This is the story of how people in Quebec are trying to save turtles— one cell phone photo at a time.

NCC on location: Gatineau, Quebec

Show notes:

• Take a walk along the Ottawa River with host Tiffany Cassidy and volunteer Deborah Powell, as they go searching for turtles;
• Learn from the Nature Conservancy of Canada's Caroline Gagné about the conservation efforts to protect Quebec's turtles;
• Find out why roads and developments are a threat to turtles, and how you can help them;
• Discover www.carapace.ca, the citizen science website that's allowing people across the province to track turtles and help conservation;
• Meet biologist Olivier Trudel, who works for Quebec's Ministry of Forestry, Wildlife and Parks. He's using data from www.carapace.ca to inform his conservation research about where Quebec's turtles are found;
• Hear five steps you can use to help turtles cross the road.

Nature Talks: The Nature Conservancy of Canada Podcast offers you fascinating stories about nature, why we need it in our lives, and the passionate Canadians helping to protect it. In this seven-part series, we’ll take listeners to some of Canada’s important natural areas, from the Bay of Fundy to Victoria. We talk to Canadians helping care for these places, from scientists to hometown heroes. Connect to Canada’s nature. Learn about the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s conservation work. And be inspired to find out how you can help support this work.

This is the story of a big effort to save a very small insect that's rarer than a panda from extinction.

NCC on location: Tall Grass Prairie Preserve, Manitoba

Show notes:

• Meet the Nature Conservancy of Canada's Cary Hamel. He spends lots of time thinking about the Poweshiek skipperling, a butterfly that used to be common but now is more endangered than a panda;
• Discover the Poweshiek skipperling, and learn about its life cycle and curious habits;
• Hear from C-Jae Britter of the Assiniboine Zoo about her project to breed captive Poweshiek skipperlings and reintroduce them to their native habitat;
• Find out how many Poweshieks were reintroduced to the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve this summer!

Nature Talks: The Nature Conservancy of Canada Podcast offers you fascinating stories about nature, why we need it in our lives, and the passionate Canadians helping to protect it. In this seven-part series, we’ll take listeners to some of Canada’s important natural areas, from the Bay of Fundy to Victoria. We talk to Canadians helping care for these places, from scientists to hometown heroes. Connect to Canada’s nature. Learn about the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s conservation work. And be inspired to find out how you can help support this work.

This is the story of how fire, cows, and bison keep the world’s most endangered ecosystem healthy.

NCC on location: Old Man on His Back Prairie and Conservation Area, Saskatchewan

• Come with us as we visit the remote Old Man on His Back ranch in southwest Saskatchewan, and discover the tall grass prairie;
• Hear from NCC's Natalie Hassett about why this is a special place, and the role of bison on the land;
• Meet Dale Gross, a former NCC staffer and currently a graduate student. He's leading a research project to find out how disturbances like fire affect bison and cattle grazing patterns;
• Learn why fire is an important mangement tool on the tall grass prairie;
• Find out about bat expert's Julian Poissant's research project at Old Man on His Back, and his recent discovery of little brown bats on the property.

Nature Talks: The Nature Conservancy of Canada Podcast offers you fascinating stories about nature, why we need it in our lives, and the passionate Canadians helping to protect it. In this seven-part series, we’ll take listeners to some of Canada’s important natural areas, from the Bay of Fundy to Victoria. We talk to Canadians helping care for these places, from scientists to hometown heroes. Connect to Canada’s nature. Learn about the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s conservation work. And be inspired to find out how you can help support this work.

This is the story of a place where only the toughest survive, including a species known as the butcher bird.

NCC on location: Carden Alvar, Ontario

Show notes:

• Learn more about alvar habitats and why they're important;
• Meet Bob Bowles, a local naturalist who's spent years learning and sharing the secrets of this unusual landscape at the Carden Alvar;
• Hear from NCC staffer Kristyn Ferguson says invasive dog-strangling vine is giving her nightmares;
• Find out why the loggerhead shrike is called the butcher bird, and learn about its habitat;
• Listen to Hazel Wheeler of Wildlife Preservation Canada as she sets up cages with juvenile shrikes on the Carden alvar, as part of a reintroduction program.

