The Greenbelt, Ontario's Beautiful and Overlooked Accessory :)

So I've been reading for my online class, mostly about Land Use planning, and how it relates to environmental stewardship, which reminded me of an old post from my previous class:

Greenbelt  vs Private Property 

Is it our right to own private property?  If you own property should you be entitled to do what you wish with it?  I admit where I live there is not a whole lot of Greenbelt action it is when I am travelling that I notice the Greenbelt signs, what’s that all about? The Greenbelt is 1.8 million acres (728,000 hectares) surrounding the Golden Horseshoe, Niagara Escarpment, the Oak Ridges Moraine, Rouge Park, agricultural land, pristine environment, and hundreds of rural towns and villages (1). The Greenbelt was created by legislation in February of 2005 (2). The purpose of the Greenbelt is to protect key environmentally sensitive land and farmlands from urban development and sprawl such as forests, watersheds, and green space communities (1). 

1. http://www.greenbelt.ca/about-greenbelt 
2. http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_05g01_e.htm 

I believe that the Greenbelt act is necessary along with other acts on development and planning, environmental sensitive areas, etc.  Yes as a landowner you should have freedom over your land.  But you should be a responsible landowner.  You need to realize that the land that you own is part of something bigger and you need to be cautious of your actions and how it will affect the rest of the land. You cannot own all the fish in a lake or all the trees in a forest, to suggest you own all of the trees on your homestead sound’s a bit out there, do you then own all the animals that it provides habitat for.  A person cannot own parts of a forest, or watershed just because it lies within their property lines.  They do own their buildings and have a right to build on the land but must follow the policies and procedures that go along with it.  If the land was going to be used for industrial use or public buildings such as schools it would have to be planned and approved according to ministry guidelines, so why should a private land owner be entitled to destroy the land?   The Green Belt Act protects our land and we should abide by it, it is in our best interest to sustain the land and the species within it.  I feel that we do have a right to own land, but within that right lies responsibility to the land itself.  If the land should not be further developed then perhaps it has already been degraded and we should either move on to new land, or try to fix what is left of the land or what can be done to the existing space.  

This quote really says it all: " the reality is that the farmer, the chef, the scientist, the cyclist and many
rural residents all share a passion for the same thing – Ontario’s greatest environmental statement, the Greenbelt." 

I really wish the Greenbelt would expand to Southwestern Ontario, Ie London, Windsor, and beyond :).   I have found lots of resources, and will read them when I find some time.   

 

Trees, shrubs, grass, what, really?

A few weeks ago, I went for a walk in the woods, but it wasn't just a fun walk.   It was fun but, I was there to do a project.   I take an online class, Intro to Environmental Stewardship, and my assignment was to pick a site and go out and do field work to do an environmental inventory.  Truth be told I had no idea what I was doing, I had no experience with this and no real education/knowledge.   I chose an Environmentally Significant Area (ESA) by my house called Meadowliliy Woods/Nature Preserve in London, ON.

The majority of the assignment was based on tree and plant identification, which was ironic the only tool I had was a mini pocket guide on trees.  Tree identification in the field was harder than I thought.
This is an introductory class, with self directed study, no notes on plants, nothing in our books, if I could suggest anything to an instructor it would be that there be some sort of identification section in the course manuals or textbooks, or some additional online notes, videos, audio lectures.  If this was an actual class there could have been a field trip or leaves brought into the class.   There was no previous experience or class required on plants.  However, I did enjoy learning this process myself, but I feel like if I had prior or proper knowledge and experience that I wouldn't have spent so much time working on my ID.    
I mean I could tell maples and oaks by the leaves but that was about it, but not even the right species.  I  lot of my identification was later by the use of pictures I took and samples of leaves, as well as my own memory, and research of what was in the study area.   This literally took me days to identify trees and plants, at first look I may have thought one species, but looking forward I realized it was something else.  You have to use leaf shape, number of leaves, ridges, veins, arrangement of leaves and so much more . There were so many trees, shrubs, vines, wild weeds, and flowers, I could never have ided them all.    As exhausting as this was, I actually really enjoyed it, when I finally figured out what I thought each plant was.  
An environmental inventory and plant ID are to things I can now add to my toolbelt and for that I am thankful, I can even add this assignment to my portfolio.   Who would have thought a class project could be so useful?  Here are a few pictures of my findings.  For more you can see my facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.989493431279.2477159.120811080&type=3

I haven't blogged in a while, seems I've been busy

I meant to do a blog about my canvassing experience, but never did.  It was not an easy task, going door to door trying to educate people on the clean energy act, and to consider energy when voting.  It seemed easy enough, hand out a pamphlet and ask 2 questions.  A lot of people were "not interested" when I wasn't selling or asking for money, only handing out a pamphlet and asking them if they knew about energy and would consider when voting.  I just found it frustrating that people were uninterested before they even let me talk, I did not go to homes with no soliciting or junk mail signs.   However, when I found someone who was interested and truely cared it was rather exciting and encouraging, it made me feel like people actually cared or wanted to know more.  You could tell when people were interested in the issue.  Those that weren't and were very negative, seemed to have misconceptions and even trying to clear them up, they were unwilling to listen or be informed of the facts.   There was also the misconception that I was working for a party, an I had to keep insisting I was not and for them to look up their party's green energy tactics.  On the last day we actually ran into the NDP candidate, they thought we were conservative, very awkward. 
It was a great experience over all talking to people, going door to door.  There were major hassles, being short flyers, and delivery postponing our work, but we made up for it in the end.  I also made a good friend, Kyla I hope we stay in touch.  
The only thing I would have to say is that the delivery method for the campaign, the flyers were not very informative to the average person, should have defined FEED IN TARRIF (FIT), and other things so voters actually understand.  We should have also been provided with more information to give to voters to clear up misconceptions,  I had so many people who had the facts wrong and had a hard time trying to explain it to them. 

Thanksgiving, giving thanks for my strength

Now, I have been through a lot in the past few months.  And then I would have thought I really don't have much to be thankful for I lost my grandpa, a best friend, and a chance at a dream  job, all at once.   It was hard and they were not typical losses.   Instead of complaining about how much that sucked, I take it all as a learning experience.   What I am most thankful for is my strength.  I never knew how strong I was until I had no other choice.  Strength is a powerful thing, the only thing that can bring you up when your down, that can help move you forward.   It also takes strength to cry, its not weak, its weak to hide your emotions, it takes a strong person to cry and show their true feelings in my opinion.  My strength is whats gotten me through all of this and continues to get me through each day, some are worse than others.
I am also very thankful for my friends and family, and all of their support through it  all.  They have all been great, even just checking on me or little things, talking, whatever I need.  I appreciate it and would do the same for any one of them.