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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, M ay 23 ,2 01 9 | 6 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca newsroom@theifp.ca IndependentAndFreePress @IFP_11 WHO WE ARE Publisher Kelly Montague Regional General Manager Steve Foreman Regional Director of Media Holly Chriss Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara Managing Editor Karen Miceli Distribution Representative Iouliana Polar Classified/Real Estate Kristie Pells Regional Production Manager Manuel Garcia Production Shelli Harrison Halton Media General Manager Vicki Dillane CONTACT US The Independent & Free Press 280 Guelph Street, Unit 77 Georgetown, ON L7G 4B1 Phone: 905-873-0301 Classifieds: 905-234-1016 Fax: 905-873-0398 Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 200 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, con- dense or reject letters. Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please e-mail lpolar@miltoncana- dianchampion.com or call 905- 234-1019. OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT THEIFP.CA EDITORIAL DID WE GET IT WRONG? PLEASE TELL US A frightening new United Nations report that discov- ered an unprecedented decline in the Earth's natural world leaves humanity with one big question. It's not whether we're wrecking the planet upon which our very existence depends - we already knew we were and the UN report's finding that one million spe- cies of plants and animals face extinction only adds further confirmation to this tragic reality. No, the only question that matters is: What are we going to do about it? What will we do with the revelations of a stark pre- sent and dangerously uncertain future that are found in the report written by 140 authors from 50 countries for the UN's Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services? What can we do to curtail the human activity that has "severely altered" 75 per cent of the world's land masses and 65 per cent of its marine environments? What will we do to stop the massive die-off of so many kinds of flora and fauna at a rate that, depending on the species, is 10 to even hundreds of times greater than was witnessed on average over the past 100,000 years? Today no fewer than one in four species of plants and animals faces extinction, the report says. How can we live with their deaths? How can we prevent human intervention from de- stroying so much genetic diversity in ways that reduce our food security and could limit the development of new, life-saving pharmaceuticals that come from rare biological compounds? And if we look beyond our own self-centred interests, won't we recognize these endangered or disappearing life forms have their own intrinsic value? It's not that this UN report is the first indication humankind's advanced technological civilization is taking a devastating toll on the environment. Anyone who follows the news knows human-caused climate change is transforming the physical world. What we're doing to the living planet is merely another chapter in this sobering story. And no wonder it's happening. There are now 7.7 billion of us populating this Earth. The farmland we cultivate, the forests we clear, in part, to grow more food, the mines and oilfields we exploit and the cities we build - all of these make our lives not only secure but more convenient and comfort- able than at any other time in history. Yet all this human activity has the natural world in retreat. That's really the nub of the challenge facing us. How do we hang on to what makes modern life so good for so many billions of people while ensuring the survival of the plants and animals that share our home and make it livable? One of the scientists who participated in this UN report insisted the world must rethink its infatuation with economic growth. That's sound advice and surely we'll need to regulate human activity in new ways that preserve the living environment even if that makes some of the luxuries we want more unaffordable or even unattainable. SAVING NATURAL WORLD SAVING OUR HOME It's about trust. Our rela- tionship with our readers is built on transparency, hon- esty and integrity. As such, we have launched a trust initiative to tell you who we are and how and why we do what we do. This column is part of that project. We strive to get it right. Our survival as a trusted news source in our com- munities depends on it. To quote our Torstar Journalistic Standards: "Good faith with the reader is the foundation of ethical and excellent journalism. That good faith rests pri- marily on the reader's con- fidence that what we print is correct. Every effort must be made to ensure that everything we publish is accurate, presented in context, and that all sides are presented fairly." So, what if you think we got something wrong? If you see something inaccurate, missing or unclear in an ar- ticle, please tell us. Whether it's as simple as a misspelled name or as complicated as a perceived imbalance in the coverage of an issue, we want to know about it. Jour- nalistic integrity demands that significant errors of fact, as well as errors of omission, should be correc- ted promptly and transpar- ently. Your first action should be to connect with the re- porter who wrote the arti- cle. Reporters' names and email addresses appear at the top of every story in the paper, and at the bottom online. You can also con- tact me directly. Ideally, the issue will be resolved at the local level. However, we are also members of the National NewsMedia Council, a vol- untary, self-regulatory eth- ics body for the news media industry in Canada. It was established in 2015 to serve as a forum for complaints against its members and to promote ethical practices within the news media in- dustry. Our readers can al- so make complaints about inaccurate or unfair arti- cles to this organization. For more information, visit mediacouncil.ca. We correct errors in a clear, transparent manner on the platform(s) in which the error was published, as promptly as possible - add- ing a note on an online arti- cle or running a correction notice in the next issue of the newspaper. We make clear to readers the correct information, the context and magnitude of the mis- take. Karen Miceli is manag- ing editor of the Oakville Beaver, Burlington Post, Milton Canadian Champi- on, Georgetown/Acton Independent and Free Press and Flamborough Review. We welcome your questions and value your comments. Email our trust committee at trust@met- roland.com. ACCURACY CRUCIAL TO EXCELLENT JOURNALISM; SO IS CORRECTING ERRORS PROMPTLY, SAYS MICELI KAREN MICELI Column