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Part 5. Listen (  /2)

Slow Movement

Listen to one of the podcasts on implementing “slow” in the modern world.

http://www.carlhonore.com/unlock-slow/podcasts/

Questions

Describe 3 challenges and 3 opportunities that you see in the slow movement. Do you want to slow some aspect(s) of your life? If so, what concrete steps can you take to achieve this?

I watched the podcast: Slow Education

“Carl speaks to Mike Grenier, an English teacher and housemaster at England’s fabled Eton College and co-founder of the Slow Education movement. (Recorded in London on July 1, 2015)”

Challenges of making the slow movement mainstream:

1.       Slow education is a slow growing trend, much of the world including huge countries such as China and the United States still use a fast pace standardized test approach to education. The government has required things that students need to learn. It would create national, and possibly global fragmentation if one part has drastically different requirements than others places because their qualifications may differ as a result.

2.       The time in which it would take to effectively transform societal aspects, in this example education to slow education is great. To transfer the system to slow education would take far more time than politicians have the patients for. Political time frames are short because they revolve around elections, the transfer to slow education would require a general consensus of the vast majority of the population to remain a priority to politicians.

3.       It may be hard to transfer into the way of the slow movement. This is especially true because universities must confront these changes and address how to acclimatise students to high performance education after being in a slow movement learning environment.

Opportunities of the slow movement:

1.       Slow education would provide more meaningful and effective learning students would be encourage to think critically about issues instead of memorise details. This provides better problem solvers for the future working generation.  

2.       Slow education would actually promote good mental health of students instead of deteriorating it. It would fight the cultural pressure of achievement and ‘am I good enough’. Something that I personally can certainly relate to since growing up in a private school and being an older sibling. In a way, there is even an ethical moral responsibility to adopt slow education because there is so much proof that the current school system is damaging students mentally.

3.       Slow education would work more on virtue and creating better people with better values through education. Education would no longer be a mechanical process of gathering materials memorising them and spitting them out again for a test.

I do want to slow some aspects of my life specifically I would love to slow my education and I was fortunate enough to go to a school who has adapted some slow teaching techniques. The problem with some of this is that I can’t do this on my own, if I slow my education for example: taking fewer courses at a time, I fall behind. Everyone is running with our rising economy knowing that if they slow down they will be left behind. There are certainly small things I can do like blocking off some time to cook healthier meals, time budgeting my assignments better, taking time before bed to meditate instead of working until midnight. In the end though it is hard to slow down when everyone else is on track to keep running until the world ends.

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My Favorite Environment Resources

I have listed some of my favorite places I go to learn more about the environment: 

a youtube channel called asap science this is one of their videos below, the also talk about a lot of other topics in dynamic ways that relate to how the typical person would think about the issue. They often pose the question ‘what would happen if...’ or tackle questions like which came first the chicken or the egg, and other questions that people may be curious about. This is one video that I thought related to some of the course content: 

A new resource that I discovered through my research for my take action assignment is generation green Winnipeg which is a store that you can buy a lot of really eco-friendly locally made products at! 

https://generationgreenwpg.com/

https://www.instagram.com/generationgreenwpg/

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Part 7. In-class Blog Questions B (  /5)

Food

Consider your food system, consider taste, nutrition, cost, equity, and environmental issues:

a.       What do you like about it?

The parts of my food system that I like the most is our garden which grows fresh nutritious food. Personally, I also do not eat red meat so I am not supporting the pork or beef industry which are big industries that use large amounts of water and crops in order to feed their animal. These industries also use antibiotics in their animals which contributes to the creation of ‘super viruses’ or ‘super bugs’ that become immune to common antibiotics. By not eating red meat my family has started eating less red meat as well. We use a composter which puts a portion of our food waste back into the cycle through our garden. Overall I feel that our food system is moderate but needs improvement.

b.       What do you dislike about it?

My food system has some problems, while in general we eat healthy meals, my family doe a lot of snacking most of which is not considered very healthy. I find that there is also not a very good consensus in my household on what is healthy and what is not. Is a bagel healthy, are sugary fruits healthy, there is always controversy over the healthiness of foods. Another big problem with out food system is that we get most of our foods from corporate companies which are not always local meaning greater transpiration and greater emissions the same problems arise from processed foods, we do eat some processed foods as well. Another big problem with my current food system is that a lot of the food we get from the grocery store is packaged in plastic this is something I would personally like to change and become zero waste when I move out. Overall there are some things that are not working in my food system, we are not the most environmentally friendly because of the way we buy.

