Entries tagged "change"

Do you know what's happening at the Bonn Climate Talks?

Jun 07, 2010

Do you remember all the press and online chatter leading up to last December’s UN climate talks in Copenhagen? For many, the results were disappointing. In particular, countries did not reach an agreement to be accountable for their true carbon emissions from forestry activities (check out MakeForestsCount.org to learn about the issue).

One big disappointment from the Copenhagen talks was the proposal of a Logging Loophole. This loophole basically allows developed countries to increase logging activity without accounting for the carbon released from it. This is where the UN Bonn Climate Talks come into play. It’s at this meeting that the Logging Loophole could be formalized and put into a climate agreement. I obviously hope not and CPAWS’ forest and climate expert Chris Henschel is there right now trying to ensure that it doesn’t.

If you are interested in this issue which will have a very real impact on climate change and how it affects all of us, then I strongly encourage you to follow Chris on his blog at: http://climateforests.blogspot.com

Here is Chris'  video blog from the Bonn Climate Talks:

(watch on YouTube)

If you are wondering why making forests count is important to a woodland caribou like me, then check out my past post: Why Making Forests Count is a Caribou concern.

Have a safe flight back Chris and thank you for keeping us up-to-date on what’s happening with this very important area of the UN climate talks!

Year of the Caribou and You

Aug 25, 2009

Hi I’m Bou, a woodland caribou from the BC Boreal. I moved to Ottawa, Canada’s capital, in July to work with the CPAWS team for a year to save my family and friends (more details). While Ottawa is my new physical home, this blog will be my virtual one. A big thanks to the other woodland caribou from across Canada for starting this blog. I will endeavour to carry on the blog in a proud ungulate fashion. 

I get asked a lot “What can you do in one year?” At first, it seemed daunting. I mean, how can I, an out-of-town woodland caribou help change decades old practices and beliefs in just 300 and some odd days?

But then I thought about my move to Ottawa. At the time, it seemed like such a hard decision to make. I was born and raised in BC’s Boreal. I had food, family, friends and no worries about money. Moving to Ottawa, living with another species, would be a big change with unknown consequences. Mou, my Cow, and I talked about it a lot. We knew we had to do something. Our family, friends – heck our entire species is at risk. We couldn’t just sit around, do nothing, and expect others to do it all. We decided I had to go to Ottawa.

Once the decision was made, I got down to business. I organized, packed, and was on the road in less than a week. As I made my way across this awesome country, I felt totally energized and upon entering Medicine Hat, it struck me “Hey, even though I really miss Mou, this was a lot easier than I thought it would be”.

I realized at that moment that the hardest part of making a change for me is in my head - to make the decision and commitment to do it. Once that’s done, the actions just seem to follow naturally and I get in the flow. So, whether it’s 100,000 individuals signing a petition to save Canada’s boreal forests or a single politician signing a law to protect woodland caribou, it all starts with their decision and commitment to do it.

What can I, an out-of-town woodland caribou do in one year? I can decide and commit to work with CPAWS to save my family and friends – DONE. Now let the flow of actions and changes begin :)

I would love to hear how others ignite change and what you will make your year about.

-Bou
a woodland caribou living in Ottawa

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