2006 A.D. Latornell Conservation Symposium

“Why did the chicken cross the road? Because global warming shifted the climate and the only suitable habitat for chickens is up North.”

“We spent all this money developing tools to identify conservation areas, learning how to manage these areas and trying to acquire enough of them to have some sembelance of an ecosystem, and it was all for naught because of climate change.”

“How do you conserve a species, lets take a bird that eats caterpillars as an example, when climate change causes caterpillars to lay their eggs early and by the time the young birds hatch all the caterpillars are now butterflies?

These are just some of the questions I heard at the 2006 A.D. Latornell Conservation Symposium. This year’s theme was – Creating a Climate for Change – refering to the actions that conservationists are taking in order to meet the challenges of climate change. A lot of really good discussion happened at this conference . Tough questions were asked and the people on the floor stood up to answer them. Canada might not have a government that is working against climate change, but it has at least one dedicated group doing it.

Ship it Good!

Aside from the invasive species catching a free ride every now and again, the transport industry causes a huge volume of carbon dioxide emmissions annualy. A Maryland-based non-profit, Carbonfund.org, came up with a neat way of offsetting these emissions by launching a Carbonfree Shipping program, which allows retailers to reduce some of the carbon footprint created by shipping packages to customers. Four companies — BetterWorld.com, Evogear.com, 3R Living and alonova.com — have joined the program.