Island Insider

Canada's National Observer is a proud participant of the Local Journalism Initiative, which supports the creation of original civic journalism that covers the diverse needs of underserved communities across Canada.

Rochelle Baker will be covering Quadra and Cortes Islands in British Columbia.

556 Articles

Yukon River’s salmon runs likely to stay small while Indigenous Peoples’ sacrifice grows

The collapse of wild salmon is causing a current of pain that spans the length of the Yukon River, from its mouth at Alaska’s Bering Sea to the headwater’s in Canada’s Yukon territory 3,000 kilometres away.

Rochelle Baker

April 6th 2023

West Coast MP wants Ottawa to ban plastic foam causing a wave of pollution

Polystyrene foam is a plastic blight for beaches and waterways and is harmful to birds, fish and other marine creatures, says B.C. MP Rachel Blaney, who has tabled a motion for the federal government to ban its use in floating structures, like docks and buoys.

Oceans, Waterways & Coastlines

Rochelle Baker

March 29th 2023

Will B.C.’s shift to clean transportation take rural communities along for the ride?

Premier David Eby needs to make sure rural and First Nations communities get affordable intercity transit, so they aren't left stranded in the drive to establish B.C.'s clean transportation network, a growing climate coalition says.

Oceans, Waterways & Coastlines

Rochelle Baker

March 27th 2023

Unchecked climate change puts Canada’s West Coast in hot water

Accelerating climate impacts on the ocean outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have localized and serious ripple effects along the B.C. coast, particularly in the Salish Sea.

Oceans, Waterways & Coastlines

Rochelle Baker

March 23rd 2023

Fisheries and Oceans Canada faces deluge of calls to improve ‘suspect’ science

The department is being flooded with calls for change after a parliamentary committee examined how the federal agency conducts, interprets and acts on its own science.

Rochelle Baker

March 17th 2023

One island community’s answer to climate change? Feed everyone

Quadra Island's Climate Action Team is launching a food recovery program to tackle climate change and food insecurity in the small coastal community.

Oceans, Waterways & Coastlines

Rochelle Baker

March 15th 2023

ExxonMobil cuts bait on exploration rights for B.C. coast

Environmental groups waging a court case against the federal government on the legality of historical "sleeper permits" for oil and gas exploration say other fossil fuel companies need to follow suit.

Rochelle Baker

March 10th 2023

New research hub will grow marine science

The Pender Harbour Ocean Discovery Station is set to be a hot spot for aquatic research and monitoring climate change impacts on marine ecosystems after getting a $1.2-million donation from the Wilson 5 Foundation.

Oceans, Waterways & Coastlines

Rochelle Baker

March 9th 2023

‘Excruciating’ negotiations produce an unprecedented global treaty to protect the high seas

The new global high seas biodiversity treaty finally offers binding protections to marine life across huge swaths of the open ocean and helps stem climate change and biodiversity collapse.

Negotiating survival

Rochelle Baker

March 7th 2023

Coastal First Nation’s cutting-edge ocean wave energy project just got a million-dollar boost

The Yuquot Wave Energy Project is a collaborative effort to build a first-of-its-kind renewable energy microgrid powered by wave power at the heart of Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation’s territory on west Vancouver Island.

Rochelle Baker

March 6th 2023

B.C. budget a mixed bag on climate

B.C.’s budget viewed through a climate lens got mixed reviews from the province’s environmental and conservation sector following its release Tuesday.

Rochelle Baker

March 2nd 2023

West Coast electric ferries lack the power to ditch diesel

BC Ferries just got $500 million in funding to keep fares low and help electrify its fleet, but critics say the provincial announcement was heavy on climate rhetoric and light on concrete details or commitment.

Oceans, Waterways & Coastlines

Rochelle Baker

March 1st 2023

New land conservancy will help save a B.C. island’s precious ‘popcorn bowl’

The new Mount Fisher land trust on Saturna Island protects critical habitat favoured by the tiny slender popcorn flower, which is on the cusp of extinction.

Rochelle Baker

February 27th 2023

Clock is running out for Canada to help secure a global treaty to protect the ocean

Last-ditch negotiations are underway on a transformative UN high seas treaty — the first to protect, rather than exploit, the ocean and to stem the twin spectres of climate change and biodiversity collapse.

Oceans, Waterways & Coastlines

Rochelle Baker

February 24th 2023

Canada confirms protections for marine protected areas but shipping pollution isn’t included

Oil and gas activity, mining, dumping and destructive bottom trawling fishing won’t be allowed in new MPAs but issues of shipping wastewater and noise are not addressed in the protections.

Oceans, Waterways & Coastlines

Rochelle Baker

February 9th 2023