GATEWAY: BAD NEWS for BURNS BOG

Burns Bog (Maqwum) - also known as the "Lungs of the Lower Mainland" - is a huge (40 sq.km.) peat bog occupying about a quarter of Delta, BC, the largest domed peat bog on the west coast of North America. Maqwum is its indigenous name.

Burns Bog is globally unique on the basis of its chemistry, form, flora and size. Despite significant disturbances to the ecosystem - including development, extensive peat mining and fire - Burns Bog remains an important contributor to the region's ecology and sustains a wide variety of flora and fauna, including many rare species.  Its nickname 'the Lungs of the Lower Mainland' refers to the bog's role as a climate regulator, as well as its function as an effective carbon sink (absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and lowering C02 levels).  Numerous zoning codes have been enacted to protect the bog from development and retain its original state, in hopes of preservation for future generations.

According to Environment Canada and other groups, the bog ecosystem is under threat from the proposed South Fraser Perimeter Road, a new 4-lane expressway that is part of the BC Ministry of Transportation's Gateway Program currently under construction (expected to be completed by 2013).

One of the main objectives of the Gateway Program is to reduce congestion-related idling by freeing up the traffic movement south of the Fraser River.  Although the Province's environmental assessment projects that SFPR will reduce congestion-related pollution, overall pollution as well as truck traffic will be significantly increased. This is a deep concern for many citizens and local environmentalists pushing for a decrease in our greenhouse gas emissions.

While the SFPR does not go through the Burns Bog Ecological Conservancy Area, there is concern that it will adversely affect the Conservancy area and surrounding hydrology.  In response to the mitigation measures proposed by the SFPR Project, the Environmental Stewardship Branch of Environment Canada wrote that "... the changes are not sufficient to alleviate its concerns related to the impacts of the Project on Pacific Water Shrew (PWS), hydrology, aerial deposition, and ecological integrity of Burns Bog.".*

Burns Bog has been listed as threatened by the International Mire Conservation Group because of the impacts of the SFPR.

Burns Bog Conversation Society is working to protect this globally unique ecological wonder in Delta, BC

SIGN THIS PETITION:  Burns Bog UNESCO World Heritage Site designation - HERE:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/burnsbogunesco)

PUBLIC COMMENTS:Here's my signature:
Name: Sarah Chesterman on May 22, 2011
Comment: This precious ecosystem must be protected! Its importance as a carbon sink and the "lungs of the Lower Mainland" have already been recognized and established, and the detrimental effects of paving it over would be catastrophical - not only for the health of all Lower Mainland residents, but for the wildlife species at risk that rely on its riches. Restoring this bog ecosystem and preserving its integrity - keeping in line with the tenets outlined in www.smartgrowth.bc.ca - are the only actions that serve the public's best interests, along with addressing and shouldering our global responsibilities. Ignoring opportunities to respect the land that feeds us and become sustainable would be BC's greatest downfall of all... "We cannot change the past but we can shape the future by our actions."
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LINKS:
* Info from http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/
Burns Bog Conservation Society:  http://www.burnsbog.org/bog//
The Corporation of Delta's Burns Bog site:  http://www.burnsbog.ca/

[Pics from Flemming's Churchill Fellowship blog, http://flemmingulf.wordpress.com/]

[This article first posted same day 2011]

The task @ hand...

i.e. WHAT WE GOTTA DO (me 'n' you...) YA YOU TOO!
(from my CaRe2):
http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/3511663

(Illustration by me, Saz C)

Saving LiVES, 1 PETiTiON @ a Time...

Petitions are a viable way of influencing decision-making powers through 'strength in numbers', as popular sites like CARE2 prove.  Here are a couple of my latest projects - with links for you to access - on CARE2.com:


STOP THE ENBRIDGE TAR SANDS PIPELINE IN CANADA 
(http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/787/589/822/)

# 31,414    Nov 11, Ms. Sarah Chesterman, BC
Today @ Broadway & Cambie a sweet young guy with pen & clipboard was approaching people, offering a petition to sign - & mostly being ignored. Hearing him say "pipeline" stopped me, & i didn't have to wait for the expected "Enbridge" to impatiently sign my name - with a pang of shame @ being 1st on the page... PEOPLE: WAKE UP - & APPRECIATE EACH CHANCE YOU GET TO VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION! (Doesn't our PM's approval of this pipeline PROVE this protest's worth?) How about proving YOUR worth as a citizen of BC - i.e. the province that's counting on YOU to protect its precious coast... [PLEASE: don't let BC down, as the old-school FOOLs reporting our supposed "News" have clearly done -- blaming them for your own ignorance won't reverse the oil spills which WILL --NOT "COULD" or "MIGHT"-- result from its approval…]  ENBRIDGE PIPELINE = DEATH OF BC'S COAST.

