We All Have a Part
The close of this calendar year will be highlighted by a meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, where representatives from countries around the world will agree on targets for conservation. Each country will then develop its own national goals and the plans to achieve them. It is vital targets be ambitious and commitments be kept. And we all have a part to play.
Governments have a key role in achieving the goals, but they cannot do it alone. This is where organizations like the Canadian Wildlife Federation are so crucial. We consolidate the voice of the many thousands of Canadians who recognize the importance of a healthy environment and lobby government to establish needed policies and programs; we deliver direct conservation projects to restore species and habitat and improve the environment; we provide opportunities for people across the country to take personal actions to help achieve these goals.
A simple walk with your phone and the inaturalist app allows you to take photos of plants, bugs and wildlife of all kinds, share them and interact with thousands of others. Over the last five years, the number of people posting their photos has increased from 10,400 to 230,000! These individuals have recorded about nine million “observations.” inaturalist has been cited at least 2,500 times in peer-reviewed literature, the data is being used by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada for species assessments. At least three species have been found in Canada as a result.
It’s also surprising the difference wildlifefriendly plantings can make. A few years ago, my spouse and I planted pollinator plants in our yard. The next year and every year since, we have had monarch butterflies, an endangered species, spend the summer in our yard.
Others prefer participating in a program. Our award-winning WILD Outside and Canadian Conservation Corps programs help get youth across Canada into outdoor adventure, learning and doing volunteer service to help local wildlife. Through the CCC alone, the Canadian Wildlife Federation has helped engage nearly 50,000 people in community service projects since the program started in 2018. Perhaps you know someone aged 18 to 30 who might be interested in being a part of it in 2023.
In addition to providing readers with insight into species in the wild, Canadian Wildlife magazine celebrates Canadians who take personal action for conservation. In 2022, we profiled dozens of people in every part of the country who are working to help conserve species from butterflies to belugas (see page 20 for our profile of this whale species unlike any other). Also check out “Learning from the Land” on page 30. The second part of Niki Wilson’s two-part article on outdoor education visits Tsleil-waututh First Nation’s school in North Vancouver to tell of their inspired response to the pandemic.
Of course, year-end is also the time for financial reckoning. In our fiscal year 2021-22, CWF invested more than $21 million in our programs. It is all part of our balanced approach to resolving conservation challenges: funding research into conservation best practices, delivering onthe-ground programming to inspire participation in conservation, and offering science-based advocacy to shape policy that benefits wildlife. We are grateful to our financial supporters, big and small, for their help making it happen.
All of us at CWF are encouraged and inspired by the commitment and passion of our supporters across the country. I look forward to 2023 and all the good work we will do together.