Dec. 8, 2006: Two more links added: City Repair Ottawa (=Imagine Ottawa) and Eastern Ontario Model Forest.
Dec. 19: Kanata Environmental Network added.
Jan 2, 2007: Trees Canada Foundation.
Jan 10: The Citizen Submissions page of NAFTA’s Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
Jan. 16: The link to the consolidated version of the Ottawa Official Plan, Volume 1 has been added; the previous link now points to Volume 2.
Jan. 23: Two more local groups: Friends of the Jock and the Botanical Garden Society.
Feb 14: Today added the wildly successful non-profit organization, Project for Public Spaces (New York, US). It’s a bit of a stretch to call this a “voluntary” organization but it seemed other categories are worse.
March 5: Three Québec organizations added: Aux Arbres Citoyens!, SNAP (Société pour la nature et les parcs du Canada – section Québec) and Réseau Québecois des Groupes Ecologistes (RQGE)
March 30: a direct link to SARA’s Public Registry has been added.
April 20: “Green Ottawa” added — thanks, Ron!
December 19: “Development Application Review Process” for Ottawa added — thanks, Al, for bringing this to my attention. Also added the Friends of the Tay Watershed Association.
January 18, 2008: updated the link to Ontario’s e-laws and added F.U.N. (Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods of Ontario) to the list. The Alliance is a member of the FCA; FCA is a member of F.U.N.
January 20: added know-uranium, a web site serving three local groups, Ottawa Coalition Against Mining Uranium (OCAMU), the Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU) and the West Quebec Coalition Against Mining Uranium (WQ-CAMU). Update, 30 Nov 2010: Only two of these orgs appear to have survived. The links list has been updated.
January 25: added the Petitions process in the Office of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (Auditor General of Canada).
January 28: added Pesticide Free Ontario.
February 5: added Ottawa Community Garden Network.
March 4: added Wildlands League (a CPAWS chapter, hq’d in Toronto)
May 20: added the NCC’s page on the Urban Lands Master Plan — the 100th link!
June 9: recently discovered that Council meetings, going back to December 2003, can now be viewed on the City’s web site! Rogers’ hold on these tapes has been broken. A step forward in transparent government.
July 6: how could I have overlooked until now The Bishops Mills Natural History Centre, maintained by Frederick Schueler and Aleta Karstad!
September 21: Jane’s Walk added — for the first time, walks in Ottawa are organized in 2008.
October 10: The NCC’s page on the Greenbelt added — thanks, Sol!
November 1: The Ontario government issued revised Statements of Environmental Values for many of its Ministries. A link to it has been added. Thanks, Ken!
January 16, 2009: Added Prof. David Gordon’s web site on Planning the Capital (Queen’s University; includes access to documents). Thanks, Sol!
February 28: Added the Greenbelt Coalition of Canada’s Capital Region.
March 28: Met Howard Clifford at the Wildlife Festival today. Lanark is a bit out of our area but, hey, if the Alba Wilderness School bothered to come to Billings Bridge, we may as well reciprocate and welcome it to the family of Links here! Their web site is delightful and the School surely meets the criterion of “helpful in the preservation of greenspace.”
May 9: Added “Choosing Our Future” — a joint project of the NCC and the Cities of Ottawa and Gatineau.
May 21: Added “Save Our Boreal Birds”, locally sponsored by the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club. (Listed under National voluntary organizations.)
August 25: Added a link to the City of Ottawa’s “OPA#76” – from there you can access the OPA itself as well as an annotated Official Plan text. This is “OP 2009” as passed by City Council on June 24, 2009.
August 29: Added the Ontario Environmental Review Tribunal.
November 22: Added Gravel Watch Ontario.
December 11: Added the new City of Ottawa web site with a long reference list for studies and plans to support development applications.
January 16, 2010: Added the Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre and the Ontario chapter of the Sierra Club.
April 21: Added the Ottawa Pilot project for a Biosphere Eco-City (part of UNESCO’s MAB program).
October 5: Added the NCC’s page to access the archive of the public meetings of its Board of Directors.
November 11: Added “Ottawa’s Great Forest,” the web site created to promote the Stewardship Plan for the Beaver Pond Forest in Kanata.
March 5, 2011: Added GuideGatineau, a volunteer group enthused about Gatineau Park, including its history.
March 13: Added PERC – how could I have forgotten it for so long! PERC recently spiffed up its web site.
