Latest news with #AssiniboineParkConservancy
CTV News
01-08-2025
- Science
- CTV News
Potential impact of wildfires on polar bear denning habitats
A male polar bear walks along the shore of Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba on Monday Aug. 23, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Sean Kilpatrick Some Manitoba researchers are studying the impact that ongoing wildfires could have on polar bears and their denning habitats. Stephen Peterson, the Director of Conservation and Research at Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park Conservancy, has been focusing his research on Wapusk National Park, near Churchill in northern Manitoba. 'We've been working on looking at where polar bear dens are and where they are at high risk of wildfires,' he said. Churchill is considered the polar bear capital of the world, and the Wapusk National Park is one of the largest known polar bear maternity denning areas. It's along the western shores of the Hudson Bay, an area where these animals spend most of their time in the winter. Sea ice is a natural habitat for polar bears. It's where they hunt and mate. When the ice on the Hudson Bay breaks up, the bears come ashore. Female bears, including those that are pregnant, head inland to the denning areas. Due to climate change, however, the amount of time for polar bears to live on the ice is declining. According to Parks Canada, the number of days when sea ice is available has decreased by 25 days since the 1980s. Along with dwindling sea ice, wildfires could also potentially impact polar bear habitat. Peterson warns a warming climate and a drying subarctic landscape are now increasing the fire risk up north, which can reduce the peat and the trees that give structure to the denning habitats. This is placing polar bears in ever-increasing danger. 'If we start eroding and picking away at that denning habitat that is so important for producing new cubs and keeping those populations sustainable, then polar bears are getting another whammy that will make them less likely to be in Manitoba in the long-term,' he said. According to Manitoba's fire map, there is one small active fire in Wapusk National Park, and two other fires in the region. Peterson hopes to build a map that highlights the areas with high-risk fire danger in the north, to help inform wildfire fighting efforts in the future. 'The work that we have been doing is can we figure out where the line is, where we might want to mobilize firefighters in order to manage a fire, so it doesn't destroy critical polar bear denning habitats.' 'The future of polar bears is not great': U of M researcher University of Manitoba professor Meaghan Jones has studied the impact climate change is having on polar bears. In her ongoing study, 'Climate Change, age acceleration, and the erosion of fitness in polar bears,' she and her team are looking at biological aging, which means researching whether these polar bears are aging faster than expected because of the impacts of climate change. Examining tissue samples from polar bears between the early-mid 1980s to 2023, she discovered that for every degree of climate warming, these polar bears along the western shores of the Hudson Bay are aging by one year. She says the climate has warmed three degrees over the last four decades. 'As we are losing ice in the Arctic due to climate change, bears are spending more time swimming, which is five times more energetically intensive than walking. They are using energy faster. They are having to work a lot harder to find mates and food,' she said. 'The oldest bears live to be about 30 years, so aging up to three years over the course of their lifespan, that's a 10 per cent change in the rate of aging over that time,' she said. The study has primarily focused on polar bears on the western side of the Hudson Bay, but now that's being expanded to all polar bears throughout the Canadian Arctic region. Jones is also looking into whether polar bears can adapt to this new climate as the planet continues to warm. 'Climate change is happening at a pace that is unprecedented for our world,' she said. 'We've actually seen very limited evidence for these populations to be able to adapt to the rapid change that we see. We are concerned about the population declines over time.' Jones says the Arctic is expected to continue to warm at this rate for at least another 100 years, even as scientists and researchers, like herself, are mitigating changes right now. 'We are really concerned about this species in the future,' she said.
CBC
29-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Ten Commandments monument back in Assiniboine Park after 8-year absence
The Ten Commandments stone monument, removed from Assiniboine Park in 2017 for the construction of The Leaf, is back on display. It was reinstalled in a grove near The Leaf, close to its original location, on July 25. "This quiet, peaceful setting was chosen carefully in an effort to balance the needs of all park visitors and respect the different perspectives they may have on the matter," a spokesperson with the Assiniboine Park Conservancy said. The monument was donated to Winnipeg in 1965 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles in an effort by the group to erect similar monuments across North America. The Assiniboine Park monument was the only one installed in Canada. The rest were placed in the U.S. In spring 2017, the monument at the park was removed and placed in storage and at the time, there was uncertainty about what should be done with it and whether the park was the best location for a religious tribute such as that. In 2019, the Conservancy approached the Fraternal Order of Eagles to see if they were interested in moving it to a new location. Those plans were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, the spokesperson said. In early 2024, the Eagles told the Conservancy they no longer wished to take possession of the monument and relocate it. Over the past year, working with the City of Winnipeg and consulting with stakeholders, the Conservancy ultimately agreed to reinstall it in the park, the spokesperson said.
