Endangered Habitat, Past and Present
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Photo cred: ErikaWittlieb

This week at Terra Informa we deep dive into a recent World Wildlife Fund report on conservation lands across Canada, hear from University of Alberta professor Rene Belland about less promoted endangered species, and visit an archive from 2010 about a public land sale known as “Potatogate”.

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WWF asks “how much is enough?”

Terra Informer Hannah Cunningham goes in depth on a recent World Wildlife Fund report that asks how much land is needed to conserve at-risk species and how Canada has been handling the challenge. The report is titled “Wildlife Protection Assessment: A national habitat crisis”  and and maps out key ecological gaps in Canada’s existing protected area network while highlighting places that should be considered high-priority areas for protection.

Rene Belland talks Porsild’s Bryum

Terra Informer Hannah Cunningham interviews University of Alberta professor and “Moss Boss” Dr. Rene Belland about endangered species that don’t get the same attention as our polar bears and killer whales, but are no less at-risk. Watch this video from the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute about the recovery of an endangered species of green, cushy, water-loving moss named Porsild’s Bryum to see the Moss Boss in action!

Public Land sales and Potatogate

We revisit an archive from 2010 featuring Terra Informers Alex Hindle and Ian Mackenzie, with an interview of Alberta Wildlife Association conservation specialist Carolyn Campbell about a proposed sale of endangered prairie grasslands. The story investigates the massive sale of 16,000 acres of Crown grass lands to private developers – known as POTATOGATE. The sale tried to be secretive, but was unearthed by engaged citizens and media, who responded with fury. Did the land sale go through? Listen to find out or read about the history of Public Land sales in Alberta here.

Download program log here.

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Treaty, Climate Change, and Relationships to the Land

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Photo by: The Walrus

This week on Terra Informa, we chat with Indigenous activist and educator Lewis Cardinal after recording an excerpt of a talk he gave at the University of Alberta’s International Week this past February. We asked what treaty means for our relationships to land, the more-than-human, and to each other in these troubled times. 

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Headlines:

Indigenous Woarani peoples win landmark lawsuit against Ecuadorian Government 

UK goes 4 days without coal – a new record

One million species facing extinction according to UN

Bighorn Provincial Park proposal rescinded because of changes in the Alberta Government

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Literature in the Face of Climate Crisis

 

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Photo cred: congerdesign

This week on Terra Informa, we’re diving into the world of storytelling and literature. How can the humanities help us prepare ourselves for the environmental troubles we are facing today and into the future? What do works of fiction have to do with environmental activism?

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Shakespeare and the Ecological Crisis

Terra Informer Sofia Osborne interviews Dr. Carolyn Sale, an associate professor in the department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta who will be teaching a course in the upcoming fall semester on Shakespeare and the Ecological Crisis. Dr. Sale and Sofia talk about the pressing issue of our current ecological crises, why we can’t seem to do anything about it, and how the humanities can help us think about how to be primed and ready actors in the uncertain world we live in.

Storytelling as Environmental Activism

Keeping on with the literary theme, Terra Informer Sydney Karbonik reads a paper she wrote about storytelling and how it can relate to environmental activism.

Headlines

A Tale of Two War Rooms

One of the campaign promises made by Jason Kenney and the United Conservative Party was the creation of an “energy war room” run by the Environment Minister and a public relations team. This “energy war room” would support work to challenge any critics of Alberta’s oil and gas industry. Intent on “[rebutting] every lie told by the green left”, Kenney has promised that this energy war room will receive 30 million dollars of funding.

This  didn’t sit well with many Alberta environmentalists, and especially not with members of the group Climate Justice Edmonton. Members of Climate Justice Edmonton have started a GoFundMe page for their own war room, but this one comes with a much more environmentally-friendly agenda. With a goal of raising 30 thousand dollars, Climate Justice Edmonton will use the funds to support their work having face-to-face conversations with Albertans about the need for a just transition to 100% renewable energy, training more environmental activism organizers, and engaging in creative direct action for Indigenous rights along with climate justice.

Some specific projects on the horizon for Climate Justice Edmonton include collaborating with the  Beaver Hills Warriors, a local collective of Indigenous youth, to build an Indigenous food sovereignty movement, as well as talking to and training other Albertans on how to build a Green New Deal for the province. As of May 2, 2019, Climate Justice Edmonton has raised over 14 thousand dollars towards their 30 thousand dollar goal.

What’s Happening

Alberta Bike Swap Farewell Ride

On Saturday May 11, come on down to the Alberta Bike Swap Farewell Ride at the Edmonton Expo Center to buy, sell, or donate a bike. Consign a bike between 8am and 2:00pm, shop for a used bike from 2:30-4pm, or donate a bike any time between 8am and 4pm. Admission is $2 per person or free for kids under 12. 

Founded in 2011 by Laura and Chris Grant, the Alberta Bike Swap is an annual bicycle consignment event billed as the “safe place to buy, sell, or donate” a bike. Given the time and financial commitments, this is the last year Laura and Chris will be organizing the event. 

