As the written version of this interview was published six years ago, I did a quick Google Search to see if the information is still relevant.The results:
One of my wife’s fondest memories of Germany is the well maintained trails going through idyllic forests. She was visiting relatives during the late 1960’s and early 70’s. My impressions are both much later, and connected to the development of renewables. After returning home in 2015, I asked Andreas König, Head of Wildlife Biology and Wildlife Management at the Technical University of Munich, ‘Where are Germany’s bears, wolves and eagles?’
During the course of an interview with Gwen Barlee, of the Wilderness Committee, I asked if bees are an indicator species.
This transformed what started out as a conversation about the Canadian Standing Senate Committee’s findings on bees and bee health into a wider discussion. If bees are an indicator species, then the massive bee die-offs are another indication of what we are doing to our planet.
The European arrival in British Columbia resulted in an explosive growth of the deer population. This is particularly true in the Gulf Islands, where there natural predators (cougars, bears and wolves) have virtually been eliminated. Deer populations can be as high as 170 animals per square-kilometer. Now there are reports of plant species defending themselves against deer.
May 29 is the “Day of the Honeybee.” BC is celebrating the growth of an industry that started with the arrival of two hives in Victoria during 1858. There are now 47,000 colonies, whose activities a $250-million-a-year agricultural industry. BC also produces $10 million worth of honey. The provincial Minister of Agriculture, Norm Letnik, says this is a time to remember how much bees contribute to “our lives, our economy and our food supply.” Gwen Barlee suggests we should celebrate the Day of the Honeybee by Banning Neonicotinoids.
As many as 70 million sockeye salmonmay return to the Fraser this year. These numbers have not been seen for decades and are quite a stark contrast to 1.6 million catch that sparked the Cohen commission a few years ago. That was when Dr Kristi Miller, head of Molecular Genetics at the Department of Fisheries and Ocean’s (DFO) Pacific Biological Station, testified that a ‘viral signature’ of a disease was contributing to as high as 90% pre-spawn mortality in returning Fraser sockeye. One of the reasons there is so much hope for this year, is the returning 2010 run were not infected. But, according to biologist Alexandra Morton, the real key to fighting for the future of BC’s fisheries is Dr Kristi Miller’s lab in Nanaimo.