March 25: Added Champlain Oaks, the web site of the Champlain Park community celebrating its ancient bur oaks.
March 27: The Wildlife Festival is always such a good place to meet or get re-acquainted with other activists! As a result of this year’s Festival at Billings Bridge, I’ve added Friends of Gatineau Park / Les Amis du parc de la Gatineau, the Rideau Trail Association, and the Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, even though the first two are more recreation-oriented and so perhaps somewhat at the margin of the mandate of this list (and the Greenspace Alliance), being a list that aims to assist in the preservation of greenspace. We have so much in common!
March 27: Also added today, TEEB4me’s effort to convey its message about valuing nature to citizens. TEEB stands for The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity.
September 10: Added the NCC’s “Horizon 2067” page.
October 20: Added the City of Ottawa’s Trees in Trust program — free to homeowners!
December 16: Added the Can/US (Washington State/B.C.) ForestEthics organization.
17 February 2012: Added the web site of the Wakefield group trying to stop the current plans for an extension of Highway 5 at Gatineau Park. And added “Green Communities Canada” – thanks, Bryan!
10 April: Added the Ontario Rivers Alliance, “a Not-for-Profit grassroots movement of individuals, groups and organizations who have come together to protect, conserve and restore healthy river ecosystems.”
10 April: Immediately after the Choosing Our Future reports were tabled, the Ottawa staff group was disbanded and the web site was deleted. The link is now to the staff report (City Council meeting of 22 February 2012), from where the project’s reports can be accessed.
22 April: The Alliance has been working with the South March Highlands group for some time but their web site hadn’t made it on the Links section! We never claimed to be perfect…
23 May: Added ParkScore, a new initiative from the US Trust for Public Land. Using a straightforward methodology (not much to do with biodiversity), 40 US cities are compared.
2 June: Added Globaïa, a wonderful source of educational material on the environment in a global perspective.
8 August: Added “The Caen” – a new news aggregator and blog tracker about the Canadian Environment.
2 September: Added NatureServe Canada, the network of government-sponsored natural heritage information centres.
10 December: deleted the Ottawa group of the Sierra Club.
12 January 2013: Added 3 in 1: The “Sustainable Eastern Ontario” website includes the “National Capital Environmental Nonprofit Network (NCENN)” and the Green Pages Directory. (It also houses the Community Energy Network and the Green Map.) The Alliance is registered with NCENN and in the Green Pages Directory.
6 March: Added Hidden Harvest, Ottawa Chapter.
19 September: added “geoOttawa” — about time! — and also redirected the NCC’s Urban Lands reference to its new page.
22 October: added Boisés Est, a voluntary organization of woodlot owners, centered around Plantagenet. I met Jean-Claude Havard, the secretary, at the November meeting of NCENN.
16 December: added, with thanks to Donna DuBreuil, OREG, the Ontario Road Ecology Group, on the Toronto Zoo’s web site. Locally, Drs. Fred Schueler (Bishop Mills) and Lenore Fahrig (Carleton U) are advisors. OREG was founded in 2009. Its web site suggests that its volunteers are supported by government, so that’s where you’ll find it.
19 December: with thanks to John Almstedt, added the Ottawa-Gatineau Geoheritage Project, initiated earlier this year.
23 January 2014: with thanks again to John Almstedt, added the Bonnechere River Watershed Project and two other related Renfrew County web sites, the Renfrew County BiotaBase and Nature Notebook. The Biotabase is a public participation (citizen science) project. Nature Notebook was created by the Ottawa River Institute. And Heather Hamilton spreads the news that Bumble Bee Watch, another citizen science project, is now operational!
6 February: and again via John Almstedt, added Asinabka Blue Water Trail, a dream to add a paddle route around the island of Hull, and do so in conjunction with the development of the former Domtar lands.
28 February: added a reference to MOE’s information about the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment process.
2 March: with thanks to Owen Clarkin’s post to Facebook, added Global Forest Watch, an extremely powerful visualization of forest cover, gain and loss. “Global Forest Watch (GFW) is a dynamic online forest monitoring and alert system that empowers people everywhere to better manage forests. For the first time, Global Forest Watch unites satellite technology, open data, and crowdsourcing to guarantee access to timely and reliable information about forests. GFW is free and follows an open data approach in putting decision-relevant information in the hands of governments, companies, NGOs, and the public.”
