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We Stand for Wildlife

COVID-19 and Conservation

Planetary health has never been more important to human health. Learn what WCS Canada is doing to help. This page is regularly updated to reflect the changing situation.

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Bat-killing fungus found in Saskatchewan

White-nose syndrome is moving west. Our innovative monitoring program has found evidence of the fungus that causes WNS in Saskatchewan.

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Northern Mountains and Yukon

Wolverine

Big picture conservation solutions

Freshwater Fish

WCS Canada scientists get their boots muddy studying wildlife and wild places across Canada in hopes of spurring action to address our growing biodiversity crisis.

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Bats

Wild Places

Arctic Mammals

Ontario Northern Boreal

Our work to save wildlife

Blog

Canary in a Gold Mine

We follow Chrystal, Dan, Patrice and Warren of the WCS Canada bird research team to the field to see how they've been researching cumulative effects in the Yukon.

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External Blog

Digging deep on costs and benefits of mining in Yukon

The Yukon Government has embarked on a review of the rules around mining in the territory. WCS Canada weighed in on a comprehensive set of recommendations urging the government to create a framework that better acknowledges the significant ecological impacts of mining.

Latest Publications

A guideline to frame stressor effects in freshwater ecosystems
Perujo, N., Van den Brink, P.J., Segner, H., Mantyka-Pringle, C., Sabater, S., Birk, S., Bruder, A., Romero, F. and Acuña, V. 2021. Science of The Total Environment 777(146112)

Arctic Crashes: People and Animals in the Changing North (Book Review)

On the alarming state of freshwater biodiversity in Canada
Little is known about the current state of freshwater biodiversity in Canada, one of the countries with the greatest amount of surface waters in the world. To address this knowledge gap, we compiled a list of all available assessments of conservation status for freshwater species (over 3,000 taxa) and further evaluated the overall status of six distinct taxonomic groups, focusing on organisms reliant on freshwaters [i.e., aquatic plants, invertebrates (with a focus on freshwater mussels), fishes, herpetofauna (reptiles and amphibians), birds, and mammals]. Overall, 11.7% of all freshwater species of plants and animals assessed were found to be ‘at risk’ (i.e., listed as ‘Threatened’, ‘Endangered’, or ‘Extirpated’) and 17.9% identified as ‘Special Concern’. We found that 37.9% of species lacked sufficient data to enable their status to be assessed. Data gaps in Canada’s assessment of its freshwater species were most prevalent in invertebrates (excluding freshwater mussels). Given the alarming state of freshwater biodiversity in Canada, we conclude by providing recommendations that focus on evaluating temporal trends and informing conservation actions.

The biodiversity crisis in Canada: failures and challenges of federal and sub-national strategic and legal frameworks
Ray, J.C., Olive, A. and Grimm, J. 2021. FACETS 6: 1044–1068.

Ringed Seal Diet and Body Condition in the Amundsen Gulf region, Eastern Beaufort Sea
Insley, S.J., Tauzer, L.M., Halliday, W.D. , Illasiak, J. Green, R. Kudlak, A. and Kuptana, J. 2021. Arctic 74(2): 127-138.

WCS Canada Newsletter

WCS Canada's newsletters have stories about our scientists in the field, interesting insights about wildlife and important conservation alerts.

Read our latest e-News:
August 2021 - This is time for climate action, not despair

Latest policy comments

WCS Comments - Ecosystem Integrity and International Policy - August 2021
In this document, WCS has listed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on ecosystem integrity and its role in international policy.

WCS Comments - Recommendations on Draft 1 of the Global Biodiversity Framework - July 2021
WCS makes recommendations intended to help the parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and other Open Ended Working Groups (OEWG) participants refine Draft 1 of the Global Biodiversity Framework for final consideration at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP15).

Joint Comment - Letter of Concern to World Heritage Committee re Wood Buffalo National Park - July 2021
29 Indigenous communities, environmental groups, civil society organizations , and concerned scientists write to the World Heritage Committee to express collective concern with lack of major and timely conservation actions to address the deterioration of Outstanding Universal Values of the Wood Buffalo National Park World Heritage Site. We agree with the analysis and conclusions provided by the World Heritage Centre and IUCN to the Committee to consider at the 44th Session.

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Photo credits: Banner | Susan Morse © News | Mountain landscape: Susan Morse ©, River: Maitland Conservation Authority ©, Caribou: Don Reid © WCS Canada, Peatlands: Mike Oldham | Bat with WNS © NPS/Creative Commons License | Mosaic: Northern Mountains: Hilary Cooke © WCS Canada, Wolverine: Susan Morse ©. Brook Trout: Engbretson Underwater Photography ©, Bat: Cory Olson ©, Wild Places: Hilary Cooke © WCS Canada, Ontario River: Constance O'Connor © WCS Canada, Caribou: Susan Morse © | Black-capped chickadee © Malcolm Boothroyd | Yukon mining: Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle © WCS Canada.