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Part 1. Read (  /4)

Read the document listed below and answer the question in your Blog.

Truth and Reconciliation and Sustainability

Read the Introduction (pp. 1-23) of the document Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future - Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/Final%20Reports/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf

If the link does not work, simply go to www.trc.ca and find the report listed above.

Part 1. Question

How does Truth and Reconciliation in Canada relate to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals?

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300

In Canada our truth and reconciliation with relation to first nations peoples works towards addressing a few of the UN sustainable goals. The truth and reconciliation doesn’t propose any sort of plan of action in its introduction, only says that we must apologise and try to right our wrongs. In that way the truth and reconciliation described in this document relates not because it shows any sort of method for fulfilling the UN sustainable development goals but because it hints at specific goals relating to the issues we can address in the process of healing.

Presumably in the full document they would disclose more details about how Canada aims to take further action on righting our wrongs. The two main goals that were indirectly mentioned were 10 and 11. But there was also mention of the goals number 14,15, and 16.

The truth and reconciliation in Canada refers mostly to number 10 which is to reducing inequality. They talk about this by talking about reconciliation, how we can collectively come together to talk about the horrors that first nations peoples faced during their times in residential schools, and how we should proceed in the process of acceptance, forgiveness, and some way to make up for their loss. This refers to finding a solution that promotes equity.

It also refers to goal number 11 which is to establish inclusive safe and sustainable cities and communities. In the truth and reconciliation document they talk about giving first nations their land back and promoting healthy communities.

Goal 14 and 15 talk about the water and the land respectively. These are referred to when the first nations discuss their connection to the land they live on.

Lastly goal 16 talks about peace and justice. The truth and reconciliation document promotes the fair and just treatment of the survivors of residential schools

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The Zoo Debate

To add some detail to part 7 question 1 here are a few photos of my experience with zoos.

These are the tigers at the Winnipeg zoo

This is one of the two Okapi that live in the Dublin zoo. Okapi typically live in the Democratic Republic of Congo which has a much different climate than Dublin.

And finally, this is a wild seal that we saw sunbathing on the beach in Hawaii.

There is something about seeing the wild seal that made it more rewarding that any zoo animal I’ve ever seen. 

All of these photos belong to me, Morgan Dubyts and can not be used without my consent 

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Part 6. Action (  /11) Complete each part

c. Investigate the options and end fate of your household’s e-waste.  Discuss where and how you will dispose of this waste and your future electronics purchase plans in relation to the waste they will one day become.  (    /2)

My household’s e-waste gets taken to either staples to be recycled. I know that a lot of the recycled e-waste ends up going over seas where it plays a role in pollution of other countries. I cannot be sure if this is what staples does with their recycled e-waste. Considering they are a very large corporation they likely do. A better option is to find a better recycler that has established a promise that they responsibly recycle e-waste and dispose of the remaining pieces. Another thing I could do is to buy less technology to prevent the eventual waste. Smaller simpler technology that yields less garbage is preferred and only updated when absolutely necessary.  

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Part 7. In-class Blog Questions B (  /5)

Zoos

a. What role, if any, should zoos play in conservation / education?

Zoos can be valuable for conservation and education if done correctly. As a child I went to the zoo fairly often and participated in their summer camps a few times. My love for biology blossomed from my time at the zoo. I think that zoos can and even have played a good role in education. The issues with zoos in todays world is they are prioritising economic goals instead of development goals to improve their conservation and education. They can change, and I think that they should play a role in conservation and education in the right ways. Ethical handling of animals and exclusion of some animals from zoos are important considerations and could be the priority.

b. Is it ethical to keep animals in zoos? If so, what size / type of animal or zoo?

