WWF_LP_FALL_2020_FIN

CANADA
LIVING PLANET
Fall 2020
TEN YEARS TO MAKE A
DIFFERENCE FOR WILDLIFE
PINE MARTEN © JIM CUMMING / SHUTTERSTOCK
Join us as we embark on
a new action plan

FROM THE NEWSROOM
WWF IN THE MEDIA
NATURE CAN HELP RESTORE
CANADA AFTER COVID-19
LIVING PLANET
REPORT CANADA
2020
CANADA’S AT-RISK
SPECIES FACE
STAGGERING LOSSES
While it doesn’t take a scientist
to guess that species at risk are
likely to decline — after all, “at risk”
means at risk of extinction — the
magnitude of wildlife declines and
the threats they face can tell us if
conservation efforts are working.
The Living Planet Report Canada
JAMES SNIDER
2020 reveals we aren’t doing enough.
WWF-Canada found that
Canadian populations of globally
at-risk species declined by 42 per
cent between 1970 and 2016, while
nationally at-risk populations fell
by 59 per cent. We also found that
species at risk face five threats on
average, including overexploitation,
climate change, pollution and
transportation.
The report also outlines a series
of solutions to combat these threats
and recover Canadian wildlife. We’ll
need your help.
WWF-Canada’s vice president of science, knowledge and innovation
spoke to news outlets across the country about the Living Planet
Report Canada 2020. Here’s a sampling of what he said:
ATLANTIC PUFFIN © SHUTTERSTOCK
THE STAR, JULY 29, 2020
“We can redesign our economy and
our communities to make them resilient
and strong, and to protect people
and nature. But this moment won’t
last forever, and future generations
are depending on us
to seize it.”
Megan Leslie
PODCAST
— Megan Leslie,
WWF-Canada’s president
and CEO, on the need for
a green recovery.
TAKE A DEEPER DIVE INTO THE
LIVING PLANET REPORT CANADA
No time to read the full Living Planet Report
Canada 2020? Let Megan Leslie and James
Snider tell you everything you need to know
on our new podcast. Every
month on Conservation
Files, a different expert
will take you into the heart
of the conservation work
they’re doing.
ON CBC.CA
“We can’t simply
be taking an
approach to protected
areas that’s
separate from
how we’re tackling
climate change,
that’s separate
from how we’re
trying to recover
our species at risk.
They have to be
deeply integrated.”
IN CANADIAN
PRESS
“In Canada, we
are not exempt
from the global
extinction crisis.
It’s very easy for us
to assume that the
loss of biodiversity
elsewhere in
the world isn’t
happening here,
and the findings of
this report shows
otherwise: We are
seeing significant
decline in some
of our most
imperiled species.”
IN CANADIAN
GEOGRAPHIC
“For conservation
in Canada to
be effective, it
needs to be both
equitable and just.
For that to occur,
we’re going to [rely
on] significant
leadership from
our Indigenous
communities.”
IN THE GLOBE
AND MAIL
“We need to take
a much more
integrated and
holistic approach
if we’re going to
see successful
recovery of those
species.”
Listen to us on Spotify or online at
wwfcanada.libsyn.com
GET INVOLVED
PUT NATURE ON YOUR AGENDA
TODAY: Sign up for our Fieldnotes
e-newsletter. wwf.ca
DEC. 1: Giving Tuesday. Kick off the
holiday season by supporting Arctic
species conservation.
DEC. 5: International Volunteer Day. Your
time, talent and skills help us protect
nature. wwf.ca/volunteer
DEC. 11 &13: Wildlife adoptions deadline.
Order by Dec. 11 for rural addresses and
Dec. 13 for urban addresses to ensure
delivery by Dec. 25.
LIVING PLANET FALL 2020 — PAGE 2

