Steve Hounsell is a biologist with over thirty-three years of experience working with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and the former Ontario Hydro. He is currently Senior Advisor, Sustainable Development at OPG.
Steve’s career path has included environmental policy development and implementation, environmental assessments, and applied environmental research where his work focused specifically on the effects of forest fragmentation on wildlife. He was responsible for the development and implementation of a biodiversity policy, the first of its kind in the electricity industry. He has made many contributions to woodland conservation in southern Ontario.
Steve currently works in the Corporate Sustainable Development Group of Ontario Power Generation, where he manages OPG’s biodiversity programs and its carbon sequestration and biodiversity management program.
Steve is also the Past President of Ontario Nature (formerly the Federation of Ontario Naturalists) and is a founding member and past director of the Natural Step Canada, an organization dedicated to promoting sustainability across society.
Steve led the recent “renewal” of the 2005 Ontario Biodiversity Strategy, and does an excellent job of talking about biodiversity, ecological footprint, and “natural step”. He is always open to constructive criticism and debate on the Ontario Biodiversity Strategy, and is committed to the implementation of the Strategy.
Title: Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy – Protecting What Sustains Us
Summary:
The state of Ontario’s biodiversity and growing threats to its imperilment will be juxtaposed against a renewed Ontario Biodiversity Strategy (OBS) to better protect what sustains us. Opportunities and challenges for implementing the OBS will be highlighted which may well be exacerbated by current provincial economic woes. High level priorities for action will be suggested to curtail further losses and move us towards a healthier and more ecologically sustainable future.
