Work to conserve life on Earth
What we do:
We are a registered charity
From a vantage point on the moon surface one may be able to see a living blue Earth teeming with life floating lonely in a pitch black sky above a desolete lifeless moonscape. Without life Earth is not much different from the moon. Climate change, increasing biodiversity loss, wholes in the life protecting ozone blanket, pollutions, etc. continue to impact the earth's life support system. Correct what we have done wrong and develop our society in a sustainable manner with minimal mistakes from now and onward are the sure ways to prevent a man caused cataclysmic environment disaster that could push the Earth toward having the condition like that on the moon or Mars (Image Courtesy of NASA).
Last update:
10 July 2011
Copyrights 2011
Tropical Conservancy
Back Issues
Biodiversity volume 01 (2000) - volume 11 (2010)
Samples of Biodiversity
Past Special Issues
Biodiversity at Taylor & Francis Group
Ottawa Greenbelt Sand Dune Conservation
Slack Sand Dune Restoration
Field Excursions & Workshops
• The Ottawa sand dune system is a 10,000 year old ecosystem surviving since the last ice age.
The sand dune ecosystem is unique, harbouring a number of plant and animal species restricted
to well drained, open areas with exposed fine white sand. The aptly named Ghost Tiger Beetle, a
species well-adapted to the dune system, is perfectly camouflaged in the sand, rendering it nearly
invisible. This beetle is now threatened with extirpation (locally extinct) from the Ottawa Region.
• As with sand dunes across North America, those occurring in Ottawa, including the Constance
Bay Sand Dune (CBSD) and Slack Sand Dune (SSD), are rapidly disappearing due to a lack of
understanding of the biodiversity value of this important ecosystem.
• The status of sand dune systems in Canada was brought up for discussion by COSEWIC (the
Committee On the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) as several moths, butterflies and
beetles that live in sand dunes are at risk of extirpation or extinction. In Ottawa, several scientists
have studied the SSD on a regular basis and have noticed the fast growing balsam poplars that are
encroaching the dune remnants and the organic material that is thickly accumulated on the ground
could destroy the SSD entirely in the next 10-15 years.
Sand Dune Team
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Slack Sand Dune (located on Slack Road between Merivale Road and Woodroffe Avenue, Ottawa, Canada) - Photo April 2011
In collaboration with:
Funded by:
Ottawa Greenbelt
Sand Dune Conservation
TEAM
Dr. P.T. Dang, Ph.D.
Scientist - Biodiversity Assessment
Project Director
Stephen Aitken
Project Coordinator
Dr. Henri Goulet, Ph.D.
Joanne Hakkaku
Community Engagement
Volunteer Coordinator
Nina Edson
Volunteer Recruitment
Andrew Mott
Field Operation
T.D. Trinh
Logistic - Team Coordinator
Remaining visible remnant of the Slack Sand Dune located at Slack Road & Vaan Drive, Nepean.
Interactive Learning:
Merivale High School Students Excursion to the Slack Sand Dune
Date: 12 May 2011
Excursion Photos
by T.D. Trinh,
Ottawa Greenbelt Sand Dune project
EXCURSION AGENDA
(1) Brief presentations (20 minutes):
a. By Andrew Mott, Naturalist, Tropical Conservancy
b. By Dr. Henri Goulet, Scientist, Central Experimental Farm
(2) Slack Sand Dune tour and Interactive Learning
(Guided by Drs Henri Goulet, P.T. Dang and SD Team).
-Why the SSD is in danger of being lost?
-Why organic material, including leaf litter, dead branches, and other debris,
is harmful to the sand dune ecosystem?
-How sand dunes maintain their integrity naturally?
-What are the iconic species in a sand dune?
-What benefit the SSD has for the Ottawa community?
-What you can do to preserve the SSD?
Tropical Conservancy's
Registered Charity Number:
89518 7763 RR0001