WILDLIFE
SPECIES SPOTLIGHT:
WHOOPING CRANE
WILDLIFE
SPECIES SPOTLIGHT:
BELUGA WHALE
With their “smiling” upturned
mouths and white skin,
belugas are among the most
recognizable and beloved whales. A
migratory species living primarily
in areas with Arctic sea ice — with
some found farther south, including
Quebec’s St. Lawrence Estuary —
several populations of belugas are
assessed as endangered.
Through WWF-Canada’s Arctic
Species Conservation Fund, scientists
and community members from
Pangnirtung, Nunavut, were able
to do non-invasive surveys of the
Cumberland Sound belugas, one of
the most threatened populations.
Using cutting-edge conservation
drones, they counted female belugas
and their calves and located nursing
areas in hard-to-reach places while
minimizing disturbances to wildlife.
Beluga
Carried out in collaboration with the
University of Manitoba, Fisheries
and Oceans Canada and the local
community, this project allows us
to assess population movements so
we can identify and protect critical
habitat.
We’re also continuing our efforts
to safeguard the endangered
St. Lawrence belugas. WWF-
Canada is part of the NON GNL
Quebec campaign, alongside many
other environmental and citizen
organizations, to prevent a liquefied
natural gas terminal that could bring
more than 120 supertankers a year
into the heart of the belugas’ St.
Lawrence habitat.
DID YOU KNOW?
Belugas are known for their
distinctive pale colour. But the
“little white whale on the go”
that Raffi sang about is actually
dark grey at birth. It can take up
to eight years before belugas
turn completely white.
© NATUREPL.COM / ANGELO GIAMPICCOLO / WWF
The entire wild global
population of whooping
cranes is made up of only
500 individuals that breed in
Wood Buffalo National Park
(WBNP) in Canada before
migrating south to the Aransas
National Wildlife Refuge
(ANWR) in Texas for the winter.
While their population is small,
these statuesque birds can reach
1.5 metres tall and have become
a symbol of conservation.
At the beginning of the 20th
century, the population had lost
so much of its wetland habitat
and was so heavily hunted that
there were only 14 left. But the
population rebounded after
WBNP was established in 1922
to conserve wood bison and
ANWR was protected in 1937 for
migratory birds, safeguarding
both their breeding and
wintering grounds.
The facts about wildlife loss
can be discouraging, but the
whooping crane’s remarkable
recovery shows us it is indeed
possible to reverse these declines
when we take bold action.
Whooping cranes
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LIVING PLANET FALL 2020 — PAGE 3

Forests, like those
the Canada lynx call
home, are one of
the most powerful
tools we have in
the fight against
climate change.
OUR VISION
1
© SHUTTERSTOCK
JOIN OUR
DECADE
OF ACTION
By Megan Leslie
Barren-ground caribou
© ROBERT BOWHAY
FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE
WITH NATURE
Canada holds a significant
amount of the world’s carbon-rich
forests, coastal zones, grasslands,
peatlands and wetlands. Not only
do these ecosystems provide
habitat and sequester carbon
from the atmosphere, they can
release it. WWF-Canada is already
identifying our country’s carbon
sinks and, over the next decade,
will restore and protect them in
the fight against climate change.
Take a moment to imagine a Canada of the
future, one with abundant wildlife, where
nature and people thrive. That’s a future I
can imagine, and one that I want to work
toward. Luckily, I’m not alone! With the
support of incredible conservationists like you,
we’ve made important gains toward that vision
over WWF-Canada’s 53-year history.
But as the threats to wildlife evolve, so must
our strategy — which is why I’m excited to tell you
that WWF-Canada has launched a new action
plan for the next ten years. It’s a plan as ambitious
as the nature crisis is urgent. It’s a plan that will
harness the power of nature to fight biodiversity
loss and climate change.
In this time of short attention spans, we need
to put our heads down and focus on what wildlife
need for the long term. Ten years of concentrated
effort and commitment to increase at-risk wildlife
populations is the time we need for us to make
a measurable difference — and, of course, “us”
includes you.
There’s no time to waste. Populations of at-risk
species in Canada have declined by 59 per cent
since 1970. The main cause is habitat loss — the
destruction and disruption of areas where wildlife
find food and water, give birth and raise their
young, escape predators, migrate, and hibernate.
The impacts of unsustainable approaches
to industrial activities — like deforestation,
overexploitation and pollution — are increasingly
threatening wildlife survival while climate change
LIVING PLANET FALL 2020 — PAGE 4

