Canada is a vast country and we are lucky to be one of the few places in the world that still has many large wild areas that are unchanged by human development. When I fly over the boreal forests of northern Ontario in search of caribou or wolverine, I am always struck by the sea of green forests and sparkling blue lakes stretching out below me to the horizon.

But even from just a few hundred feet up in the air, it can be hard to see where ecosystems are thriving and where they are not. That’s why it is important for us to find out where we need to take a closer look by putting boots on the ground to assess the state of these globally important forests and lakes and to better understand what we can do to keep them and wildlife thriving.

Over the last year, we have been fine-tuning a plan to build on our work to conserve wildlife and wild places across Canada. We are focusing on key areas that we think offer prime opportunities to take new conservation approaches, including the vast northern boreal region of Ontario and its globally important wetlands, wild rivers and deep lakes. The northern boreal mountain region straddling the British Columbia – Yukon border is another area where we are mapping out a plan for keeping rich valley bottoms, wild rivers and mountain slopes teeming with wildlife. And in the Western Arctic, we are diving deep into the cold, rich arctic waters and working with local people to track a fast changing climate and its impacts on critical arctic food chains.

Landscapes are important, but so too are individual species, especially those that shape landscapes or ecosystems in important ways. I’ve spent countless hours tracking, researching and speaking out for caribou across Canada because I know that they are a key component in healthy boreal and arctic ecosystems. WCS Canada has led the way, detailing what needs to be done to help at-risk caribou survive and we will continue to use our research to show the urgent need for effective caribou conservation action.

Similarly, in British Columbia and Alberta, WCS Canada has raised the alarm about what the arrival of a deadly disease – white-nose syndrome – could mean for bats. Bats are voracious insect eaters and their sudden absence could trigger sweeping changes to everything from forests to fisheries. And in the Arctic, we are looking at what more frequent shipping through increasingly ice-free waters could mean for marine mammals such as seals that will have to deal with a noisier and more dangerous environment.

I think what makes WCS Canada’s work unique is the way we combine a high-level view of the conservation challenges facing Canada with on-the-ground research to develop innovative conservation approaches and policy solutions that will protect our rich and irreplaceable biodiversity and, ultimately, our country’s wild character.

Here at WCS Canada, we believe in science and in using science to build a better country for both people and wildlife. Your support helps us to take our research further, to explore more places and species, and to have a greater impact on conservation. Thank you.

See our 2016 conservation highlights

Justina Ray
President and Chief Scientist

I think there is nothing more closely related to the future of this country than the health and survival of the caribou. – Paul Kennedy, host of CBC Radio Ideas
 

For many Canadians living in southern cities, that quarter they slip into a vending machine is one of the few times they see a caribou. But caribou are an essential part of the True North and a key indicator of how well we are doing in keeping the wild alive across this vast land.

Because boreal caribou need very large areas of undisturbed old forest for their survival, their presence can tell us that the natural ecosystem in these places is still largely healthy and intact. Meanwhile, on the tundra, vast herds of caribou represent the kind of almost unimaginable natural abundance that was once a far more common phenomenon on our planet, but one that has been increasingly slipping away – whether it is the disappearance of oceans filled with cod or skies filled with passenger pigeons.

That’s why WCS Canada pays a lot of attention to caribou and to finding ways to reverse their ongoing decline across Canada. A big part of the answer, we believe, lies in looking at landscapes at a caribou scale – understanding the impact of our actions over thousands of square kilometres or across whole watersheds instead of just looking at individual roads, mines, forestry operations or other development projects.

That represents a major change from our current piecemeal planning approaches, but if we adopt "caribou-centric" planning, we have a far greater chance of ensuring healthy wild landscapes where biodiversity is protected and where resource development can be brought into better balance with ecosystems and biodiversity protection.

WCS Canada President and Senior Scientist Dr. Justina Ray has helped develop recovery plans for threatened caribou and has done years of important field research on caribou and their habitat, particularly in Ontario’s globally important Far North. Dr. Cheryl Chetkiewicz, meanwhile, is looking at how we can develop better environmental assessment approaches that properly weigh cumulative impacts in order to avoid the “death by a thousand cuts” outcome facing species like caribou today.

Together, our science is drawing a picture of what it is caribou need to survive – and how their survival affects entire ecosystems. This is critical work for ensuring these iconic animals continue to slip quietly through our northern forests or thunder across our barren grounds for generations to come.

Caribou have disappeared from half of their historical range in Canada over the last 100 years. Our Caribou and Mining story map illustrates what has happened to a broad swath of southern Canada that caribou used to inhabit and shows what development like mining could do to their remaining range in northern Ontario.