Spirit Bear Youth Coalition founder Simon Jackson has been honoured for his writing on conservation by being selected for the International League of Conservation Writers in the membership category of Fellow.

Please join us on December 1st in Vancouver for an evening of celebration, inspiration, and change making in support of child rights and development.

Spirit Bear Youth Coalition partner International Institute for Child Rights and Development is an unparalleled agent of change in on-the-ground impact for children and development across our planet – a group who has strengthened rights and voices for those who had none.

There are few people, and even fewer NGOs, in our society who truly walk the walk. IICRD, without ego, has quietly gone about innovating the processes that affect real change and, in the doing, have systematically enhanced our community here at home and in all corners of the world.

Please help us support IICRD on December 1st to help enhance their efforts that make it possible for young people the world over to take a stand for the spirit bear and any issue they believe in.

LOCATION:
1630 West 15th Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia

EVENT AND TIME:
IICRD cordially invites you to an evening of dinner, speakers and a silent auction at the prestigious Vancouver Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club – December 1, 2011 at 6:00pm.

SUPPORTING IICRD:
IICRD, an international leader in child rights and development, invites you to the Global Children: Global Change Fundraiser where your support will bring innovation and expertise to locations around the globe where IICRD is working with some of the most vulnerable children in creating positive change in their lives and their communities. Through the words of our Executive Director and children and youth themselves, you will hear stories from IICRD’s work in Colombia – Preventing Violence Against Young Children, work in Thailand and Brazil – Fighting online sexual exploitation through ICT, and work in Canada – Developing the capacity of youth and professionals in better supporting First Nations children.

TICKETS
$175 each / $300 for 2 / $1200 per table / Cash Bar

RESERVE YOUR TICKETS NOW OR DONATE YOUR SUPPORT! SEATING IS LIMITED!

Email: iicrd@uvic.ca
Tel: (250) 472-4762
Fax: (250) 472-4830

Watch Spirit Bear Youth Coalition founder and chairman, Simon Jackson, discuss the state of the spirit bear and the power of one on Global Toronto’s Morning Show.

Join hundreds of youth leaders from across Toronto and millions of engaged citizens globally this Sunday, November 20th, at 11am for TEDx Youth Toronto – a day of youth empowerment and inspiration, highlighted in part by an address from Spirit Bear Youth Coalition’s Simon Jackson.

TED talks began in California in 1984 with the goal to spread ideas; the upcoming TEDxYouth event on Sunday November 20 will do just that among young people all over the world.

The Toronto event has been chosen as an anchor event, meaning these talks will be broadcast for youth to see across the globe.

Twelve presenters with speak directly to 150 of Toronto’s young people and indirectly to countless others as the event is streamed live.

The 150 young leaders were chosen through a competitive application process and so we are really speaking to the best and brightest young people in Toronto.

All who attend and watch will be encouraged to see beyond constraints of age, inexperience and dependence in order to find their passion, take action and make a difference in areas that interest them.

TEDx Youth Toronto organizers have filmed profiles of each speaker, which are available online, to give people a sense of who we are and the messages we will be sharing.

While seats for the live talks are limited to 150 pre-selected young people, anyone can go online to http://tedxyouthtoronto.ca/ to watch live on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Join us for what will be a great day of hope!

We are excited to announce that the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition’s friend, City of Coquitlam Leadership Speakers Series, will be hosting another fantastic evening of inspiration this year. Last year SBYC founder, Simon Jackson delivered the keynote address; this year the event will feature former Vancouver Canucks captain, Trevor Linden.

His keynote will be held on Tuesday, November 22nd at the Evergreen Cultural Centre, 1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam at 7:00 p.m.

Tickets may be purchased at the Evergreen Cultural Centre Box Office: 604-927-6555 or www.evergreenculturalcentre.ca

Tickets are limited!

Spirit Bear Youth Coalition founder Simon Jackson will be speaking to high school students from across Fort McMurray – the heart of Alberta’s oil sands and the starting point of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline that would send crude oil to the BC coast and, ultimately, on tankers through spirit bear waters.

Jackson will be speaking at the annual youth empowerment conference put on by the Justin Slade Youth Foundation. His message of the power of one will aim to encourage students to take ownership of their community and world by taking a stand for the issues they care about – such as saving the spirit bear and altering the route of the proposed pipeline that threatens its future.

While in Fort McMurray, Jackson will also meet with local leaders to discuss the pipeline and advocate for the Youth Coalition’s balanced vision: environmental innovation for the oil sands, an alternative route for the proposed pipeline using existing infrastructure that still allows for critical exports, and a sanctuary for the spirit bear that does not burden any community or the Canadian economy.

