Prof. Faisal Moola, from the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, spoke to the Toronto Star for an article about the city of Toronto’s adoption of a citywide pollinator protection strategy and declaration of an official bee.

The article noted that cities like Toronto are beginning to recognize that they can and must play a role in protecting biological diversity.

Moola noted that for too long, urban areas have been seen as “landscapes of regret,” with little intact habitat.

“But I really see these as landscapes of opportunity for conservation,” he said, adding that there is now more of a focus on restoring degraded and destroyed landscapes.

Moola is an expert in ecology, conservation biology and environmental policy. Before joining U of G, he worked for the David Suzuki Foundation for more than 15 years, where he was the organization’s director general for Ontario and Northern Canada.