Winnipeg Free Press
28-07-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Ten Commandments monument returned to spot near longtime home in Assiniboine Park
A monument to the Ten Commandments has returned to Assiniboine Park following years of debate over whether it was an appropriate home for the religious statue. The 60-year-old monument, which was moved into storage during the construction of The Leaf in 2017, was reinstalled Friday, Assiniboine Park spokesperson Lindsay Hughes said in an email statement. The large stone statue now sits beside some trees near a footpath in The Grove, a themed garden area located southeast of The Leaf building, near the monument's original location. TYLER SEARLE / FREE PRESS The Ten Commandments monument was reinstalled at a new location near a copse of trees south-east of The Leaf. 'It was placed in storage and, at the time, there was uncertainty about what should be done with it and whether the park is the best location for this type of monument,' Hughes wrote. 'This quiet, peaceful setting was chosen carefully in an effort to balance the needs of all park visitors and respect the different perspectives they may have on the matter.' The new location was selected after nearly one year of consultation with City of Winnipeg officials and other stakeholders, Hughes said. Assiniboine Park asked the city to review the future of the monument in 2022, under the Welcoming Winnipeg policy — which helps guide the removal or renaming of historical markers with the goal of reconciliation. City council's executive policy committee held a vote last September and ruled the monument should remain in a public space. 'Basically, as a council, we directed our administration, our CAO, to work with the Assiniboine Park Conservancy and community members. They have done that. They followed the process that council set up for them. So I'm pleased with that,' Mayor Scott Gillingham said Monday. Assiniboine Park previously intended to return the monument to the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, which donated it to the city in 1965. 'Initially, they responded favourably. We made tentative arrangements to move the monument, at our expense, to a location of their choosing and informed the City of Winnipeg of our plans. These plans were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic,' Hughes said. The fraternity briefly showed interest in taking over possession of the monument again in 2024, but ultimately decided against it, she said. 'This quiet, peaceful setting was chosen carefully in an effort to balance the needs of all park visitors and respect the different perspectives they may have on the matter.'–Lindsay Hughes Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. Requests for comment from the fraternity's local branch were not returned Monday. Some in Winnipeg previously expressed concern over the future of the monument, including philanthropist Gail Asper, who called for it to be returned to the park. About 1,200 people signed an online petition calling for the same, and several delegates spoke in favour of the monument ahead of council's vote last September. Asper was not available for comment Monday. The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba. If you appreciate that coverage, help us do more! Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow us to deepen our reporting about faith in the province. Thanks! BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Tyler SearleReporter Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press's city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic's creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler. Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CTV News
24-07-2025
- General
- CTV News
Nearly 200 endangered butterflies raised in Manitoba returned to wild
An ongoing program to help rehabilitate the butterfly population in Manitoba is celebrating a successful release this year. The Assiniboine Park Conservancy and the Nature Conservancy of Canada recently released 175 endangered adult Poweshiek skipperling butterflies to the Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve in the RM of Stuartburn. In the past eight years, there have been 719 butterflies returned to the wild. 'We are very excited and motivated by the success achieved this year in all parts of the program,' said Kirstyn Eckhardt, conservation programs manager with Assiniboine Park Conservancy, in a statement. 'The results are encouraging and a testament to many years of work, research and collaborative effort.' The Poweshiek skipperling was once plentiful across the prairies, the Assiniboine Park Conservancy said, but its population declined during the 1990s and 2000s due to pesticide use, habitat loss, extreme weather events and climate change. The conservancy has also collected over 1,500 eggs that will be hatched and cared for at the Assiniboine Park Zoo in an incubator when they become caterpillars.
CTV News
16-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Hundreds of trees to be planted in Assiniboine Park with new funding
The Assiniboine Park Conservancy is getting a boost from the federal government to plant more trees in the park. The Assiniboine Park Conservancy is getting a boost from the federal government to plant more trees in the park. Hundreds of trees are coming to Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park with the help of some new money. On Tuesday, the Government of Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities announced joint funding of nearly $17 million to plant over 77,000 new trees around the country. The money will go towards 27 projects, including $150,000 to Assiniboine Park Conservancy, which will use the funds to plant 600 trees in Assiniboine Park. According to the government, the new trees will improve Assiniboine Park's biodiversity and forest health, while addressing the loss of trees from Dutch elm disease. It will also help the city achieve its target for tree canopy coverage. Gerald Dieleman, senior director of horticulture, said the news is exciting for the team at Assiniboine Park Conservancy. 'It's a goal here to increase our tree coverage across the park, and this funding helps support that,' he said. Dieleman said the conservancy plans to plant tree species that will thrive over the next 25 years, including mountain ash, Manitoba maples, lindens, and hackberries. He added the planting will take place over the next three years. 'Losing trees to Dutch elm disease, elm trees in particular, is a large concern because elms are the dominant species across the city and in the park too,' he said. 'These replacement trees are different species, and that's one of the goals of this program—to diversify the plantings across the park and the zoo, which is what we are doing here.' The government money will also be used to plant more than 19,000 trees in Kitchener, Ont.; 1,200 trees in Charlottetown, PEI; and 3,750 in Ottawa.