Arbor Day Tree Story Sharing

Did you know the City of Edmonton celebrates Arbor Day on May 11th? This holiday encourages individuals to plant trees, taking place at different times in different places during the spring, varying by climate and planting season. In Edmonton, grade one students began receiving conifer seedlings to plant in the early 1950s. Soon after, grade one students all over Alberta began to receive seedlings.

Do you remember where you planted your Arbor Day tree? Is it still standing by your childhood home? The City of Edmonton is encouraging people to submit their stories about what their Arbor Day trees mean to them to an interactive map of the City that identifies trees that grade one students of the past have planted.

Download program log here.

Menstruation Innovation

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Photo by: Conscious Lifestyle of Mine

This week on Terra Informa, we’re talking about periods. Own very own Terra Informer Sydney Karbonik recently hosted an educational event about the environmental, social and economic impact of menstrual products and what other options exist for women. The event was called Menstruation Innovation and attracted interest from about 200 people but funding was limited, so a total of 26 people were able to take part: 15 new sustainable menstruators and 6 menstruation mentors. The mentors were all diva cup veterans and helped answer questions and guide conversation. In this week’s episode, we’ve got audio from that event along with Sydney sharing some facts about periods, the environment, and what women (and men!) can do to reduce stigma, raise awareness, and practice a greener period.

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Headlines

This Canadian company is changing menstrual health with its reusable period products
– click here to check out Lunapads

Cloth, Cow dung, cups: How the world’s women manage their periods

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The Sounds of Climate Activism

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Photo by: Hannah Cunningham

This week on Terra Informa, our own Kesia Dias reads a self-written an open letter to Albertans about our complicated relationship with our environment, economy, and our future. We also provide a soundscape of content our Terra Informers collected at the youth climate strike that took place in Edmonton, Alberta on March 15, 2019 – sit back and picture yourself in the heart of the action as we bring you sounds, conversations, and interviews.

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Headlines

Lofoten Island, Norway and government protection decision

Quebec: Reusable Containers in mainstream Grocery Stores

Ecuador: Waorani people launch a lawsuit to prevent the Government of Ecuador from auctioning off their ancestral lands to oil companies  (petition here)

Mike De Souza on Twitter: Fact-checking Jason Kenney

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In the grey —Alberta’s relationship with oil in a changing world
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Image courtesy of The Gateway

This week we are lucky to have co-authors Elizabeth Gierl and Sofia Osborne read their feature article entitled “In the Grey” that was published in the April 2019 edition of the University of Alberta’s student magazine, The Gateway. In the piece, Gierl and Osborne set out to explore climate change, the Global oil market and Alberta’s complex relationships to the industry in the province. They also pose a question glossed over in mainstream discourse regarding Alberta’s oil production – who will even be buying it?

After the authors read their piece, Terra Informer Charlotte Thomasson sat down with them to delve into some of the research that went into the piece as well as to reflect on the current situation for energy production in the province as well as globally.

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Download program log here.

Elections and the Environment
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Alberta Legislature building. Photo cred: srichardson23

This week on Terra Informa, we talk about the recently released Canada’s Changing Climate Report, which inspired us to revisit an archive about the 2013 flooding in Calgary. We also hear Alice Major recite some poetry from her book Welcome to the Anthropocene, and get a run-down on Alberta’s upcoming 2019 election.

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Revisit: An interview with Tamara Lee about the 2013 Calgary floods

Terra Informer Chris Chang-Yen Phillips speaks with Calgary resident Tamara Lee about resilience and her experience of the Calgary flood in her neighbourhood of Sunnyside.

Alberta Election 2019

With a provincial election on April 16th and advance polling from April 9-13, Terra Informer Sofia Osborne gives us an overview of where to vote, why you should vote, and where the two major parties – NDP and UCP – stand on election issues ranging from child care to the budget, education,  healthcare, and one of our most important, environment and the carbon tax. Check out the CBC Vote Compass if you want to know how your values align with the major parties. Don’t forget to register for this years election, as your vote truly does make a difference!

Alice Major poetry

To get you feeling reflective about the environment and your election decision-making priorities, we included some poetry written and read by Edmonton’s first Poet Laureate Alice Major. The works “Red Sky” and “Medias Res” can be found in the collection Welcome to the Anthropocene.

Headlines

The recently leaked Canada’s Changing Climate Report includes the works of 43 federal and university based scientists, and is a two-year mass review of published literature on climate change. The report highlights how Canada is warming faster than predicted, at twice the rate of the global average, and warming is extreme in the northern parts of the country. Higher rainfall is another observation, especially in winter, and increases the risk of flooding across the provinces and territories. While the report is intimidating, it is not a reason to despair as worst-case scenarios can still be avoided if citizens raise their voices and unite to demand change from corporations and governments.

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The Re Re Re Re Return of Terra Misinforma

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APRIL FOOLS HAS STRUCK AGAIN. Tune in to Terra Informa as we travel in time.

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What would the world look like if we made drastic changes and prevented climatic warming? How would politics change, stocks, resource market trends? How are people shopping now, what is the latest tech? Take a journey with our reporters as we travel the world and delve into the nitty gritty of 2030.

Download program log here .