It is an exciting time for birds in Halifax, Nova Scotia! On Thursday August 1st 2024, Jess Lewis, the Conservation Programs Coordinator of Nature Nova Scotia, and Dr. Amy Mui, an Earth and Environmental professor at Dalhousie University, presented to the Halifax Environment and Sustainability Standing Committee. Their mission was to raise awareness for the Bird Friendly Coalition and push for bird-friendly building design in Halifax. The Bird Friendly Halifax Coalition is composed of individuals from multiple organizations such as Ecology Action Center, Nature Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Birding Society, Hope for Wildlife, Birds Canada, Dalhousie University and many more. Together, these groups work to raise awareness and protect vital bird habitats across the region.
Bird Friendly Halifax has been actively working toward achieving re-certification through Nature Canada’s Bird Friendly City program, which evaluates how bird-friendly a city is across categories such as habitat protection, community engagement, and threat reduction. In 2022, Halifax scored 28 out of 50 points in Nature Canada’s Bird Friendly Cities Scoring Rubric, achieving Entry-level status. This made Halifax the first and only city within the Atlantic region to gain this certification!
While this achievement marks a promising beginning, there is still considerable room for improvement. In Canada alone, 62 million birds are killed by window strikes each year, which poses a significant threat to their populations. Bird Friendly Halifax has responded by launching Operation Window Strike, an initiative focused on reducing this deadly hazard. In light of these efforts, the presentation by Jess Lewis and Dr. Amy Mui was instrumental in driving the next steps toward improving bird safety in the city.
Thanks to their incredible efforts, a motion has been approved by Halifax Regional Council’s Environment and Sustainability Standing Committee to research bird-friendly building design standards! This marks an important step forward in protecting local biodiversity and urban bird populations, ensuring the city becomes a safer place for birds to thrive. The staff report on bird-friendly design standards is expected to provide architects and developers with various design options that prioritize bird safety. These guidelines will hopefully lead to the implementation of structures that are both functional and protective of local bird populations. Thanks to Bird Friendly Halifax, the city is paving the way for a more sustainable, bird-friendly future, where urban development and wildlife protection go hand in hand.
To learn more and follow along on this journey, visit: https://naturens.ca/actions/birdfriendlyhalifax/
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