Nature Talks: The Nature Conservancy of Canada Podcast offers you fascinating stories about nature, why we need it in our lives, and the passionate Canadians helping to protect it. In this seven-part series, we’ll take listeners to some of Canada’s important natural areas, from the Bay of Fundy to Victoria. We talk to Canadians helping care for these places, from scientists to hometown heroes. Connect to Canada’s nature. Learn about the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s conservation work. And be inspired to find out how you can help support this work.

Imagine if your taps ran dry, even for a day. This is the story of a village that needed a forest to protect its drinking water.

NCC on location: Riverside Albert, New Brunswick

Show notes:

• Meet Mayor Jim Campbell, who launched a community campaign to save his village's drinking water reservoir;
• Learn how protecting a forest can help clean and protect water;
• Hear about New York City's efforts to protect its drinking water by conserving land around the city;
• Discover an old-growth Acadian forest with NCC staffer Denise Roy;
• Hear from local writer Deborah Carr why this place is important to her and to her Acadian ancestors.

Nature Talks: The Nature Conservancy of Canada Podcast offers you fascinating stories about nature, why we need it in our lives, and the passionate Canadians helping to protect it. In this seven-part series, we’ll take listeners to some of Canada’s important natural areas, from the Bay of Fundy to Victoria. We talk to Canadians helping care for these places, from scientists to hometown heroes. Connect to Canada’s nature. Learn about the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s conservation work. And be inspired to find out how you can help support this work.

This is the story of how nature and people have shaped each other in one of the world's rarest ecosystems, on Vancouver Island.

NCC on location: the Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve, British Columbia

Show notes:

• We take you to the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC's) colourful Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve;
• Find out about some of the restoration projects happening on the property to restore and maintain it (including sheep!);
• Hear from NCC's Irv Banman, who has been helping to care for the property with his family for close to two decades;
• Learn more about the First Nations people who have lived on this land for thousands of years;
• Meet some of the Conservation Volunteers caring for this property.

Nature Talks: The Nature Conservancy of Canada Podcast offers you fascinating stories about nature, why we need it in our lives, and the passionate Canadians helping to protect it. In this seven-part series, we’ll take listeners to some of Canada’s important natural areas, from the Bay of Fundy to Victoria. We talk to Canadians helping care for these places, from scientists to hometown heroes. Connect to Canada’s nature. Learn about the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s conservation work. And be inspired to find out how you can help support this work.

This is the story about one of Alberta’s most distinctive landscapes, and the people protecting it, who have managed to share the space with some of North America’s largest mammals – like the grizzly bear.

NCC on location: Waterton Park Front, Alberta

Show notes:

• Learn more about how ranchers and conservationists are working together to protect the last five miles of native prairies in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains;
• Hear one of the last interviews with the late Charlie Russell, a world-renowned grizzly bear expert;
• Listen to an interview with Julia Palmer, who now runs one of the largest organic beef ranches in Canada;
• Find out why native grasses are important for sage grouse;
• Enjoy an interview with the Nature Conservancy of Canada's Larry Simpson, who's been working to conserve lands in Alberta for more than 20 years.

Fascinating stories about nature, why we need it in our lives, and the passionate Canadians helping to protect it. In this seven-part series, we’ll take listeners to some of Canada’s important natural areas, from the Bay of Fundy to Victoria. We talk to Canadians helping care for these places, from scientists to hometown heroes. Connect to Canada’s nature. Learn about the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s conservation work. And be inspired to find out how you can help support this work.

Fascinating stories about nature, why we need it in our lives, and the passionate Canadians helping to protect it. In this seven-part series, we’ll take listeners to some of Canada’s important natural areas, from the Bay of Fundy to Victoria. We talk to Canadians helping care for these places, from scientists to hometown heroes. Connect to Canada’s nature. Learn about the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s conservation work. And be inspired to find out how you can help support this work.