Your support hard at work

IN THIS EMAIL Your right to a healthy environment Taking learning outdoors You. Outside. In nature. Protecting grzly bears Transforming Canada’s energy system to healthier renewables Walking for the Earth Defending our oceans Nurturing the Earth and other mothers 2012 Annual Report

You power the science and educational work of the David Suzuki Foundation every single day. And your support helped us achieve important results in the last few months.

Thank you!

You helped: launch a new initiative to establish the right to a healthy environment in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms; inspire tens of thousands to come together for climate action; teach kids (and their teachers!) about learning in the great outdoors; protect at-risk grizzlies; and research ways to move Canada’s energy system towards healthier renewables.

These are your results. Because we simply can’t do any of this without you.

Please take a moment to read through the stories below. Know that the successes are yours. You are the power behind beneficial change in Canada that has an impact on the whole world.

With thanks,

Peter Robinson
CEO, David Suzuki Foundation

Photo Drew Brayshaw via Flickr Your right to a healthy environment More than 100 nations recognize their citizens’ legal right to clean air, safe water and fertile soil. In those countries, individuals have real power to protect nature and participate in decisions that affect the Earth we share. Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms is silent on the right to a healthy environment. We’re working with Ecojustice to change that. Thousands of people across the country who participated in our February telephone town hall featuring constitutional lawyer David Boyd loved the idea. Read David’s answers to your excellent questions and more about our goal. (top)

Photo: Jode Roberts Taking learning outdoors Kids who fall in love with nature grow up caring about protecting it. Yet 70 per cent of Canadian youth spend less than an hour outdoors each day! Connecting With Nature, our free curriculum guide for teachers, is filled with fun, interactive activities exploring issues like biodiversity, growing food and conserving energy – and every lesson gets kids outside! Currently for grades four through six, we’re expanding the program to cover other grades, too. Educators said our (outdoor!) teacher training program was a professional highlight. (top)

Photo Sahara Hair via Flickr You. Outside. In nature. Science shows what most of us know intuitively: spending time in nature makes us healthier and more productive. It boosts energy levels and immune function; lowers the risk of diabetes, heart attack and colon cancer; reduces stress, anger and depression; and increases creativity, curiosity, concentration and problem-solving ability. We’re asking Canadians to spend 30 minutes per day outside for the month of May in our national 30X30 Nature Challenge. It’s never too late to get hooked on the great outdoors! Read more. (top)

Photo Kootenayborn via Flickr Protecting grizzly bears Grizzlies are an “indicator” species. When their needs for healthy forests, abundant food and clean water are being met, so are the requirements of other creatures – including humans. Canada is one of their last safe havens on Earth. Thanks to the work of David Suzuki Foundation spatial ecologist Lisa Rockwell, the B.C. government released historical grizzly data never made available for any other species. Her maps (PDF) help communicate urgent information about species-at-risk better than mere words ever could. (top)

Photo Tim Wilson via Flickr Transforming Canada’s energy system to healthier renewables Our research reveals that Canada has enough renewable energy sources – hyrdro power, solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, wave and tide – to achieve the deep greenhouse gas reductions we need to help put the brakes on global climate change. We’ll need to be more efficient in the ways we produce and consume energy – which means looking at everything from public transportation to building design to manufacturing and our individual behaviours. But we can do it. Check out the latest report from the Trottier Energy Futures Project and read our Science Matters column. (top)

Walking for the Earth On April 21st, some 50,000 people braved the cold for the annual Montreal Earth Day walk to seek an end to fossil fuel development and raise awareness about climate change. David Suzuki Foundation Directeur Général Karel Mayrand spoke about the need for dialogue between government, the public and members of the scientific community, and inspired over 10,000 to sign our Declaration of Interdependence, now available in 18 languages. (top)

Defending our oceans Now five major western Canadian seafood retailers – Buy-Low Foods, Overwaitea Food Group, Whole Foods Markets, Federated Co-op and Safeway – have partnered with SeaChoice, our sustainable seafood program, to develop products and policies, and help customers understand that healthy oceans are good for everyone. The ecological wonders of the Pacific North Coast were profiled through 100 amazing Pacific Ocean Stories and this month we launched our Ocean Keepers campaign to help ensure Canada’s coastal waters are protected for decades to come. (top)

Nurturing the Earth and other mothers Mother’s Day may be a greeting card company invention, but it’s a good time to honour those to whom we owe our lives – including the Earth. Thanks to our Queen of Green, Tovah Paglaro, you can give the moms in your life a special treat that’s also easy on Mother Earth: this non-toxic body scrub. (top)

2012 Annual Report The David Suzuki Foundation’s Annual Report highlights work done by our staff and volunteers, with messages from our co-founders, David Suzuki and Tara Cullis, and our CEO, Peter Robinson. It also includes our financial statements, carbon-footprint information and a list of our donors. Look back at the stories of the past year through our 2012 Annual Report. (top)