(February 07, 2018)  Wood Buffalo National Park, which straddles the Alberta-NWT border, is an area that can only be described with superlatives. To begin with, it is huge – 45,000 square kilometres, an area bigger than the Netherlands.  It contains one of the world’s largest inland freshwater deltas (the Peace River Delta) and protects the world’s only breeding ground for whooping cranes as well as the largest wild herd of bison on the planet.But it is also troubled. Tar sands developme...

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(February 06, 2018) The Fisheries Act is Canada’s oldest piece of environmental legislation, and on February 06, 2018 the federal government proposed changes that will modernize the act, and restore protections for fish habitat that were removed under the previous government. Specifically, the renewed act will restore protection for all fish, rather than just those that are part of a fishery, along with restoring protection for fish habitat. Further, it makes it explicit that scientific information should be ...

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(December 17, 2017) It’s easy to understand the threat posed by climate change to polar bears.  But how many people think about what climate change means for fish?  Fish that thrive in cold rivers and lakes, such as brook trout, walleye, whitefish, and sturgeon, are an important cultural and economic resource that is deeply threatened by climate change.  How threatened?  That is what WCS Canada set out to discover by modeling not just the impacts of climate change, but of new roads and ind...

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(November 03, 2017) After a quarter century living and working in the Arctic, it continues to take our breath away on a regular basis. Mostly it’s the wildlife: a stupendous aggregation of migrating Sandhill cranes or caribou, a beach overflowing with fur seals, a close up encounter with a wolverine. Other times it could be a phenomenal display of northern lights.But sometimes the news impinges on that wonderment. Increasingly, we read reports of previously unimaginable levels of melting Arctic sea ice or the...

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(October 26, 2017) (TORONTO - October 26, 2017) – Researchers in Canada are developing a new preventative treatment to combat a deadly disease that is decimating bat populations by taking a cue from human probiotics.Think yogurt for bats.The new treatment, which is being developed by Dr. Naowarat Cheeptham of Thompson Rivers University, Dr. Cori Lausen of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Canada and Dr. J.P. Xu of McMaster University, uses the principle of probiotics - introducing “goo...

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(June 14, 2017) MEDIA RELEASECONTACT:JOHN WEAVER cell: 406-274-7825; jlweaver@blackfoot.netJUSTINA RAY: cell 416-795-1636; jray@wcs.orgBighorn Backcountry an Alberta gem that needs to be safeguarded·    Area critically important for wildlife and water Edmonton, Canada (June 14, 2017) – A new scientific analysis by Wildlife Conservation Society Canada has identified a conservation gem nestled beside the two crown jewels of the Rocky Mountai...

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(June 14, 2017) A new scientific analysis by Wildlife Conservation Society Canada has identified a conservation gem nestled beside the two crown jewels of the Rocky Mountain national park system. The area, known as the Bighorn Backcountry, lies just east of Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta and represents one of the most ecologically important areas in the province’s Eastern Slopes region. Based on findings about the importance of this region to wildlife, clean water and recreation...

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(June 07, 2017) Yukon’s Boreal Mountains region adds a whole dimension to Canada’s most iconic forest.  Here snow capped mountains and alpine plateaus are perched above broad river valleys rich with life.  The region is a haven for predators and prey alike, from grizzly bears and wolves to sheep and moose.  There are few other places left in the world that have been so little changed by human development.  That’s why we need a plan to protect the wild in this globally impor...

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(June 05, 2017) On World Environment Day, Canada hosts a global celebration of our natural heritage and commitment to protect 17 percent of terrestrial areas by 2020. While this international commitment is a significant achievement, Canada can lead with an even bolder vision to protect some of the last truly wild places remaining on the planet – our northern landscapes.Click here to read more

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(June 05, 2017) **NEWS RELEASE**  CONTACT: JUSTINA RAY: ((office)1-416-850-9038 x22; (cell) 416-795-1636; jray@wcs.org) HILARY COOKE: (1-867-393-2447; hcooke@wcs.org)World Environment Day on June 5th is an opportunity for territory to plan for a wild future.Yukon can play globally significant role in protecting biodiversityRegion boasts large landscapes with thriving ecosystems with iconic mammals such as grizzly bears, caribou, and wolvesValley bottoms seen as key to conserva...

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