On ethical terms I would say that on most accounts, it is not ethical to keep animals in zoos. This is especially true for bigger animals that have big home ranges. Animals that hunt can’t be kept in zoos either, its unethical to deprive them of the enrichment they get from hunting and make them wait on a schedule for food. Animals that are extremely social or live in packs should not be kept in zoos. Animals that have huge migratory patterns are also hard to keep in zoos. The weather of the place the zoo is located in is important as well, polar bears should not be housed in places that are hot all year round, and animals that live in primarily hot environments should not be housed in zoos where the weather reached very cold temperatures. This means that in general, lots of bigger mammals, carnivores, primates, and almost all marine animals should not be included in the majority of zoos unless the issues are properly addressed. Zoos are problematic because giving the animals adequate space is uneconomic and not conducive to human visits. One thing I have seen is zoos that attempt to turn the tables, where they put people in the cages instead of the animals. New Zealand has created a lion exhibit that is 7,600 square meters which is not nearly as big as it needs to be but the concept is a good one. Zoos need to stop being zoos in a traditional sense and evolve into something else, something that is truly conducive to conservation and education, it needs to be a place that truly mimics each animals natural environment.

c. Do you enjoy visiting zoos?

As a young child I never considered that the animals were unhappy, because I didn’t know any better I believed that the animals were perfectly fine and that their behaviour was indicative of their natural behaviour. It wasn’t until I went to sea world, something about seeing them do tricks made me uncomfortable and their general lifelessness did not make me feel better. One thing I remembered vividly was the flopped over dorsal fin of the orcas. According to ocean advocate, only one percent of non captive orcas have flopped over fins. Ever since then I started to notice things that I now recognise as stereotypical behaviour. Now, my experience with zoos and aquariums has been tainted with guilt for supporting organizations that keep animals in cages. I will always enjoy seeing wild life but if there is anything I learned from my trip to Churchill, it is that it is always more rewarding to see animals in their natural habitat.

 Oceanadvocatefl. (2013, April 16). Orca Dorsal Fin Controvery – Experts vs. SeaWorld. Retrieved from https://oceanadvocatefl.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/orca-dorsal-fin-controvery-experts-vs-seaworld/

Schweig, S. V. (2015, September 15). Smart Zoo Knows Exactly Who Should Be In Cages. Retrieved from https://www.thedodo.com/lion-encounter-people-cage-1348927118.html

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This is some of the footage from my trip to Ireland February 2019. ALL of this footage belongs to me and should not be used without my consent.  

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Part 7. In-class Blog Questions B (  /5) Oceans

Oceans

a. What are your primary concerns about the oceans?

My primary concern about the oceans is their pollution. Mostly with plastics. Plastic is a human made compound and is not organic meaning that it will never be able to degrade completely and be incorporated in the system. Plants cannot use them, animals cannot eat them, and they are not a compound that is useful or can be recycled into any other nutrient cycle. Because there is no natural system to recycle plastic, it builds up and most of it will either sit in a landfill or end up in the ocean. In the ocean these plastics break down over the course of up to 1000 of years through photodegradation. This means that sunlight breaks the plastic into tiny little pieces of plastic called microplastics. It also means that any plastics that are deep enough that sunlight cannot reach them may virtually never break down. Microplastics are not without their issues either, although they are small, they can do massive amounts of damage. Marine animals and birds eat these plastics both big and small. Their stomachs cannot break them down and they cannot excrete them. The plastic just sits there and fills up their stomach until they cannot eat and they get weak and die.

This problem is our problem because we are a part of the food web, if ‘fresh’ marine animals have plastic in them and we eat them, then presumably there is a possibility that we are eating plastic.  

b. What, if anything, do you plan to do about it?

There are limited things that I can do personally to stop plastic pollution in the oceans, but first and foremost I can adjust my own actions. I already do not use plastic water bottles but much of my food packaging is plastic. Shopping at bulk stores where you can bring you own glass containers is a good alternative that does not use plastic. Using reusable bags for grocery shopping reduce plastic bags, and less plastic products such as plastic toothbrushes, furniture, fabrics, and other products that have plastic packaging.

Aside from changing my behaviour, I can influence the behaviour of others by spreading the word and mailing companies about their plastic use.

