EcoWest News, August 4, 2026

Welcome to EcoWest News, a weekly round-up of news and resources that you can put to use in addressing environmental issues and protecting the wild in your community.

Biodiversity

Offshore wind farms can pose risks to birds and marine life, but their foundations also serve as artificial reefs, providing essential habitat for oysters, lobsters, seals, and other species. “Vattenfall—the company that owns Hollandse Kust Zuid—says it takes measures to support biodiversity above and below sea level … the turbines occasionally get shut down during migration periods to allow birds a safer passage, and the structures were deliberately designed by the company with larger-than-usual water replenishment holes to allow fish and other marine life to enter and exit.” [Atmos]

Every single photo on iNaturalist can potentially be used for scientific insight, from determining if insect damage makes a difference to fruit production to learning that 3 species of spiders can be found in India, despite the lack of previous records. [iNaturalist]

Wetlands & Watersheds

Unregulated wetland drainage on Saskatchewan farmland is drawing renewed criticism from producers and environmental advocates who believe the province’s hands‑off approach is accelerating habitat loss, increasing flood risk, and undermining watershed health. [Sask Today]

First Nations Fisheries Council of BC has developed a Watershed Security Strategy to establish a shared vision and a practical pathway toward long-term watershed security in BC. [First Nations Fisheries Council]

Drought Ready: From Crisis Response to Community and Watershed Resilience in British Columbia says droughts and water scarcity are predictable, longer-term issues that are escalating and recurring. Community choices about land and water use can proactively mitigate, adapt to, and prepare for drought. [POLIS Project on Ecological Governance]

Canada’s Arctic

Go behind the scenes in one of the world’s most remote ecosystems in Wildlife Conservation Society Canada’s new film Listening to the Arctic. [YouTube]

But Does It Work?

Despite its role in many net-zero scenarios, CCS remains a highly contested technology with unmet expectations and slow deployment. [Carbon Brief]

Searching for Alternatives

A deadly experiment hopes to determine what allows some elms to stave off Dutch elm disease more effectively than others. [Grist]

Sweden plans to ban forever chemicals in consumer products by 2028: “PFAS should not be found in clothing, cosmetics, kitchen utensils and other everyday products when there are working alternatives.” [EuroNews]

Making a Difference

HALLO (Humans and Algorithms Listening for Orcas) and W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardians are trying to protect the whales that live off the coast of BC. [CBC]

Dark Sky Places are using creative methods to celebrate and protect our night skies. Pickett-Pogue Dark Sky Park integrates information about the value of natural darkness into every evening program. In Colorado, two communities provide their schools with books to help students explore science and the natural world through dark sky-related topics. Moab’s lighting compliance has increased from 4-33% through targeted infrastructure improvements, including retrofitting decorative downtown lighting and planning for city-wide streetlight replacements. [Dark Sky]

The Nupqu (“NOOP-koo”) native plant nursery north of Cranbrook grows a wide range of grasses, shrubs, and herbaceous flowering plants to restore ecosystems and wildlife habitat that’s been disturbed by industrial development. [The Tyee]

Communications

At this year’s Science Writers and Communicators of Canada conference, “storytelling kept coming up as a tool for conveying complex messages and sparking important conversations”. Good storytelling requires finding the key message (or numbers) and building around them, identifying your audience, and using emotion to engage but not overload readers. It involves “writing about who is affected by the science, what they experience, and why the findings matter, instead of stopping at the technical result.” [Michelle L. Boulton, LinkedIn]

Nature’s Wonders

The transformation of a Silver-spotted Tiger Moth from caterpillar to moth. [Sustainable Adventure]

The incredible diversity of birdsong is based on a few standard motifs: three types of trills, three types of whistles, chaotic notes and harmonies. The environment the birds evolved in shapes their song. [BBC]

Meet Saskatchewan's threatened 'butcher bird' that impales its prey, effectively compensating for dainty songbird feet that don’t have talons. [CBC]

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/apmckinlay/27940155942

EcoFriendly West informs and encourages initiatives that support Western Canada’s natural environment through its online publication and the Nature Companion website/app. Like us on Facebook, follow us on BlueSky, X, and Mastodon, or subscribe by email.