3 April: added a link to Ottawa’s Urban Tree Conservation By-law.
27 April: added the new Huntley Highlands group – “To preserve the Carp Hills for the benefit of nature and the community in perpetuity.”
27 May: via Windmill Developments’ proposal for the Domtar lands, became aware of the “One Planet” principles, promoted by BioRegional — head office in North America is here in Ottawa.
26 June: added the Ontario Urban Forest Council (OUFC) which just celebrated 50 years as a not-for-profit volunteer organization dedicated to the health of the urban forests in the province.
23 December: added the Boreal Songbird Initiative’s new web site to the list of national/international voluntary organizations.
20 March 2015: added the ABV des 7, the government-supported “Agence de bassin versant des 7” that aims to improve the water quality of the watersheds of the seven rivers in its territory — the Blanche Ouest, Coulogne, Dumoine, Gatineau, Noir, Quyon and the Ottawa. Nicole DesRoches is its current president.
30 May: added the Monarch Teacher Network to the Autonomous Voluntary / National links.
20 September: added the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust whch “covers an area that extends from the western part of the City of Ottawa in the east to Lake Mazinaw and Hyw. 41 in the west, from Sharbot Lake in the south to the lower Madawaska River in the north.”
24 September: added Big Trees of Kitchissippi, a new coalition of eight civic groups in Ottawa’s Kitchissippi Ward. See their news release here and a blog post on the Champlain Oaks web site here.
6 October: added FLAP Canada – Ottawa Wing, formed in 2014.
12 January 2016: Added the Forest Gene Conservation Association u/ Voluntary groups / Provincial; its Coordinator joined our mailing list.
11 February: Added the Ottawa Duck Club – “Working for nature conservation since 1966.”
2 April: Added Enviro Éduc-Action, working with youth in Gatineau. Government-supported.
7 April: Added Ancient Forest Exploration and Research, founded in 1992.
2 February 2017: Added the Wilderness Committee, formerly the Western Wilderness Committee out of Vancouver, but now also with offices in Victoria, Winnipeg and Toronto.
8 April: Added a nifty web site by OMNRF that allows you to specify a location in Ontario to obtain a list, with picture, status and brief description, of any species at risk there. Search by municipality, postal code or region.
16 April: Added “Naturally Resilient Communities” a partnership of mostly governments in the US (but also the Nature Conservancy and financed by a foundation). It offers a web site where one can specify the type of water-related hazard, region, and type of community which yields applicable Solutions and Case Studies.
25 April: Added “The complete guide to growing your own organic food,” made available by UK-based “Eckman – Practical solutions for the garden.”
1 July: In the “Other” category, added the home page of Insights, seven sets of Indicators and identification of issues presented by the Community Foundation of Ottawa. Includes a cluster on Environment and Sustainability. Another section has general demographic data. This is the new incarnation of Vital Signs, annual reports that were published for Ottawa from 2006 to 2010. This web-based offering was launched in 2015 and is undergoing periodic review to refresh the data.
4 July: Added Global Forest Watch Canada, which “monitors the state of Canada’s forests and provides quality information on development activity and the resulting environmental impacts. The group works independently within the larger Global Forest Watch network of organizations.” As they are independent of government, I have classified them under Autonomous Voluntary / National/International groups. The international organization was added in March 2013.
5 November: Added the Ontario Headwaters Institute, “the leading not-for profit organization in Ontario working in the areas of both headwater protection and Ontario’s framework approach to watershed management.” And added Earth Path, “dedicated to fostering meaningful relationships between people and the natural world. … Since 2013 we have offered programs for people of all ages, including nature school programs for children, field walks for adults, and workshops for teachers…”
23 January 2018: Finally added the links to Quebec’s lists of species at risk.
29 March: Added a link to the “Land, Water and Nature” program of Resources for the Future.
23 April: Added the Greenspace section on the City of Ottawa’s web site. It offers much information including maps about management plans, conservation areas, the natural heritage system and even the old UNAEES study.
1 May: Changed “OMB” to “LPAT” and added the LPA Support Centre.
10 October: Added Waste Watch Ottawa.
12 October: Added the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada — a group of scientists whose mission is to safeguard “wildlife and wild places in Canada through science, conservation action, and inspiring people to value nature.” They engage in selected projects.
