MSM (Mainstream media) is warning Cdns a federal election is imminent. If you go to David Suzuki Foundation's website you too can edit your own letter to Govt. on issues about which you care -- & have them sent for you via their database! This particular one gets sent to all Cdn. political leaders..
Dear [recipients' names and positions will go here],
I’m writing you & all federal party leaders because I’m deeply worried about Canadian governments’ efforts to protect & restore nature.
Changes are needed- now - to ensure future generations will thrive. We can & must do better!
Our landscapes — from coast to coast to coast — are part of our identities. Yet keystone species, like the boreal woodland caribou (honoured on our 25-cent coins), are on the brink of extinction throughout Canada.
We continue to allow industrial development in the boreal forest — “the lungs of the north” — & logging of our precious old-growth forests at unsustainable rates. Traffic & pollution in our oceans is jeopardizing the future of key aquatic species, from orcas & North Atlantic right whales to salmon. We use systemic pesticides like neonicotinoids & glyphosate that are proven to harm ecosystems & essential pollinators.
The science is clear: our current marine & land use practices are degrading & destabilizing oceans & remaining wilderness, putting millions of species on the brink of extinction. Canada must protect & restore our most at-risk ecosystems so that nature can continue to support biodiversity.
We’re already experiencing the devastating consequences of decades of over-exploitation. As we learn more about nature’s capacity to sequester carbon & protect us from the impacts of climate change - eg. Disease, flooding, wildfires - the need for action becomes even more urgent.
The 2020s must be our transformation decade. Research shows that in nature the entire system benefits when individual species thrive. We need to heed this lesson & prioritize the health of the planet, our only home.
Please commit your party to working on measures to ensure that by 2025:
●At least 25% of Canada’s land & water is under formal protection, & the majority of Canada’s natural areas provide conditions for abundance;
●Federal incentives & resources are in place to enable communities to reduce their environmental footprints & embed nature-based solutions in their operations.
A mass species extinction & biodiversity loss crisis is upon us, but so are solutions. Let’s urgently protect nature & the most at-risk species. Because when nature thrives, we all thrive.
Thank you for your commitment to protecting nature’s diversity & the well-being of all life, now & for the future.
Sincerely,
SARAH (SAZ) CHESTERMAN
