What is BEAN?

BEAN is a collaborative network of groups and individuals representing private industry, formal and non-formal education, government, the environment and conservation. BEAN was set up to implement Action Items 1 and 2 of Ontario's Biodiversity Strategy, which calls for an increased awareness and understanding of biodiversity, its benefits and threats, and what each of us can do to support it. BEAN is a working group affiliated with Ontario's Biodiversity Council, and the Education Alliance for a Sustainable Ontario.

Why is BEAN necessary?

The world is losing biodiversity at an alarming rate. And the causes of this loss, the threats to biodiversity, can all be traced back to us. Each one of us. We need to connect with biodiversity, understand it, and identify what we can do to slow and even reverse its loss. BEAN was put in place to help us do those things.

Ontario's Biodiversity Strategy, 2011

June 22, 2011 —The Ontario Biodiversity Council has released a renewed biodiversity strategy for the province, calling on government, conservation groups, industry and all Ontarians to help in protecting what sustains us.

The Ontario Biodiversity Council recognizes the importance of biodiversity and is taking steps to conserve it as an essential part of building a strong and prosperous future for our province. Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy, 2011 provides a renewed commitment to safeguard Ontario’s variety of species and ecosystems and puts forward an ambitious but practical conservation agenda.

Click here to read Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy, 2011: Renewing our Commitment to Protecting What Sustains Us. 

State of Ontario’s Biodiversity 2010

To protect biodiversity we need to understand it.  That’s where the new State of Ontario’s Biodiversity 2010 can help.  This report measures the health of Ontario’s biodiversity based on 29 indicators such as wetland losses and freshwater quality.  This information can help us make better decisions about where to focus our efforts to conserve biodiversity.  To learn more about the report and the shorter ‘highlights’ version, please visit the Ontario Biodiversity Council website.

What is biodiversity?

Simply put, biodiversity is life in all its variety: over 14 million species found from mountain top to deep-sea vent. But it is much more. Those species connect, and interact. Those interactions create communities and systems, and those systems provide goods and services such as oxygen production, pollination, water filtration and storage, pest control, food production, carbon storage and erosion control. Again, simply put, biodiversity anchors nature's life support system. For more on biodiversity read our primer or scan our key, biodiversity-related concepts.

BEAN in action

Check out our Coming Events to see how you might fit in the BEAN picture.

BEAN will be growing

We are currently planning for a "Greater BEAN". Contact us if your organization would like to become part of the larger network.