Spirit Bear champion and global environmental leader, Dr. Jane Goodall, will bring her message of hope to Canada this fall.

The Spirit Bear Youth Coalition is proud to support Dr. Jane Goodall’s visit and want you to have the opportunity to learn about Dr. Jane’s reasons for hope.

Please visit SBYC partner Jane Goodall Institute of Canada to learn about Dr. Jane’s Canadian visit and where you can listen to this hero for the planet – and a true hero for the spirit bear.

Footprints Conservation Society is pleased to present the 2nd annual Planting The Seed Fundraising Gala.

Enjoy an evening of dinner, door prizes, guest speakers, raffle, silent auction and a special live performance while giving children the opportunity to get hands-on in local environmental projects that promote active learning, team building, and a happy, healthy lifestyle. Read More…

*GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY*
*$60 Early Bird Until Oct 1*
*Partial tax receipts will be issued.*

Click hereto purchase tickets or call 604.949.1024

UNABLE TO ATTEND? HELP US REACH OUR GOAL WITH AN ONLINE DONATION

There are two major preventable threats to the spirit bear: an urgent need for a meaningful sanctuary in their last intact ecosystem and the long term concern of oil spills from tanker traffic in the waters within this wilderness.

While the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition is helping lead the campaign to establish a sanctuary for the spirit bear that includes conserving the final unprotected third of its critical habitat and ensuring that bears within the region are protected from trophy hunting, partner organizations – Pacific Wild, Dogwood Initiative, and Coastal First Nations – are working hard to address the long term threat to both the spirit bear and the Great Bear Rainforest as a whole: proposed oil tanker traffic.

And we need your help to inform decision makers that the proposed Enbridge pipeline from Alberta’s oil sands to the BC coast is one that can be easily resolved: shift the route.

The Spirit Bear Youth Coalition is not against economic growth for Canada.

And the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition doesn’t seek to shut down Canada’s oil sands (this is simply not a debate the Youth Coalition is engaged in; it is one where all parties must work together to find innovative opportunities to improve the oil sands’ environmental impact without taking away from its role in the Canadian economy).

In fact, the Youth Coalition isn’t even against the Enbridge pipeline. We favour an existing oil pipeline-tanker route, one that would not see tanker traffic traverse some of the most dangerous and ecologically important waters on Canada’s west coast.

With an existing pipeline from Alberta to Vancouver and ongoing tanker traffic being routed from the Port of Vancouver to points overseas, there is a safe, economically viable alternative to building a new pipeline to the community of Kitimat, BC. After all, why build new, costly infrastructure when an existing, workable system already exists.

If the Enbridge pipeline in its current form is given the green light, tanker traffic will begin moving oil from Kitimat, past the spirit bear’s key habitat on Gribbell Island and Princess Royal Island, to China.

There is no question that Enbridge has the best of intentions with its project and will do its utmost to prevent any possible spills from its tanker traffic in this sensitive ecosystem.

But even the best of intentions can fall victim to human error.

If the Exxon Valdez tanker-caused oil spill in Alaska or the BP oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico taught us anything, it’s that unthinkable accidents happen and, when they do, the consequences can be both devastating and beyond repair.

Two major shipping accidents have happened in recent years in the narrow passages surrounding the spirit bear’s habitat – the same exact waters Enbridge oil tankers will travel.

Given the spirit bear’s dependence on its marine ecosystem – salmon, the region’s lifeblood, especially – any oil spill will almost certainly wipe out the genetically unique subspecies.

And when speaking of the very last opportunity to safeguard a bear worth its weight, both ecologically and economically, in gold, oil tankers in the land of the spirit bear simply are not worth the risk.

As global citizens, we all have a stake in the future of this wilderness that supports not only the spirit bear, but our planet – it is a region with more life per square inch than the tropical rainforest in Brazil, is the last large area of intact temperate rainforest on Earth and is one of the most important carbon sinks in the world.

Your voice must be heard in this debate and we need everyone to work with Canada to find a reasonable balance that creates jobs, increases the nation’s economic potential, and protects a bear far to important to the world to lose.

Help the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition articulate our balanced position. Pipeline and oil exports: YES. Pipeline and oil exports within the land of the spirit bear: NO.

Together, we can create a better economic future for Canada and, together, we can save the spirit bear for generations to come.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Pacific Wild | Dogwood Initiative | Global TV Spirit Bear Series

Dear Friends of the Spirit Bear,

There are two major preventable threats to the spirit bear: an urgent need for a meaningful sanctuary in their last intact ecosystem and the long term concern of oil spills from tanker traffic in the waters within this wilderness.

