June after bleach it was using last year to remove moss from roofs ended up in Sidney’s Reay Creek, killing more than 300 fish and other animals. (Courtesy of Ian Bruce/Peninsula Streams Society)
Save Old Growth announced its impending return to action with a series of vandalism across Vancouver July 28. On Aug. 2, the group ran its first traffic blockade in a month near Stanley Park. (Save Old Growth website/screenshot)

Save Old Growth resumes B.C. traffic disruptions with Vancouver blockade

Environmental group back in action after 1 month pause

Save Old Growth announced its impending return to action with a series of vandalism across Vancouver July 28. On Aug. 2, the group ran its first traffic blockade in a month near Stanley Park. (Save Old Growth website/screenshot)
FILE - Climate activists Elizabeth Wathuti of Kenia, Vanessa Nakate of Uganda and Helena Gualinga of Ecuador attend the climate protest alongside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, May 26, 2022. A group of top climate scientists say the world needs to think about the ultimate climate catastrophe, human extinction, and how possible it is. They are calling on the world’s main climate science body to look at the ultimate climate catastrophes, no matter how remotely unlikely they are. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

Chances of climate catastrophe are ignored, scientists say

“I do not believe civilization as we know it will make it out of this century”: B.C. scientist

FILE - Climate activists Elizabeth Wathuti of Kenia, Vanessa Nakate of Uganda and Helena Gualinga of Ecuador attend the climate protest alongside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, May 26, 2022. A group of top climate scientists say the world needs to think about the ultimate climate catastrophe, human extinction, and how possible it is. They are calling on the world’s main climate science body to look at the ultimate climate catastrophes, no matter how remotely unlikely they are. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)
An Oak Bay Police Department car parked outside the office on Monterey Avenue. (Black Press Media file photo)

Activist group deflates SUV tires in Victoria, Oak Bay

The group, called Tyre Extinguishers, wants to eliminate SUVs in cities

An Oak Bay Police Department car parked outside the office on Monterey Avenue. (Black Press Media file photo)
Royal Roads University has launched a free pilot program for Indigenous students to earn a certificate in Indigenous Environmental Leadership. (Black Press Media file photo)

Royal Roads University in Colwood boosts Indigenous environmental leadership

Initial pilot for free program will see 20 students work toward certificate

Royal Roads University has launched a free pilot program for Indigenous students to earn a certificate in Indigenous Environmental Leadership. (Black Press Media file photo)
Don Allingham talks to Jeff Moore about some of the flood mapping findings. (Photo by Don Bodger)

Mapping of Island river’s floodplain to aid in future flooding risks

Magnitude and complexity of the problem clear, but there’s no quick and easy solution

Don Allingham talks to Jeff Moore about some of the flood mapping findings. (Photo by Don Bodger)
As plastic continues to pollute the ocean, Oceana Canada is calling on the government action (credit Oceana Canada/Elemental).

Plastic predicament: Federal group urges action on packaging legislation in Canada

Oceana Canada is calling on the government to reduce the amount of harmful single-use plastics

As plastic continues to pollute the ocean, Oceana Canada is calling on the government action (credit Oceana Canada/Elemental).
FILE - Wildfires burning hundreds of miles away create smoky conditions Monday, June 13, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska’s remarkable wildfire season includes over 530 blazes that have burned an area more than three times the size of Rhode Island, with nearly all the impacts, including dangerous breathing conditions from smoke, attributed to fires started by lightning. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

Alaska experiencing wildfires it’s never seen before

530 wildfires already recorded this year, worst of season yet to come

FILE - Wildfires burning hundreds of miles away create smoky conditions Monday, June 13, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska’s remarkable wildfire season includes over 530 blazes that have burned an area more than three times the size of Rhode Island, with nearly all the impacts, including dangerous breathing conditions from smoke, attributed to fires started by lightning. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
A polar bear is seen walking along the road in Churchill, Man. Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. Climate change and human impacts on the land are behind a growing number of encounters between people and polar bears around the Arctic, new research concludes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Landfills and climate change increasing polar bear-human conflicts in Arctic: report

Climate change diminishing food supply for bears, while making the Arctic more hospitable for humans

A polar bear is seen walking along the road in Churchill, Man. Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. Climate change and human impacts on the land are behind a growing number of encounters between people and polar bears around the Arctic, new research concludes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
What is likely a red-eared slider turtle, was spotted swimming in Bowker Creek multiple times by local residents in 2021. (File - Courtesy of Dawn Williamson)

Coolkit program inspires Oak Bay ‘hood to host ice cream social

Bee and Bowker neighbourhood invites residents interested in action on climate change

What is likely a red-eared slider turtle, was spotted swimming in Bowker Creek multiple times by local residents in 2021. (File - Courtesy of Dawn Williamson)
Burnaby vet technician Jocelyn Marsh shows off part of her pill bottle return program. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)

B.C. veterinarian has plan to eliminate millions of pieces of plastic from Canadian clinics

Very simple changes can have a large impact if adopted broadly, Jocelyn Marsh says

Burnaby vet technician Jocelyn Marsh shows off part of her pill bottle return program. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)
A pitch to add more tree protection requirements into the City of Langford’s rezoning process fell on mostly deaf ears at Monday’s (July 18) council meeting. (Black Press Media file photo)

Langford council votes down another tree protection policy pitch from Szpak

Coun. Lillian Szpak points to resident concerns over tree loss, climate change

A pitch to add more tree protection requirements into the City of Langford’s rezoning process fell on mostly deaf ears at Monday’s (July 18) council meeting. (Black Press Media file photo)
The caterpillar of a spongy (formerly gypsy) moth is distinctive, and microscopic at the start of its life. (Courtesy Davey Tree)

These 3 pests with rising populations can decimate foliage: Victoria arborist

The spongy moth is dangerous as ever despite government intervention

The caterpillar of a spongy (formerly gypsy) moth is distinctive, and microscopic at the start of its life. (Courtesy Davey Tree)
A colder, wetter spring may not necessarily mean an influx of mosquitoes in Nanaimo and elsewhere in B.C., says an entomologist at the University of B.C. (Stock photo)

Colder spring may not mean population boom for Vancouver Island mosquitoes

Entomologist discusses weather’s effects on the irritating insect

A colder, wetter spring may not necessarily mean an influx of mosquitoes in Nanaimo and elsewhere in B.C., says an entomologist at the University of B.C. (Stock photo)
Volunteers work to pull invasive species out of the forest at the Queenswood property in Saanich on June 26. (Courtesy Greater Victoria Green Team)

Green team volunteers tackle invasive species on UVic property in Saanich

Invasive species pull the third visit to Queenswood, next one planned for July 23

Volunteers work to pull invasive species out of the forest at the Queenswood property in Saanich on June 26. (Courtesy Greater Victoria Green Team)