I was violently detained by police for carrying my sleeping infant daughter into my home w porch lights off. A white neighbour called the police on me for "breaking into my own home". The cops didn't hug me. They had me on the ground, screaming obscenities #WhitePrivilege
The experience of Black, Indigenous and other people of colour and the poor with the police in 🇨🇦 could not be more different from the nauseating displays of affection and support given to the white supremacists holding this country hostage. We have always known this.
People are messaging me that I lied about my experience with the police to get likes. I didn't. This is the lived experience of Black, Indigenous and other people of colour and the poor. Just because you haven't experienced racism personally, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
Another mature tree being cut down in Parkdale. Our community has among the lowest tree canopy cover in the city and where residents have little access to ecohealth benefits of green space that whiter and wealthier neighborhoods enjoy in Toronto. What a waste 😕 @Sandra_Pella
This tree sits above a rooming house that homes vulnerable residents as well as my own flat. It provides shade on 🥵 days, cleans the air of pollutants in 🚙🚗 exhaust, reduces threat of flooding, habitat for birds and other wildlife that bring us great joy and mental relief 🌿
@cityoftoronto@PublicHealthON passed resolutions in support of greenspace as a public health strategy, specifically in lower income and racialized communities, like Parkdale. And yet trees continue to come down, community is ignored when it comes to parks and other greenspace
Too often the only things we read about in western media about Pakistan are stories about corruption & violence, if media covers this beautiful country at all. This 📸 of brown bear in the country's Deosai plateau region brings me such joy.1
One of my former grad students is from this stunning region. Inshallah I will one day see Pakistan's beautiful wildlife and ecosystems for myself #LoveNature#Fight4Nature
Heartwarming to see such positive response from people to 📸brown bear from Pakistan, including citizens from that beautiful country. I'd love to hear about nature from other similarly under-reported or poorly reported regions of🌍 - Palestine, Syria, Kurdistan, Afghanistan etc.
In my humble opinion as someone who has devoted most of their life to conservation, Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, Indigenous Guardians networks are the most exciting and impactful development in nature conservation in a very very long time.
Important to remember that Indigenous conservation is nothing new. Indigenous Peoples have been stewarding traditional lands & waters for millennia. Colonial Govs and the conservation science and NGO community is finally recognizing its significance, collaboration, support.
Today's @thenarwhalca panel on Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas offers wonderful opportunity for us to learn from Indigenous leaders in conservation and to transition away from colonial conservation models to those that are more effective and just #decolonizeconservation
There is a crisis in leadership among @bcndp@jjhorgan in making tough (but common sense) decision to cancel #SiteC dam which reporters like @sarahcox_bc have drawn attention to.I'll give you a small personal perspective as scientist working in support of several First Nations 1/
2/ I have testified before Joint Review Panel, published several peer-reviewed studies, advised #BCUC and had informal conversations w @bcndp elected officials on how #SiteC threatens critical ecological resources, that First Nations and others rely upon #naturalcapital 2/
3/ I, others who have tried to engage @bcndp have been met w total silence. They will not engage w critics of #SiteC. I am not naive.This is likely a directive from Premier's Office that caucus is not talk to anyone,choosing to let @jjhorgan make vague talking points instead 3/
One of my wonderful PhD students, Ghanimat Azdahri, was on the plane that crashed in Tehran this morning. Ghanimat was on her way back to @uofg after visiting her family and traditional Indigenous territories in Iran over the December break. The students and I are in so much pain
@uofg Ghanimat was a beloved member of our research group. Her PhD research was devoted to advancing the rights of Indigenous Peoples in conservation and protection of biocultural knowledge. Our @ICCAConsortium colleagues have released a beautiful statement: iccaconsortium.org/index.php/2020……
@uofg@ICCAConsortium 14 other students at Sharif Industrial University (Tehran) perished on flight and there may be other Iranian students studying in Canada who were killed. My heart is breaking at the loss of so many precious young Iranian lives and their potential to make the world a better place.