OUR TEN-YEAR GOALS
Southern
resident killer
whales face
imminent threats
from food
shortages and
marine traffic
disturbances.
Our work to
reverse the
decline of
wildlife would
not be possible
without you.
Like many
species,
monarchs
depend on
connected
habitats across
their range.
© SARAH PIETRKIEWICZ
2 3 4
EXPAND VIABLE,
SUSTAINED HABITAT
REDUCE INDUSTRIAL
STRESSORS ON WILDLIFE
© NATALIE BOWES / WWF-CANADA
TAKE ACTION FOR
CONSERVATION
© MARCO LIBRETTI/ WWF-CANADA
Improving wildlife habitats is
essential to preventing the loss of
hundreds of species throughout
Canada, from burrowing owls and
Atlantic walrus to monarchs and
the North Atlantic right whale. In
the coming decade, WWF-Canada
will work to increase the area
and quality of habitat supporting
species that are declining or
already at risk.
Unsustainable approaches to
industrial activity can wear down
wildlife. Ship strikes may prevent
whale pods from a having a
successful breeding season and roads
built to provide access to mining
sites can disrupt migratory routes of
barren-ground caribou. Over the next
decade, WWF-Canada will work with
industry to find solutions to eliminate
or greatly reduce negative impacts
with a measurable benefit to wildlife.
Human behaviour is the driving
cause of wildlife loss. So, to
achieve our goals we cannot
leave people out of the equation.
WWF-Canada will bring together
Canadians to advocate and take
hands-on, measurable actions at
home, work, school and in their
local communities.
is creating unprecedented new challenges.Rising
sea levels, more frequent and intense flooding,
raging wildfires, superstorms, melting ice and
warming oceans directly harm animals and
destroy the places they live.
Our mission remains the same, but the
magnitude of these challenges is so enormous that
we needed to completely reorganize our activities
and realign our operations to ensure success.
Inspired by the complexities of ecosystems, we’re
focusing on four integrated goals: fighting climate
change with nature; expanding viable, sustained
habitat; reducing industrial stressors on wildlife;
and taking action for conservation.
This means that all our nature protection
and restoration efforts must be targeted to
safeguard the most at-risk species and capture
the most carbon. We will also continue to support
Indigenous partners and embrace Indigenous
leadership and knowledge systems alongside
technical science and innovation. Along the
way, we’ll measure success by tracking wildlife
population increases, hectares of improved
habitat and the tonnage of carbon kept out of the
atmosphere.
But that fourth “take action” goal is all about
you. By taking measurable and meaningful
actions to support nature, you can have an
extraordinarily positive and cumulative impact.
We’re committing all our resources to this
vision. We hope you will continue with us on this
decade-long journey and help make it a reality.
LIVING PLANET FALL 2020 — PAGE 5

CONSERVATION
CANADA’S FRESHWATER
REPORT CARD
A herd of walruses
Western painted
turtle
WWF-Canada’s new 2020 Watershed
Report just gave 42 of our country’s
sub-watersheds a health score of Good
or Very Good while 21 scored Fair and
four scored Poor or Very Poor. This
sounds like great news — except that
Canada is home to 167 sub-watersheds,
and there isn’t enough data for 100 of
them to be scored at all.
This is a slight improvement from
our 2017 report, Canada’s first-ever
national assessment of freshwater
health and threats, which lacked
information for 110 sub-watersheds.
But these significant data deficiencies
remain a major concern.
This lack of comprehensive, openaccess
water data means we can’t fully
understand how threats from human
activities — ranging from pollution and
habitat loss to overuse and climate
change — are impacting freshwater
health. This is why WWF-Canada is
working with groups across Canada to
improve and expand our data collection
and provide up-to-date information for
our regular reassessment.
We’ve also invested in restoring
threatened landscapes and communitybased
monitoring — like STREAM, our
Sequencing the Rivers for Environmental
Assessment and Monitoring program
— to safeguard freshwater ecosystems.
But more work is needed. Without
a coordinated approach, including
a standardized, widespread and
consistent national monitoring system,
it is impossible to ensure Canada’s
freshwater health.
Learn more about the health of your
watershed at watershedreports.wwf.ca.
© SHUTTERSTOCK
© CATHERINE PAQUETTE
CONSERVATION
OUR ARCTIC SPECIES
CONSERVATION
FUND CONTINUES
DURING COVID-19
With wildlife research and stewardship
largely on hold in Nunavut as
the territory remains closed to nonessential
travel to stay COVID-19
free, our new Arctic Species Conservation
Fund (ASCF) season is focusing
on community-led efforts.
These include investigating the
YOUR IMPACT
INNOVATING FOR
FRESHWATER HEALTH
Citizens scientists in Sudbury, Ontario receive
STREAM water monitoring training
impact of microplastics on walrus
in Iqaluit; developing new stressmonitoring
techniques for narwhal;
locally-led harvest monitoring of caribou
in Kivalliq; analyzing years of
caribou collar data on habitat use and
calving ground locations; monitoring
walrus haulouts to gauge shipping
disturbances; enhancing our humanpolar
bear conflict reduction work in
Whale Cove with camera traps; and
an on-the-land clean-up within the
proposed boundaries for Aviqtuuq
Inuit Protected and Conserved Area
outside Taloyoak.
Now more than ever, the ASCF
supports local projects that continue
vital wildlife monitoring while ensuring
the safety of our partners during
the pandemic.
Our Generation Water Tech Challenge
has given four recipients the opportunity
to advance their bold solutions
for improving Canada’s freshwater
health. Throughout the challenge, our
innovators have worked closely with
staff from WWF-Canada and the
Centre for Social Innovation’s Climate
Ventures Earth Tech accelerator program
to help bring their ideas to life.
From tackling road salt issues with
artificial intelligence to digitizing
microbial activity in real-time, these
technological tools are revolutionizing
how we monitor and safeguard
Canada’s waterways.
© TOM ARNBOM / WWF-SWEDEN
LIVING PLANET FALL 2020 — PAGE 6