The ocean clean up is another organization I can support and or get involved with that cleans plastic out of the ocean, it is a tough job that is always in demand but every little bit helps.

https://www.theoceancleanup.com/

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Part 6. Action (  /11) Complete each part.

d. Consider your food system and the ways in which you can improve the sustainability the food that you consume and throw away. Are there ways to improve sustainability such as shopping locally, growing your own food or reducing your household’s food waste? Which options might suit your household and value system? Create a plan for one change that you think would improve the sustainability of your food system. (   /3)

I would consider my household moderately sustainable. We do have a large garden which we use to grow vegetables to eat in our home. Our regular annually planted vegetables are beats, peas, potatoes, beans, and swiss chard. We also have an apple tree and a plum tree, the apple tree bears lots of fruit and the plum tree is still growing. We also have a composter so the food we do not eat does not get wasted but instead put back into our garden which grows food in the future. We use to shop locally in the summer when Cramptons market was at its previous location on Waverly but since it moved, we don’t shop locally very often anymore. The best thing for my family to reduce waste and promote sustainability is meal planning and only buying the ingredients we need. This is the best option because my family does pretty well with buying locally when we can, buying organic, and growing our own food, but the part of our system that is unsustainable is how much we buy. We can reduce the amount of food that we buy by planning meals and cooking only for those meals instead of shopping sporadically and attempting to make food using those ingredients.

To begin this plan we should hold a household meeting and establish a meal plan. On the last Sunday of every month we should hold a meeting to figure out weekly meal plans. Without meetings not everyone in the household gets a say in the meals. For example, I don’t eat red meat so I need to be present to make sure that there are a number of days in the week where collectively as a family we don’t eat red meat and that on the days were red meat is for dinner, I have an alternative. The meal plans should also attempt to create smaller portion sizes and lunches can be made up of any leftovers. Next, we should plan to cook meals that have some common ingredients or where a previous meal (or parts of the previous meal) can be used as an ingredient for the following meal. This reduces the need for excessive ingredients and puts leftover ingredients and meals to use. Once the meals are decided the ingredient list should be completed and only the things on the ingredient list get bought every week or half a week.

This plan eliminates the food waste that we have from leftovers by decreasing the amount of leftovers, reusing them in other meals, and eating the rest as other meals. This plan also reduces the amount of food bought by creating a set ingredient list. Reducing food consumption reduces demand and if everyone did this we would not need to harvest as much food which would be more sustainable.

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Part 2. Watch (  /2)

Watch each of the following and answer the questions below.

How tress talk to each other – Ted Talk, Suzanne Simard

https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_each_other

Why I love vultures – Ted Talk, Munir Virani

https://www.ted.com/talks/munir_virani_why_i_love_vultures#t-46531

Question

1. How did the information presented in the talks above affect how you think about nature?

When I was working in forestry I learned about the network between trees and how trembling aspen trees can share roots and create new trees through their roots. That being said, I had no idea to the extent of the detail at which they can identify and communicate with their own kin. This made me think of forests and trees as less of a ‘biological machine’ as a philosopher might call it and more of actual feeling beings with motives beyond their own survival.

The vulture ted talk was interesting because while I knew they were decomposers and important, I did not consider the role they play in disease control.

My perspective on nature was always that it is complicated, critical to balance, and intertwined with each other. After watching the videos, I have an even greater understanding of just how much evidence there is to back my perspective up. Sometimes hearing about these little connections makes it seem like we were put here with every other organism so we could all live-in harmony doing our part and maintaining a balance. Of course, that’s not true, evolution is what made all organisms so interdependent. Never the less, these videos changed my opinion on how alive the forest really is and how important vultures truly are.

2. What aspects of nature and biodiversity do you feel are most important to     protect? How can you take action to protect this aspect?

If the ecosystems were healthy and there was not a current mass extinction occurring right now, I would say purity is the most important aspect to protect. Now that we are currently facing problems in nearly every ecosystem on earth, I would say the aspects of nature and biodiversity we should protect are the essential ones to keep ecosystems a float. There is no question that the priority for governments today is first and foremost economy. Drastic change to our system would likely trigger civil unrest because the fact is that there are still lots of people who don’t even believe in climate change let along agree with a dramatic change. For this reason, I would say it is most important and realistic to protect the systems that provide us with ecosystem services first. This means making sure we have plenty of forests to recycle our carbon, and healthy coastal ecosystems (reefs and mangroves) to prevent increased damage due to tropical storms.

To protect these aspects, we would need to look at the biodiversity of each ecosystem and identify their keystone species. The keystone species are essential to maintaining the biodiversity and the removal of them can often result in changes that effect the physical environment as well as the species. The loss of these keystone species could result in further destruction of the forests (such as the destruction that occurred in Yellowstone national park due to the removal of wolves).  Protection should then be approached by establishing protection regulations of the keystone species and any other important species to maintaining a healthy ecosystem. The ecosystems themselves should be entitled to space that is inaccessible to human development.

