Make biodiversity a B.C. priority
With a newly elected government, we have an opportunity to take meaningful steps to protect the nature and wildlife that make this province special.
As world leaders gather in Colombia at the UN Biodiversity Summit, COP16, to address the global biodiversity crisis, I want to see the action leaders promised here at home.
In B.C., we’re facing escalating climate change and habitat loss — more than 1,900 species and ecosystems are at risk of extinction.
Protecting the lands, waters and wildlife that make our home so special has never been more urgent. Healthy ecosystems are essential for the well-being of wildlife, our communities, our economy, and our future.
By prioritizing biodiversity, the government can demonstrate its commitment to a future where both people and nature thrive. This approach will help create a healthier B.C. for everyone.
This government was elected on a platform that included moving closer to protecting 30 per cent of B.C. by 2030 and a made-in-B.C. strategy to defend B.C. biodiversity.
Join me in calling on the B.C. government to follow through on its commitment and work with First Nations to protect biodiversity. We need to see action on conservation and climate change as a key part of their work to bolster community resilience.
Marci Boecking
Cobble Hill
Philips shows the way to a better society
Trevor Hancock writes about a well-being society and a better One Planet community. This would require a paradigm shift in the core values of our society, particularly the economic one, centred on growth and profit.
I also think that we need to do more to create a happier populace and a healthier planet, and I think that economics can play an important role in making this a better world while growing profitable businesses.
I was born in Eindhoven, the Netherlands in 1934, and my dad had a successful 30-year career with Philips, centred at that time in my hometown.
The Philips Corporation, founded in 1912 by brothers Anton and Gerard Philips, started off making light bulbs and went on to make radios, TVs and electronic medical equipment and invented many new products such as the CD.
The son of Anton Philips, Frits Philips, became board chairman in 1935. He cared for his employees.
At some point they wanted to form a union, and Frits suggested that instead of a union and the related administration, they form an “employees association” and offered the new association a seat on the board of directors.
Employees would be well-informed and pick the right times to negotiate wages and benefits.
Frits Philips also built affordable housing and created the Philips library, high schools and given sufficiently good grades, financed a university education for the employees’ children.
He also provided a music centre and sport facilities, the latter leading to the formation of the PSV Soccer Team.
Another initiative was to reward employees who found new ways in the production process, with an amount of money equal to the resulting one year savings. When Germany invaded Holland in 1940, he saved the lives of 382 Jews by convincing the Nazis that these employees were essential to the company, and since the company products were important to the German war effort, they conceded.
Philips can be found on the Vienna stock market as PHIA.VI.
Vince Devries
Ladysmith
Provide needed services within communities
Re: “In the quest to remake Saanich, think small,” commentary, Dec. 29.
The commentary is excellent. The suggestion “Bring the services and amenities into our neighbourhoods,” is a good one and reminds me of growing up in a 1970s built suburban community that had everything from a decent sized grocery store (think Red Barn Market size), bank, dry cleaners/laundromat, post office, bakery, professional services, two gas stations, some restaurants, a convenience store, four schools and a rec centre all within easy walking distance (yes, they planned for the population growth and needs as they built the community!).
Sadly, the grocery store, bank and dry cleaners/laundromat disappears between 1990 and 2000. The post office outlet closed this year.
There is a large chain drug store, but its food section is just as small/limited as a corner convenience store. I have often pondered if a return to a more self-contained style of community would reduce vehicle traffic today.
Unless we can provide the services people need within their community, and the public transit to make travel beyond that community as efficient as travel by personal vehicle, traffic reduction will be limited.
I am guessing the District of Saanich, like the City of Victoria, does not plan with an urbanist’s holistic perspective in mind, which might explain why road “improvements” within Greater Victoria are not improving the quality of life for all, or even the majority, like they should.
Lori Kernaghan
Victoria
Beavers live in lodges, they don’t live in dams
Re: “Team building 100 beaver ‘starter homes’,” Dec. 28.
The B.C. Wildlife Federation’s beaver dam-building project is a commendable conservation initiative that, based on similar projects elsewhere, will likely yield positive results.
But no beavers are going to “move into” the dams. Beaver dams serve just one purpose: to slow flowing water and create ponds and wetlands.
The structures they live in are called lodges. Although the writer confused the terms (as many people do), I’m sure the project team knows the difference.
These industrious rodents are considered a keystone species because so many other species also rely on the habitat they create. The beaver’s 19th-century near-extinction significantly damaged ecosystems throughout North America.
Thankfully, they weren’t wiped right off the map, but they are still in recovery mode in many places. That’s largely because no other non-human species shapes landscapes as profoundly as the beaver, and we humans don’t always appreciate their efforts.
In recent decades, we’ve come a long way in figuring out how to peacefully coexist with beavers, instead of battling them. (For example, see the many resources on the Beaver Institute’s website.)
There’s also a growing recognition of beavers as climate change allies that help mitigate the effects of drought, flooding and wildfires.
As the author of two books that explore all of these themes — Once They Were Hats: In Search of the Mighty Beaver and Beavers: Radical Rodents and Ecosystem Engineers — I’m delighted that the B.C. Wildlife Federation is helping beavers get back to doing their important work in our province.
Frances Backhouse
Victoria
Find other areas for more development
In reading about the changes Saanich is looking at, two things come to mind. What are the qualifications of the people suggesting the changes? Are they long-time residents of this area?
Some of the suggestions seem ridiculous, and I wonder what thought has been put into this plan as to the upheaval this will cause.
It appears that seniors will be pushed aside, and told to ride a bike or take the bus. Considering seniors represent about 23% of the population, and contribute to the tax base, I believe this is a sad view that Saanich is looking at.
Seniors were instrumental in building this community and moved to their homes in Saanich because of several reasons, including liking the area and what it had to offer.
Why does Saanich not try to find other areas to develop instead of ripping apart what has been working well for many years.
Do all the people involved in this project live in Saanich, and close to this area? I doubt it. The same goes for the bike lanes: Are they put in especially for the locals, or for other people outside the municipality,
Surely there are areas that could be developed without so much disruption. They could have bus lanes put in, in the beginning, and still provide housing and transportation services.
As a senior, I must buy a bike with a trailer, and make my way to Costco, to try and save money on my groceries.
It’s a two-day trip, so I will take a tent and sleeping bag.
Wake up, Saanich.
Tony Berry
Victoria
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