DECADE TO SAVE TREES & SAVE THE WORLD(http://www.thepetitionsite.com/24/decade-to-save-trees-save-the-world/)

# 174   May 25, Sarah Chesterman, Canada
The bottom line is, do we want to change our ways to be Earth-aware/ Nature-friendly... OR do we want to continue with same-old (i.e. feeding corporate profits while destroying what makes Earth liveable/ sustainable)??  If you aren't being responsible and/or vigilant RE. environmental quality & our state of health on Earth, then you're part of the problem:  i.e. you're assisting - by your actions/inaction, purchases etc. - the continued rape of Mother Nature.  Which is UNACCEPTABLE - as well as stupid, since nature iS THE provider/supplier/sustainer of life on Earth...
Instead of killing animals, we could learn from them:  NOT as experimental lab subjects (from which we learn nothing but our willingness to be duped by rapacious pharmaceutical co's) but as sustainable users of Earth's resources & integral elements of their wild ecosystems - habitats which humans have gradually but persistently diminished by deforestation, development etc.  Our natural tendency toward improvement would have led to global sustainability in action, not just in theory, if it weren't for humans' less admirable tendencies (selfishness, short-sightedness & greed) perpetuated by over-emphasis on material realities.  When we open our hearts & minds to our spiritual link with the universe, a world of possibilities is freed up - along with practical solutions.  With such freedom, fortified by success, comes the desire to reach out to others - as you were reached, to help become the enlightened vegan you are today?   
[For me,  being vegetarian came naturally.  After high school graduation, i took the opportunity to go abroad to be an 'au pair' (nanny).  Close to my departure date, i was told my 'family' was strictly vegetarian and 'Would i be OK with that?'   I was in fact super OK with it, since i'd always loved animals and hated the thought of eating 'my friends'.  That was before i knew anything about the cruelty of dairy production, or what happens on fur farms, or the harm to Earth's environment caused by the beef industry... Like most people, my knowledge of the world - & our part in it - has expanded gradually over time and is an ongoing process, rather than some 'all-or-nothing' miracle of osmosis.  Each new piece added to the puzzle has led to the unflinching finding-out of many more, along with the resolve to share with others what i've learned...]


UPDATE CANADA'S ANIMAL CRUELTY LAWS (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/next_action.html?pId=965702026)

Sarah Chesterman, Canada
Legislation simply sets in writing our society's rules of personal conduct & expectations of others', based on our values... And Canada's laws do not accurately or adequately reflect Canadians' conduct, expectations or values vis-a-vis non-human species - having changed dramatically due to gains in knowledge/ understanding thereof.  Thus our government's failure to incorporate these changes into new, updated laws is glaringly remiss, if not tantamount to criminal negligence in allowing undesirable conduct & disrespect for our fundamental values to go unnoticed/unpunished.  Most Canadians care deeply about this issue, and would be shocked at the amount of animal cruelty that goes on unchecked behind closed doors in their own country.  Canada's lack of transparency & its outdated animal-welfare laws/ practices are shameful, and hold us back from necessary progress toward sustainability & an improved harm-free (i.e. stress-free) outlook...
Amending laws to properly align with expectations & future aspirations, updated with modern scientific knowledge/research, MUST include respectful treatment of Earth's environment, nature and all living beings if we are to continue thriving...


CDN. PEOPLE ASKING U.S. TO BOYCOTT OUR FISH (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/canadian-people-asking-us-to-boycott-our-fish/)
 
# 6   13:38, Apr 03, Sarah Chesterman, Canada
To be clear: i don't WANT to support cutting off Canadians' livelihoods. But i CAN'T stand by & do nothing as long as this disgrace to the human race keeps taking place in my country - against Canadian, European & global demands to STOP this sickening slaughter of thousands of baby seals each year. WHY, when such sadistic cruelty against animals is no longer necessary for survival, let alone acceptable by any standards of conduct, is MY government not taking a leadership role as a 'developed' nation & SHUTTING DOWN "Canada's shame"? Its failure to do so forces me to ask that you boycott the sealers' main income source: Canadian.seafood. Thank you very much.


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