The Green Zone 1998
Distributed by Bullfrog Films, PO Box 149, Oley, PA 19547; 800-543-FROG (3764)
Produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Directed by Ray Burley
VHS, color, 47 min.
College - Adult
Environmental Studies
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Buzz Haughton, Shields Library, University of California at DavisThis episode of "The Nature of Things" hosted by David Suzuki takes the viewer to riparian zones, the areas of intensely varied plant and animal life along rivers. Suzuki visits first the comparatively unspoiled Miramichi River of rural New Brunswick, where he introduces us to the complex interactions between Atlantic salmon, an anadromous (migrating) fish that relies on the rich fauna provided by the riparian habitat, and other elements of the ecosystem. Encroaching human development threatens the salmon; populations of the fish are beginning to decline as erosion from increased runoff from paved ground nearby increases inflow into the river.
The next stop on Suzuki's itinerary is a western Canadian province, where Suzuki explores the effects of human activity on stream and riparian ecology.
The last part of the program deals with restoration of urban riparian habitat, using the Don River in metropolitan Toronto and the Fraser River in metropolitan Vancouver. Through skillful use of buried logs, replanting and government buyout of riparian habitat, both of these rivers' riparian ecologies are under repair, though as one expert emphasizes, the long-term effect of habitat restoration by its very nature will not be seen immediately.
The episode is visually beautiful, factually informative and useful for any academic library maintaining an audiovisual collection in ecology. Highly recommended.