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Sustainability advocate to keynote Forests Ontario annual conference

Steve Hounsell, ardent advocate for biodiversity conservation and ecological sustainability, will deliver the keynote presentation at Forests Ontario’s Annual Conference, Strength in Biodiversity, a virtual event to be held Feb. 9-11, 2022.

Hounsell will highlight the importance of biodiversity and how nature-based solutions are critical for the twin issues of biodiversity loss and climate change, while also examining the critical benefits that biodiverse landscapes provide for people and their livelihoods.

A retired biologist with more than 46 years of experience across multiple sectors, Hounsell is particularly well-suited to speak to this year’s conference theme of Strength in Biodiversity. Having spent most of his professional career with Ontario Power Generation, and the former Ontario Hydro, Hounsell was responsible for the development and implementation of a biodiversity policy, the first of its kind in the electricity industry. Hounsell has also chaired several organizations, including Forests Ontario and the Ontario Biodiversity Council, and is a past president of Ontario Nature. He is a founding director of the Canadian Business and Biodiversity Council, a founding director of The Natural Step Canada, and a past director of the Algonquin to Adirondacks Collaborative.

“I’m very excited to give the keynote presentation at Forests Ontario’s Annual Conference,” Hounsell said. “This is an excellent opportunity to share more on why we must work together to bend the curve of biodiversity loss and become nature-positive. organizations like Forests Ontario are doing great work to deliver nature-based solutions, and I look forward to learning more from the many esteemed speakers.”