Today, we need your help on both fronts to save the spirit bear.

1. URGENT REQUEST: Sign the petition to create sanctuary for the spirit bear and be part of a unique book being delivered to BC Premier Clark.

2. URGENT REQUEST: Register by October 6th to have your voice heard by the Canadian government review panel that will decide if tanker traffic will be allowed in spirit bear waters. You don’t have to attend the panel in person and you don’t have to live in Canada, but this will be the best forum to be heard on this issue.

SANCTUARY FOR THE SPIRIT BEAR

The fall coastal bear trophy hunt has begun. With its start, the future of the spirit bear is in jeopardy.

While it is illegal to hunt the white Kermode bear, within 98% of its range – including protected areas – it is legal to hunt the black Kermode bear that carries and produces the unique white gene. A loss of either bear is devastating to the genetic diversity of this subspecies.

Moreover, the excessive trophy hunting of grizzly bears is forcing these bruins into Kermode habitat and creating new predators for the white bear.

Our goal is to create a sanctuary for the spirit bear by conserving the final, unprotected third of its last intact habitat (the Green-Sheep Passage/Tolmie Operating Area) and ensuring this entire wilderness is a true sanctuary, free from trophy hunting.

The Spirit Bear Youth Coalition is asking everyone who cares about the future of this remarkable creature to please take a moment to write British Columbia Premier Christy Clark and, if you live in BC, your MLA in order to voice your support for the creation of a sanctuary for the Kermode.

We believe that this issue is a family values issue and a priority for BC families and, indeed, families globally: Our decision makers need to know that you agree.

For more information: The Case to Stop the Coastal Bear Trophy Hunt

THREAT OF OIL SPILLS IN SPIRIT BEAR WATERS

The long term threat to both the spirit bear and the Great Bear Rainforest as a whole is a proposed new oil pipeline that would send oil tanker traffic through the dangerous and ecologically sensitive waters of the spirit bear’s last intact ecosystem.

To be clear: the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition is not against the proposed Enbridge pipeline – we are in favor of shifting the pipeline route so oil tanker traffic does not travel through spirit bear waters.

If the Exxon Valdez tanker-caused oil spill in Alaska or the BP oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico taught us anything, it’s that unthinkable accidents happen and, when they do, the consequences can be both devastating and beyond repair.

Two major shipping accidents have happened in recent years in the narrow passages surrounding the spirit bear’s habitat – the same exact waters Enbridge oil tankers will travel.

Given the spirit bear’s dependence on its marine ecosystem – salmon, the region’s lifeblood, especially – any oil spill will almost certainly wipe out the genetically unique subspecies.

As global citizens, we all have a stake in the future of this globally critical wilderness. Your voice must be heard in this debate and we need everyone to work with Canada to find a reasonable balance that creates jobs, increases the nation’s economic potential, and protects a bear far to important to the world to lose.

Help the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition articulate our balanced position. Pipeline and oil exports: YES. Pipeline and oil exports within the land of the spirit bear: NO.

For more information: The Case for an Alternative Pipeline Route to Protect the Spirit Bear

FIVE WAYS TO SAVE THE SPIRIT BEAR:

1) Email, write and/or phone BC Premier Christy Clark and your elected representative
2) Sign the petition to stop this hunt
3) Register to be heard during the Canadian government’s review panel on oil tankers in spirit bear waters
4) Adopt-a-Spirit Bear and keep up-to-date on our campaign to create a sanctuary for the spirit bear
5) Consider a one-time donation to the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition to aid our volunteer-run campaign

FIVE WAYS TO STAY UP-TO-DATE:

1) Follow us on Twitter @SpiritBearYouth
2) Join our Facebook group
3) Visit www.spiritbearyouth.org and www.adoptaspiritbear.org
4) Become a member
5) Sign-up for our new education program

FOR MORE UPDATES:

Visit our news section to see recent media coverage from the likes of the Globe and Mail; look at new images captured by National Geographic for their recent cover story on the spirit bear; learn about our public outreach efforts in places such as Alaska; find out how you can participate in upcoming events hosted by our partners including the Jane Goodall Institute; and help us celebrate our successes that you’ve made possible – most recently Explore Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30 and Top Green Leader distinctions.

And be sure to watch the Global TV Spirit Bear Series featured recently on the Newshour!

Thank you for your continued support of our efforts to save the spirit bear. I truly believe that, together, we can and will save our spirit bear for generations to come.

Sincerely,

Simon Jackson
Founder and Chairman, Spirit Bear Youth Coalition