23 October: Added a link to LegisInfo, Parliament’s web site to find out all about pending legislation.
11 March 2019: Added the handy e-status link on the LPAT web site. Ontario’s Tribunals are slowly modernizing!
27 April: Added Wild Pollinator Partners, a partnership started two years ago by two Fletcher Wildlife Garden volunteers and comprising OPIRG, the University of Ottawa and the Canadian Wildlife Federation among others. Its aim is to “connect … people – teachers, researchers, community activists, and residents of our region – and to share information, resources, and experience.”
9 May: Added the City of Ottawa’s YouTube channel, where one finds audio tapes of Committee meetings and videos of Council meetings, among much else.
9 June: Added Forests Ontario — what took me so long?
2020 – 11 June: added, under OTHER, Katherine Forster’s blog, “Wild.Here” – very locally (Ottawa) oriented.
2021 – 12 April: Checking links of the Local Voluntary Groups… “Coalition for a Healthy Ottawa” seems to have disappeared; there is the Ottawa Health Coalition but I see no direct link to greenspace protection. Also disappeared: “Coalition pour la sauvegarde du Parc Gatineau.” Flap Canada-Ottawa Chapter” has become a program of the OFNC, “Safe Wings”; Flap Canada has been added to the national list. “South March Highlands – Carp River Conservation” has disappeared. Sustainable Eastern Ontario’s “Green Pages” are no more.
2 May – Added the brand new web site of CAFES (Community Associations for Environmental Sustainability), “a network between community associations and citizens who are working to promote environmental sustainability in our city and our neighbourhoods, sharing info on concerns, community events, best practices and research.” It’s come a long way since its tentative founding in 2010!
11 May – Added a link to Prof. David Gordon’s 2015 book, “Town and Crown.”
20 May – Added Friends of Riverview Park (formerly Friends of Alta Vista Greenspace, a group originally set up to fight the Hospital Link). It is a self-governing subcommittee of the Riverview Park Community Association. It will continue to fight the AV Transportation Corridor.
17 June – Added the City of Ottawa’s map and table of City Trees.
9 July – Added Gardens Ottawa. Its objectives include “Encourage residents, businesses, associations, organizations and government to recognize the value and potential that gardens, gardening activities and gardening provide to our community, to our physical and mental health and to our environment in its together.”
13 October – Added Plant Based Treaty, an international initiative, framed as a companion to the UNFCCC/Paris Agreement, “a grassroots campaign designed to put food systems at the forefront of combating the climate crisis. Modeled on the popular Fossil Fuel Treaty, the Plant Based Treaty aims to halt the widespread degradation of critical ecosystems caused by animal agriculture and to promote a shift to healthier, sustainable plant-based diets.”
13 October – Added Parkways for People, a local “a coalition of organizations and people like you working for transformative change to the National Capital Commission (NCC) parkways.”
25 November – Added WCS – Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, which “uses a unique blend of on-the-ground scientific research and policy action to help protect wildlife across Canada.”
7 December – Added Succession, “dedicated to supporting the environment.” This foundation is providing financial oversight and control for grants in support of the People’s Official Plan activities.
2022 – 30 May – The City of Ottawa’s new interactive Flood Plain Mapping has been added.
2023 – 1 Jan – The web site of POP (Peoples Official Plan) is now live. (Lynne Truss and this editor are grinding their teeth about the missing apostrophe…)
13 January – In updating the Links section I noticed that the Ontario Invasive Plants Council was missing! Don’t know how it could have been overlooked.
12 March – Today, at the rally about Tewin, met Andrea of Rural Woodlands Ottawa, a “group of concerned residents trying to raise awareness and find solutions” about the huge loss of woodland in rural areas. Their Facebook page (the only digital link so far) was created almost a year ago.
25 May – Added a link to the Urban Design Review Panel section of the City’s web site. Its recommendations are published there.
23 December – Added Forêt Capitale Forest, a charity based in Ottawa that “aims to mitigate the effects of climate change by facilitating the planting of forests and raising awareness of the importance of trees and biodiversity.”
2024 – 26 January – Added a link to the City of Ottawa tool to look up assessment values and taxes.
23 February – Added Ontario Farmland Trust, an organization founded in 2002. Its Mission is to “protect and preserve Ontario farmlands and associated agricultural, natural and cultural landscapes of food production for the benefit of Ontarians today and future generations.“
Dec. 8, 2006: Two more links added: City Repair Ottawa (=Imagine Ottawa) and Eastern Ontario Model Forest.