Finally, in terms of what I can do to take action, I could get more involved in planting trees and maintaining a bee friendly garden.

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New book!

I bought a new book a while ago and have just begun to read it. One quote in particular, “...a planet battered daily by hurricanes and monsoons we use to call ‘natural disasters’ but will soon normalize as simply ‘bad weather’”. strikes me as interesting. It is looks at the issue the way we might one day look at it. climate scientists are always talking about the end of the world and how drastic things will be but in that moment because of the eventual change, we will get use to it and adapt like we do with everything. Earth will be purging us from its system and unless serious innovation can remove the damage we have already inflicted, we will be along for the ride.  

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Part 3. Action (  /3)

Spend 1 hour in silence in nature and reflect on the following questions.

Question

1. Describe where and when you spent your time in nature.

I spend my hour of outdoor silence at fort Whyte center on the 23rd of February. I spend a little under two hours there and walked around the frozen marshes and in the forests. I walked mostly along the orange trail and some of the green trail as well.

2. What did you experience in your time in nature? What did you see, hear, smell, feel? What effect did this time in nature have on you?

I spent my time walking mostly and resting in a few of their little shelters like the hut and the tree house. I experienced some coldness but also a great sense of peace. I felt like I had no rush to be anywhere and no obligations. I wasn’t even thinking about anything really, not my school work, not my personal relationships, not my next source of income, not anything. Instead I was focusing on my senses. The snow was white and crisp, the trees were bare and there were a few animals around. During my time in nature I saw a few animals, some deer, the bison, a rabbit, and a few birds. Most of the sounds I herd were my own footsteps and my breathing, there were also rustling in the bushes and sometimes the trees would creak. I couldn’t really smell anything due to a seasonal cold. Gradually as I spent more and more time outside I started to notice more and more. The subtle sounds became clearer and I noticed more about the plants on the ground and the sounds of the wind in the trees. When I spent an hour in nature I felt as if I was a more balanced healthy person. Afterwards I came back inside and felt as if I was more productive with my time, my energy felt better and I felt more motivated to do work, clean, and make a healthy meal. Overall this time spent in nature made me feel generally happier.

3. After participating in the Jack Frost Challenge Activity in class, complete the survey posted on UM Learn and paste your answers in your Blog.

I did complete the survey but forgot to screen shot my answers and it would not let me retake the survey.

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Part 6. Action (  /11) Complete each part

a. Investigate the chemicals in your personal care products. Use the product guide from the Environmental Working Group http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ to see how your products are rated for carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, etc.   (   /3)

To investigate my products I picked a handful of my most used cosmetics and personal care products to investigate using http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/.

The products I use the most are a moisturizer from LUSH called elbow grease which rated a moderate 5. endocrine disruptors and ecotoxicology was a low concern and carcinogens were not a concern but there was concern with irritants (from the fragrance, geraniol, hydroxycitronellal, and critral).

I also use a concealer regularly from Fenty Beauty called the match stick which rated a two and had high concerns of irritation and contamination concerns, it also had a small risk of potential carcinogen in it but overall it was a low risk product. 

My shampoo from lush called BIG which I now use regularly is rated a 4. The biggest concern is the fragrance that they use which can cause irritation. Another moderate concern is its toxicity (non-reproductive).

I also use a mascara from covergirl which has a rating of four but has a great concern for possible carcinogens which likely comes from the talc which is a soft rock that is often mixed with other rocks and minerals, it can contain asbeastos which is a known carciongen. It also contains propylparaben which is an endocrine distributor meaning it could cause issues with reproducrion and other hormone related issues.

Another one of my most frequently used products is old spice wolfthorn deodorant it has a rating of 4 and ingredients that cause concern such as fragrance which can result in irritation and immunotoxicity.

Overall, after testing a few more of my frequently used products I found that most of them are only bad for their fragrance but there are a few products that I might throw out and look for alternatives for. It was definitely eye opening to see how much the makeup companies and personal care companies don’t tell us about the ingredients that are in our products.  

