Vote for Nature, part 5: Lead Canadian Conservation

Volunteers from the Canadian IBA Network raise awareness about shoreline habitat.

Conserving wildlife, wild spaces, and the environment is a big job. Fortunately there are many people helping. Aboriginal, provincial, and territorial governments, nonprofit organizations, local clubs, landowners, businesses, industries, and others are doing their part. For example, Nature Canada is part of the global BirdLife International network that implements the Important Bird Areas (IBA) program. There are over 600 IBAs in Canada in need of various kinds of stewardship. There are countless other programs that tackle individual conservation issues. What Canada needs is an ambitious national plan to support and coordinate these efforts. The federal government has its specific areas of responsibility but it also has another role as our national government. We turn to our federal government to lead and coordinate action across Canada to conserve and protect what we hold dear.

By working together we can be much more effective, here at home and beyond our borders. Consider for a moment that ninety percent of our birds migrate out of Canada every fall. We can’t conserve “our” birds unless we look beyond our borders to the places they go through and go to. These places are uniquely linked along “flyways”, the great migratory routes that birds follow up and down our continents. We need to collaborate with partners in the United States and throughout Latin America. We need a conservation plan for Canada that recognizes our international obligations.

Imagine what we could achieve if we were all working together to protect nature, for wildlife, for us to enjoy, and for future generations. The federal government can help make this happen by leading the development of an ambitious national conservation plan.

Ask your candidates:

What will you do to show national leadership and give Canada an ambitious vision and a plan to protect nature for all?


For more about the federal election visit our Vote for Nature page.