Dec. 19: Kanata Environmental Network added.
Jan 2, 2007: Trees Canada Foundation.
Jan 10: The Citizen Submissions page of NAFTA’s Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
Jan. 16: The link to the consolidated version of the Ottawa Official Plan, Volume 1 has been added; the previous link now points to Volume 2.
Jan. 23: Two more local groups: Friends of the Jock and the Botanical Garden Society.
Feb 14: Today added the wildly successful non-profit organization, Project for Public Spaces (New York, US). It’s a bit of a stretch to call this a “voluntary” organization but it seemed other categories are worse.
March 5: Three Québec organizations added: Aux Arbres Citoyens!, SNAP (Société pour la nature et les parcs du Canada – section Québec) and Réseau Québecois des Groupes Ecologistes (RQGE)
March 30: a direct link to SARA’s Public Registry has been added.
April 20: “Green Ottawa” added — thanks, Ron!
December 19: “Development Application Review Process” for Ottawa added — thanks, Al, for bringing this to my attention. Also added the Friends of the Tay Watershed Association.
January 18, 2008: updated the link to Ontario’s e-laws and added F.U.N. (Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods of Ontario) to the list. The Alliance is a member of the FCA; FCA is a member of F.U.N.
January 20: added know-uranium, a web site serving three local groups, Ottawa Coalition Against Mining Uranium (OCAMU), the Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU) and the West Quebec Coalition Against Mining Uranium (WQ-CAMU). Update, 30 Nov 2010: Only two of these orgs appear to have survived. The links list has been updated.
January 25: added the Petitions process in the Office of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (Auditor General of Canada).
January 28: added Pesticide Free Ontario.
February 5: added Ottawa Community Garden Network.
March 4: added Wildlands League (a CPAWS chapter, hq’d in Toronto)
May 20: added the NCC’s page on the Urban Lands Master Plan — the 100th link!
June 9: recently discovered that Council meetings, going back to December 2003, can now be viewed on the City’s web site! Rogers’ hold on these tapes has been broken. A step forward in transparent government.
July 6: how could I have overlooked until now The Bishops Mills Natural History Centre, maintained by Frederick Schueler and Aleta Karstad!
September 21: Jane’s Walk added — for the first time, walks in Ottawa are organized in 2008.
October 10: The NCC’s page on the Greenbelt added — thanks, Sol!
November 1: The Ontario government issued revised Statements of Environmental Values for many of its Ministries. A link to it has been added. Thanks, Ken!
January 16, 2009: Added Prof. David Gordon’s web site on Planning the Capital (Queen’s University; includes access to documents). Thanks, Sol!
February 28: Added the Greenbelt Coalition of Canada’s Capital Region.
March 28: Met Howard Clifford at the Wildlife Festival today. Lanark is a bit out of our area but, hey, if the Alba Wilderness School bothered to come to Billings Bridge, we may as well reciprocate and welcome it to the family of Links here! Their web site is delightful and the School surely meets the criterion of “helpful in the preservation of greenspace.”
May 9: Added “Choosing Our Future” — a joint project of the NCC and the Cities of Ottawa and Gatineau.
May 21: Added “Save Our Boreal Birds”, locally sponsored by the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club. (Listed under National voluntary organizations.)
August 25: Added a link to the City of Ottawa’s “OPA#76” – from there you can access the OPA itself as well as an annotated Official Plan text. This is “OP 2009” as passed by City Council on June 24, 2009.
August 29: Added the Ontario Environmental Review Tribunal.
November 22: Added Gravel Watch Ontario.
December 11: Added the new City of Ottawa web site with a long reference list for studies and plans to support development applications.
January 16, 2010: Added the Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre and the Ontario chapter of the Sierra Club.
April 21: Added the Ottawa Pilot project for a Biosphere Eco-City (part of UNESCO’s MAB program).
October 5: Added the NCC’s page to access the archive of the public meetings of its Board of Directors.
November 11: Added “Ottawa’s Great Forest,” the web site created to promote the Stewardship Plan for the Beaver Pond Forest in Kanata.
March 5, 2011: Added GuideGatineau, a volunteer group enthused about Gatineau Park, including its history.
March 13: Added PERC – how could I have forgotten it for so long! PERC recently spiffed up its web site.
