Tips to help protect species at risk

Ten simple and concrete things that you can do:

Learn as much as you can about species at risk: explore this web site, join an environmental group, and visit parks, zoos, and botanical gardens that house species at risk
Offer your help to teams working to recover species at risk in your area. They sometimes need a helping hand for specific activities
Install bird feeders, especially in places where there are very few mature trees
Grow native plants in your garden, while making sure to buy them from producers that do not harvest them directly from the wild
Question residential area plans that could destroy the habitats of species at risk
Reduce your contribution to the greenhouse effect: walk, ride a bicycle, or take public transportation to work. Choose an economical car, or carpool
Do not use pesticides around the home
When travelling, remember that it is sometimes illegal to bring back, without a permit, souvenirs made from plants and animals
Reduce, reuse and recycle. Consume less and buy from companies that are involved in protecting the environment
Respect laws and regulations regarding species at risk

Additional information

There are more than 500 plant and animal species at risk in Canada (according to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada), and more than 11,000 throughout the world
In Nova Scotia, elementary school students built artificial nests to assist the recovery of the Roseate Tern, an endangered seabird
Certain bird species, such as the White-Headed Woodpecker, need dead trees to perch and nest in
The Purple Loosestrife, a non-indigenous plant that is often planted in gardens, invades wetlands and destroys the habitat of plants and animals that live there
Urban expansion has contributed to the loss of habitat for the American Ginseng and to the decline of the plant, an endangered species used in the past by Aboriginals to treat various diseases
Climatic changes are having an effect on polar bears. The pack ice is decreasing in thickness, which makes hunting more difficult for bears, thus reducing their survival rate
In 1998, the use of the insecticide carbofuran was banned in Canada after it was proven that it had harmful effects on the Burrowing Owl, an endangered owl in Canada
Some species are declining because they are the objects of excessive trade
The leatherback turtle sometimes ingests plastic bags adrift on the sea, confusing them with jellyfish, its prey of choice
Poaching is the primary cause of the decline of the northern abalone, a shellfish from British Columbia. Illegal harvesting of this mollusc prevents the species from reproducing sufficiently