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Part 6. Action (  /11) Complete each part.

b. Do an analysis of your purchases for one week. Record all products, food, beverages and services purchased over this period.  Create screening criteria to categorize all items as “Good”, “Bad” or “Ugly”.  The criteria is up to you, but must be justified.  You may wish to consider factors such as: environmental impact, social impact, local or foreign, corporate or small business.  Add up the dollar values spent in each category and reflect on where you would like to make changes – if any.  (   /3)

I don’t typically spend a lot of money because I live in a household with my parents who buy most of the groceries. I recorded my purchases and found that I spent a total of $40.68. 100% of the money I spent was on food and 24.9% was on ‘fast food’. When adding up the dollar value of each category, the local vs corporate category had $0 of local and $40.68 of corporate. Environmental impact was either high low or medium, for high $17.24 low $4.68 and moderate $18.76. looking back on that week and also my past purchases I realize that I spend my money almost exclusively as corporate business. This is something I want to change by finding alternatives, shopping more at farmers markets in the summer, and local businesses and restaurants. I want to eat less processed food and less meat to lower my environmental impact. Eating local also effects my impact which puts more importance on finding local alternatives.

In general I would also like to spend less because what this survey does not show is the rest of the time when I spend money on clothes or home products that I do not necessarily need. 

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A list of easy actions we can take each month to make our homes a little more eco friendly. Already wrapped water heater and made some adjustments on my window to prevent drafts. I am getting ahead start on opting out of paper mail by opting out of news papers and signing up to get my bank statements online!

This photo comes from https://www.apartmentguide.com/blog/small-changes-help-go-green-in-your-apartment-infographic/

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Part 4 In-class Blog Question:

WAPUSK In-class Blog question:

1. Can parks meet its dual mandate for access and protection?

Parks are important parts of both environmental preservation and public education/ecotourism. Parks preserve the land and prevent major development like extracting fossil fuels, logging, mining, and major human development like residential or commercial land development. Considering that without the parks protection that land would likely be subjected to some type of human activity, parks do accomplish some form of protection. While parks do protect the land and the species that live there, they also interrupt and fragment the ecosystem. Because parks are also used to educate the public on the ecosystems of the park and the species that live there, they have to have roads, and designated areas for human activities. This poses a problem because access creates a threat to protection and complete protection would require no access.

In my opinion, there can be common ground reached, parks are so important because even though they have issues, they do protect the land from a far worse fate. Forestry fragments and destroys ecosystems far more than roads in a park would. Fossil fuel extraction like the tar sands in Alberta causes huge widespread negative effects on ecosystems which are again worse than effects caused by tourists in a national park.

Parks create access in order to generate ecotourism, and to educate the public. There are clear directions as to how to be respectful of nature and reduce our artificial impact on the park. This education not only immerses and educates park goers in the ecosystem, but makes them aware of how they can reduce their footprint.

For these reasons, if parks can find a balance between access and protection, they can sufficiently do both. If the parks are run to either extreme, they threaten the other aspect, too much protection means eliminating access, too much access, puts the protection aspect at risk. To truly meet the mandate for both, there must be a healthy balance.

2. How can this be achieved in Wapusk?

Wapusk is located in a very remote location and that is one of the main reasons for the restricted access to the park. Polar bears inhabit that park, which increased demand for lodges available to the public. I think that Wapusk could increase its access by offering a cheaper lodge available to other people but I also think that because the demand is so high, there should be high prices. They could also increase access by offering other special opportunities, but they should also come with a price that matches the demand.

Another thing to consider is if we truly need more access in the first place, does the park need to have roads and highways for the general public to use? The more easily accessible, the more it disrupts nature. If the purpose of access to parks is to educate the public and increase tourism then I think that the level of access granted to Wapusk is fine the way it is and does not need to be increased. There are learning opportunities with the Churchill Northern Study Center (https://churchillscience.ca/visit/). I went here with my school when I was younger and I learned a lot. I think that organized visits such as the ones the Churchill Northern Study Center provide are the best and most effective ways of actually increasing the purpose of access, to educate. Having roads up to the park seems less effective because it allows people who are not as invested in the educational part to just come into the park and change the natural balance of the ecosystem by introducing pollution, fragmentation, and possibly invasive species.

In addition to that, here are already learning opportunities available at the Winnipeg zoo for people to learn about polar bears and their ecosystem. I think that things are okay the way they are, if anything, increasing the amount of opportunities available in Wapusk and educating the public about the park from outside of the park is the best course of action to increase the access while maintaining the biodiverse natural balance in the park.