March 25: Added Champlain Oaks, the web site of the Champlain Park community celebrating its ancient bur oaks.
March 27: The Wildlife Festival is always such a good place to meet or get re-acquainted with other activists! As a result of this year’s Festival at Billings Bridge, I’ve added Friends of Gatineau Park / Les Amis du parc de la Gatineau, the Rideau Trail Association, and the Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, even though the first two are more recreation-oriented and so perhaps somewhat at the margin of the mandate of this list (and the Greenspace Alliance), being a list that aims to assist in the preservation of greenspace. We have so much in common!
March 27: Also added today, TEEB4me’s effort to convey its message about valuing nature to citizens. TEEB stands for The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity.
September 10: Added the NCC’s “Horizon 2067” page.
October 20: Added the City of Ottawa’s Trees in Trust program — free to homeowners!
December 16: Added the Can/US (Washington State/B.C.) ForestEthics organization.
17 February 2012: Added the web site of the Wakefield group trying to stop the current plans for an extension of Highway 5 at Gatineau Park. And added “Green Communities Canada” – thanks, Bryan!
10 April: Added the Ontario Rivers Alliance, “a Not-for-Profit grassroots movement of individuals, groups and organizations who have come together to protect, conserve and restore healthy river ecosystems.”
10 April: Immediately after the Choosing Our Future reports were tabled, the Ottawa staff group was disbanded and the web site was deleted. The link is now to the staff report (City Council meeting of 22 February 2012), from where the project’s reports can be accessed.
22 April: The Alliance has been working with the South March Highlands group for some time but their web site hadn’t made it on the Links section! We never claimed to be perfect…
23 May: Added ParkScore, a new initiative from the US Trust for Public Land. Using a straightforward methodology (not much to do with biodiversity), 40 US cities are compared.
2 June: Added Globaïa, a wonderful source of educational material on the environment in a global perspective.
8 August: Added “The Caen” – a new news aggregator and blog tracker about the Canadian Environment.
2 September: Added NatureServe Canada, the network of government-sponsored natural heritage information centres.
10 December: deleted the Ottawa group of the Sierra Club.
12 January 2013: Added 3 in 1: The “Sustainable Eastern Ontario” website includes the “National Capital Environmental Nonprofit Network (NCENN)” and the Green Pages Directory. (It also houses the Community Energy Network and the Green Map.) The Alliance is registered with NCENN and in the Green Pages Directory.
6 March: Added Hidden Harvest, Ottawa Chapter.
19 September: added “geoOttawa” — about time! — and also redirected the NCC’s Urban Lands reference to its new page.
22 October: added Boisés Est, a voluntary organization of woodlot owners, centered around Plantagenet. I met Jean-Claude Havard, the secretary, at the November meeting of NCENN.
16 December: added, with thanks to Donna DuBreuil, OREG, the Ontario Road Ecology Group, on the Toronto Zoo’s web site. Locally, Drs. Fred Schueler (Bishop Mills) and Lenore Fahrig (Carleton U) are advisors. OREG was founded in 2009. Its web site suggests that its volunteers are supported by government, so that’s where you’ll find it.
19 December: with thanks to John Almstedt, added the Ottawa-Gatineau Geoheritage Project, initiated earlier this year.
23 January 2014: with thanks again to John Almstedt, added the Bonnechere River Watershed Project and two other related Renfrew County web sites, the Renfrew County BiotaBase and Nature Notebook. The Biotabase is a public participation (citizen science) project. Nature Notebook was created by the Ottawa River Institute. And Heather Hamilton spreads the news that Bumble Bee Watch, another citizen science project, is now operational!
6 February: and again via John Almstedt, added Asinabka Blue Water Trail, a dream to add a paddle route around the island of Hull, and do so in conjunction with the development of the former Domtar lands.
28 February: added a reference to MOE’s information about the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment process.
2 March: with thanks to Owen Clarkin’s post to Facebook, added Global Forest Watch, an extremely powerful visualization of forest cover, gain and loss. “Global Forest Watch (GFW) is a dynamic online forest monitoring and alert system that empowers people everywhere to better manage forests. For the first time, Global Forest Watch unites satellite technology, open data, and crowdsourcing to guarantee access to timely and reliable information about forests. GFW is free and follows an open data approach in putting decision-relevant information in the hands of governments, companies, NGOs, and the public.”
