Friends of nature

As a boy, Howard Phillips spent his summers beneath the pine and birch trees that surrounded Trout Lake at his grandparents’ Sudbury cottage, collecting driftwood, picking blueberries and poring over nature guides in his uncle’s bookshop. These carefree months away from the bustling Toronto neighbourhood he grew up in helped form Phillips’s appreciation for the natural world. “As I look back now,” he says, “I realize that I had a storybook upbringing in the bush.” While Phillips no longer spends his summers on Trout Lake, he remains an enchanted naturalist.

Today, Phillips – known as Dr. Howard to many of his patients – runs two busy dental surgery offices in Toronto.  In the end, the boy on the beach decided to make a living working indoors. Unwilling, however, to allow his hectic dental practice to interfere with his love of nature, Phillips became a member of Ontario Nature (then called the Federation of Ontario Naturalists) 30 years ago, and as a benefit of membership received Ontario Naturalist, which eventually evolved into ON Nature magazine.

“I’ve always enjoyed the magazine – particularly the detailed articles on Ontario wildlife and vegetation,” says Phillips. “I follow environmental news on a regular basis, but it does not provide [the reader] with the details regarding conservation projects that ON Nature provides.”

So Phillips and his partners, Drs. Victor Moncarz and Jeffrey Farber, also keen naturalists and Ontario Nature supporters, decided to expand the magazine’s readership in a unique and extremely generous fashion. In 2006, the three partners purchased 700 subscriptions for dental clinics across Ontario. The number has grown to well over 900 subscriptions in the past two years.

Phillips insists that the partners’ decision to subscribe to ON Nature on this scale was a no-brainer. “[Drs. Moncarz and Farber] were very enthusiastic,” says Phillips. As for his own motivation, he cites memories of his summers in Sudbury. “Trout Lake had no fish because of the acid rain [as a result of emissions from] local smelters. The pollution made a very definite impres sion on my young mind. I believe that ON Nature has played a major role in conservation in Ontario.”

The business partners have found the response of their colleagues gratifying. Many have written letters of appreciation and joined Ontario Nature after receiving the magazine. ON Nature is extremely appreciative of the support and generosity of Drs. Phillips, Moncarz and Farber. We hope that these gifts will continue to inspire our new readers to make conservation in Ontario a priority in their lives.

Our clubs: Toronto Field Naturalists

In early June 1923, on the corner of Church and Colborne streets in Toronto, friends Will Gregory and Lyman Lackes chatted about the need for some sort of group for likeminded naturalists around the city. Four months later, the Toronto Field Naturalists (TFN) held its first public meeting. This year, TFN celebrates its 85th anniversary.

The early years of TFN were highlighted by enormously successful events. In 1926, Ernest Thompson Seton, famous wildlife artist and author, was a guest lecturer. In the 1930s, field trips throughout the city’s natural landscapes attracted up to 400 people. The club’s newsletter, Toronto Field Naturalist, was first published in 1938 and marks its 70th anniversary this year.

In 1931, TFN played an essential role in the formation of Ontario Nature, then known as the Federation of Ontario Naturalists (FON). For TFN members such as J.R. Dymond and others, FON was a natural and necessary extension of TFN ideals in which naturalists across the province could become part of a single organization.

TFN remains extremely active in the Toronto community. At over 700 members, it is one of the largest member groups in Ontario Nature’s Nature Network. TFN stewards four nature reserves north of Toronto that total 177 hectares of meadow, cedar swamp and environmentally sensitive wetlands and are home to a wide array of wildlife, including river jewelwings and red-eyed vireos.

The popular nature walks around Toronto to places accessible by public transit are ongoing, showing participants the natural gems of the city. Monthly lectures feature guest speakers who cover all sorts of topics, from the migrating birds of Presqu’ile Provincial Park to the geology of the Galapagos Islands.

Much of the club’s energy recently has been directed toward the transformation of Toronto’s waterfront through the Waterfront Toronto campaign. TFN members are currently participating in committees to ensure that the City of Toronto follows through on its plan to naturalize half of Lake Ontario Park, a proposed 238-hectare park that would feature 37 kilometres of shoreline and incorporate Tommy Thompson Park and Ashbridge’s Bay. TFN is also involved in a number of other projects, including the Lights Out Toronto! campaign (see “Flick the switch”).

To mark its anniversary, TFN will hold a nature arts exhibit from August 27 to September 14 in the Papermill Art Gallery at the Todmorden Mills Heritage Museum and Arts Centre. The event will feature the artwork of TFN members and is open to the public. Ontario Nature looks forward to many more fruitful years of partnership with TFN in preserving and appreciating the Greater Toronto Area’s natural spaces.