From the Alberta Ecotrust website:
We highly recommend all interested parties contact our grant team before you begin the application process to ensure fit. You can reach the grants team by emailing [email protected] or by calling 1-800-465-2147. Read more about Community Grants
The global COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated an economic downturn that has governments across Canada and around the world set to make huge investments in stimulus and recovery spending. Many are viewing this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to invest in a just and sustainable green economy. Read more about Issue Brief: Green Stimulus & a Just Recovery
Updated: September 21, 2020
The province is planning to close 20 parks sites and delist another 164 sites, although the timing is still uncertain. Internal government documents show there was no analysis of costs, public were excluded from consultation and land sales have been considered. Despite a government announcement of investments in Alberta parks infrastructure, the government indicated its intention to move forward with the previously-announced closures.
Calgary – CPAWS Northern and Southern Alberta Chapters are pleased to see the government’s investment in parks infrastructure. However, we are dismayed to hear the Minister continues to move forward with removing 175 parks from the Parks System. The Premier stated in the announcement that “Albertans are a stubborn bunch” and we agree. Albertans from across the province continue to ask for a commitment from this government that all of these parks will remain protected within the parks system. Read more about Government investment in Alberta Parks infrastructure is encouraging, but 175 parks still set to be removed
Updated: September 10, 2020
The budget for the joint provincial-federal Oil Sands Monitoring Program will be reduced by around 25% this year, citing less field work due to the COVID-19 outbreak. AEN members discussed the budget reduction on a call on August 26 and are seeking clarification from the Oil Sands Monitoring Program. Read more about Issue Brief: Oil Sands Monitoring
CPAWS Southern and Northern Alberta chapters are encouraged to see the government’s investment of $9.7-million in restoration projects to benefit habitat for Alberta’s threatened caribou and native trout. The focus on initiatives like restoring disturbances in caribou habitat, improving connectivity in fragmented southern landscapes, and restoring important native fish habitats are important and overdue steps towards species at risk recovery. These initiatives also benefit Albertans by providing important employment opportunities and contributing to our economic recovery. Read more about Alberta’s habitat restoration projects a step in the right direction, but need to consider larger conservation goals
Alberta Wilderness Association has learned from a Jasper National Park website that Jasper’s Maligne caribou are officially extirpated, and that each of the remaining two caribou populations managed by Parks Canada are now too small to recover on their own. Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) calls on Parks Canada to prevent the extirpation of Jasper’s Tonquin and Brazeau caribou and to manage Maligne range access for eventual caribou re-introduction there. Read more about Emergency Measures Needed for Jasper’s Few Remaining Caribou After Maligne Caribou Die Off
EDMONTON, AB – Jasper National Park has announced one of the four caribou herds in the park, the Maligne caribou herd, is considered extirpated after several years of aerial surveys with no sightings. The official change in status comes from an update on Parks Canada’s webpage for Woodland Caribou in Jasper National Park. Read more about Extirpation of caribou herd in Jasper National Park should trigger urgent action for remaining herds
Updated: September 3, 2020
The Coalspur Vista mine is one of the largest thermal coal mines in Canada, and the proposed expansion could almost triple its capacity. Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson declined in December 2019 to order a federal impact assessment, but he reversed this decision on July 30 so the project will undergo a federal impact assessment. Coalspur Mines has launched a legal challenge to the Minister's decision.
The Government of Alberta’s plan to remove 164 sites from the provincial parks system will take a significant cut out of Alberta’s most endangered and least protected Natural Regions: the Parkland, Grasslands and Foothills. Between these three regions, 85 sites will lose their protected status, resulting in the loss of nearly 9,000 hectares of protection – equivalent to around eight times the size of Ghost Lake or one-half the size of Elk Island National Park. Read more about Losing protection where we need it most