3 April: added a link to Ottawa’s Urban Tree Conservation By-law.
27 April: added the new Huntley Highlands group – “To preserve the Carp Hills for the benefit of nature and the community in perpetuity.”
27 May: via Windmill Developments’ proposal for the Domtar lands, became aware of the “One Planet” principles, promoted by BioRegional — head office in North America is here in Ottawa.
26 June: added the Ontario Urban Forest Council (OUFC) which just celebrated 50 years as a not-for-profit volunteer organization dedicated to the health of the urban forests in the province.
23 December: added the Boreal Songbird Initiative’s new web site to the list of national/international voluntary organizations.
20 March 2015: added the ABV des 7, the government-supported “Agence de bassin versant des 7” that aims to improve the water quality of the watersheds of the seven rivers in its territory — the Blanche Ouest, Coulogne, Dumoine, Gatineau, Noir, Quyon and the Ottawa. Nicole DesRoches is its current president.
30 May: added the Monarch Teacher Network to the Autonomous Voluntary / National links.
20 September: added the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust whch “covers an area that extends from the western part of the City of Ottawa in the east to Lake Mazinaw and Hyw. 41 in the west, from Sharbot Lake in the south to the lower Madawaska River in the north.”
24 September: added Big Trees of Kitchissippi, a new coalition of eight civic groups in Ottawa’s Kitchissippi Ward. See their news release here and a blog post on the Champlain Oaks web site here.
6 October: added FLAP Canada – Ottawa Wing, formed in 2014.
12 January 2016: Added the Forest Gene Conservation Association u/ Voluntary groups / Provincial; its Coordinator joined our mailing list.
11 February: Added the Ottawa Duck Club – “Working for nature conservation since 1966.”
2 April: Added Enviro Éduc-Action, working with youth in Gatineau. Government-supported.
7 April: Added Ancient Forest Exploration and Research, founded in 1992.
2 February 2017: Added the Wilderness Committee, formerly the Western Wilderness Committee out of Vancouver, but now also with offices in Victoria, Winnipeg and Toronto.
8 April: Added a nifty web site by OMNRF that allows you to specify a location in Ontario to obtain a list, with picture, status and brief description, of any species at risk there. Search by municipality, postal code or region.
16 April: Added “Naturally Resilient Communities” a partnership of mostly governments in the US (but also the Nature Conservancy and financed by a foundation). It offers a web site where one can specify the type of water-related hazard, region, and type of community which yields applicable Solutions and Case Studies.
25 April: Added “The complete guide to growing your own organic food,” made available by UK-based “Eckman – Practical solutions for the garden.”
1 July: In the “Other” category, added the home page of Insights, seven sets of Indicators and identification of issues presented by the Community Foundation of Ottawa. Includes a cluster on Environment and Sustainability. Another section has general demographic data. This is the new incarnation of Vital Signs, annual reports that were published for Ottawa from 2006 to 2010. This web-based offering was launched in 2015 and is undergoing periodic review to refresh the data.
4 July: Added Global Forest Watch Canada, which “monitors the state of Canada’s forests and provides quality information on development activity and the resulting environmental impacts. The group works independently within the larger Global Forest Watch network of organizations.” As they are independent of government, I have classified them under Autonomous Voluntary / National/International groups. The international organization was added in March 2013.
5 November: Added the Ontario Headwaters Institute, “the leading not-for profit organization in Ontario working in the areas of both headwater protection and Ontario’s framework approach to watershed management.” And added Earth Path, “dedicated to fostering meaningful relationships between people and the natural world. … Since 2013 we have offered programs for people of all ages, including nature school programs for children, field walks for adults, and workshops for teachers…”
23 January 2018: Finally added the links to Quebec’s lists of species at risk.
29 March: Added a link to the “Land, Water and Nature” program of Resources for the Future.
23 April: Added the Greenspace section on the City of Ottawa’s web site. It offers much information including maps about management plans, conservation areas, the natural heritage system and even the old UNAEES study.
1 May: Changed “OMB” to “LPAT” and added the LPA Support Centre.
10 October: Added Waste Watch Ottawa.
12 October: Added the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada — a group of scientists whose mission is to safeguard “wildlife and wild places in Canada through science, conservation action, and inspiring people to value nature.” They engage in selected projects.
