Sometime in the next three days, you may find yourself face to face with a bumble bee, a witch, a skeleton or some other spooky Halloween creature that’s asking you and your employer to do your part to save the bees. In the lead-up to Halloween 2014, Friends of the Earth and millions of its
Are You Getting Ready to Put Your Garden to Bed for the Winter? Kimberley Fellows, Pollination Outreach Co-ordinator for Pollination Canada, a project of Seeds of Diversity, was kind enough to contribute the following guest blog post on preparing your garden for winter. Kimberley shares some tips to keep in mind to keep your soil and
In a move for transparency, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has made public her mandate letters to the ministers of her cabinet. In this blog post, we are cherry picking points from her letters related to pollinator health. Among her opening statements she says, “The people of Ontario have entrusted their government to be a force for good,” and
Friends of the Earth would not be able to accomplish what we have without our dedicated volunteers, working to help us stand on guard for Mother Nature. Take a look at the Sudbury Earthdancers, who have chosen Friends of the Earth Canada as a beneficiary to their annual performances for the past nineteen years!
Prince Edward County took a step that all communities can take. They passed a resolution asking the federal and provincial governments to declare a moratorium on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides as soon as possible pending further study. While they are very clear that agriculture is the foundation of their municipality, they also state the
The news for honey bees is grim. Again. The Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists (CAPA) delivered their national report on winter-kill of honey bees. Ontario’s loss at 58 %, a jaw-dropping number, is homogenized into the average for the country at 25% – still considered high when compared to the “acceptable” winter losses considered to
Last week, I applauded Ontario’s Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal for his decision to restrict the use of neoniotinoids on farmers’ fields. To be clear, I would prefer an outright ban, but this is an important and pragmatic step to substantially reduce use of these bee-killing pesticides and shows leadership on the North American stage. According
On March 17, 2014, Friends of the Earth Canada sent letters to the four biggest garden centre retailers in Canada, asking them to: Commit to not sell nursery bedding plants and vegetable plants pre-treated with neonicotinoids Institute a corporate policy that bans use of neonics on and in their facilities and throughout their supply chain,
See press releases for other areas below. Friends of the Earth Canada finds overwhelming support in Northern Ontario for action by gardeners and farmers to save bees from neonicotinoids (Ottawa, ON, July 7, 2014) A poll commissioned by Friends of the Earth Canada indicates very significant public concern about the use of bee-killing pesticides
Congratulations to Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal – he’s fast out of the gate on the Government’s election promise to restrict use of neonicotinoids. Friends of the Earth is pleased to see Ontario move on neonics. The Minister is planning a licensing system to be in place by Fall 2014 that limits the blanket use of