23 October: Added a link to LegisInfo, Parliament’s web site to find out all about pending legislation.
11 March 2019: Added the handy e-status link on the LPAT web site. Ontario’s Tribunals are slowly modernizing!
27 April: Added Wild Pollinator Partners, a partnership started two years ago by two Fletcher Wildlife Garden volunteers and comprising OPIRG, the University of Ottawa and the Canadian Wildlife Federation among others. Its aim is to “connect … people – teachers, researchers, community activists, and residents of our region – and to share information, resources, and experience.”
9 May: Added the City of Ottawa’s YouTube channel, where one finds audio tapes of Committee meetings and videos of Council meetings, among much else.
9 June: Added Forests Ontario — what took me so long?
2020 – 11 June: added, under OTHER, Katherine Forster’s blog, “Wild.Here” – very locally (Ottawa) oriented.
2021 – 12 April: Checking links of the Local Voluntary Groups… “Coalition for a Healthy Ottawa” seems to have disappeared; there is the Ottawa Health Coalition but I see no direct link to greenspace protection. Also disappeared: “Coalition pour la sauvegarde du Parc Gatineau.” Flap Canada-Ottawa Chapter” has become a program of the OFNC, “Safe Wings”; Flap Canada has been added to the national list. “South March Highlands – Carp River Conservation” has disappeared. Sustainable Eastern Ontario’s “Green Pages” are no more.
2 May – Added the brand new web site of CAFES (Community Associations for Environmental Sustainability), “a network between community associations and citizens who are working to promote environmental sustainability in our city and our neighbourhoods, sharing info on concerns, community events, best practices and research.” It’s come a long way since its tentative founding in 2010!
11 May – Added a link to Prof. David Gordon’s 2015 book, “Town and Crown.”
20 May – Added Friends of Riverview Park (formerly Friends of Alta Vista Greenspace, a group originally set up to fight the Hospital Link). It is a self-governing subcommittee of the Riverview Park Community Association. It will continue to fight the AV Transportation Corridor.
17 June – Added the City of Ottawa’s map and table of City Trees.
9 July – Added Gardens Ottawa. Its objectives include “Encourage residents, businesses, associations, organizations and government to recognize the value and potential that gardens, gardening activities and gardening provide to our community, to our physical and mental health and to our environment in its together.”
13 October – Added Plant Based Treaty, an international initiative, framed as a companion to the UNFCCC/Paris Agreement, “a grassroots campaign designed to put food systems at the forefront of combating the climate crisis. Modeled on the popular Fossil Fuel Treaty, the Plant Based Treaty aims to halt the widespread degradation of critical ecosystems caused by animal agriculture and to promote a shift to healthier, sustainable plant-based diets.”
13 October – Added Parkways for People, a local “a coalition of organizations and people like you working for transformative change to the National Capital Commission (NCC) parkways.”
25 November – Added WCS – Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, which “uses a unique blend of on-the-ground scientific research and policy action to help protect wildlife across Canada.”
7 December – Added Succession, “dedicated to supporting the environment.” This foundation is providing financial oversight and control for grants in support of the People’s Official Plan activities.
2022 – 30 May – The City of Ottawa’s new interactive Flood Plain Mapping has been added.
2023 – 1 Jan – The web site of POP (Peoples Official Plan) is now live. (Lynne Truss and this editor are grinding their teeth about the missing apostrophe…)
13 January – In updating the Links section I noticed that the Ontario Invasive Plants Council was missing! Don’t know how it could have been overlooked.
12 March – Today, at the rally about Tewin, met Andrea of Rural Woodlands Ottawa, a “group of concerned residents trying to raise awareness and find solutions” about the huge loss of woodland in rural areas. Their Facebook page (the only digital link so far) was created almost a year ago.
25 May – Added a link to the Urban Design Review Panel section of the City’s web site. Its recommendations are published there.
23 December – Added Forêt Capitale Forest, a charity based in Ottawa that “aims to mitigate the effects of climate change by facilitating the planting of forests and raising awareness of the importance of trees and biodiversity.”
2024 – 26 January – Added a link to the City of Ottawa tool to look up assessment values and taxes.
23 February – Added Ontario Farmland Trust, an organization founded in 2002. Its Mission is to “protect and preserve Ontario farmlands and associated agricultural, natural and cultural landscapes of food production for the benefit of Ontarians today and future generations.“