STUMP THE EXPERT
QUESTION:
What is ghost gear?
The Rodriguez Blua sisters, Belén
(right) and Taylor (left) with
their pine marten and cheetah
adoptions. Behind them, the class
displays educational posters about
the species they’re helping thrive.
SUPPORTER SPOTLIGHT
HOW TWO SISTERS
INSPIRED THEIR SCHOOL
TO HELP WILDLIFE
Pine martens can be found in boreal
forests across Canada. They can also be
found at Hawthorn Public School in
Mississauga, Ont. — along with cheetahs,
orcas, red pandas and other species
that students symbolically adopted in
an effort to protect the wildlife they care
deeply about.
“Getting involved with WWF and helping
animals is a lifelong goal of mine,”
says Belén Rodriguez Blua (aged 11), an
aspiring veterinarian who, along with her
sister Taylor (aged 9), saved up enough
money to adopt by doing chores. After
receiving their adoption kit, the sisters
encouraged friends and classmates to
support WWF-Canada’s conservation
work by adopting, too.
“We did announcements, made
posters to put around the school, sold
buttons and bracelets that we made
to raise money, and met up at recess
to plan,” explains Belén. Together with
Hawthorn WWF club members —
Sammy Boluch, Aurora Ademaj, Kamila
Solowianiuk, Dominic Solowianiuk, Tong
Zhou, Liam Stone, Reena Chen, Jenny
Xu, Mason MacDonald, Kian Diggle, Alisa
Gallo and Isaura Kellesis — they spread
awareness about wildlife conservation
and symbolically adopted 12 species.
“This is the closest I have gotten to
actually helping to make a real difference,”
she says. “I really hope that we can
convince more people to adopt an animal.
Every adoption counts!”
WWF-Canada is grateful for their
determination and support — and for
showing that anyone, of any age, can help
wildlife thrive.
© ALEXA J. GOODMAN, FISHING GEAR
COALITION OF ATLANTIC CANADA (FGCAC)
Ghost gear is the abandoned, lost or
discarded fishing gear that haunts
our oceans long after it’s been used
for fishing. It ends up in the water
— due to bad weather or accidental
displacement by
other boats or
fishers — where
it can entangle
marine wildlife
and break up into
Sigrid
Kuehnemund
microplastics.
Indigenous
organizations,
ENGOs, fishery unions, academics
and industry consultants recently
formed the Fishing Gear Coalition
of Atlantic Canada (FGCAC). WWF-
Canada, through the FGCAC, funded
a report to understand the extent of
ghost gear loss in Atlantic provinces,
which will help us manage this
marine pollution issue.
CHEAM LAKE WETLANDS REGIONAL PARK, B.C. © SHUTTERSTOCK
THANK YOU
MAPPING CANADA’S
CARBON STORES
Thanks to the generous
support of Maple Leaf Foods
and the Metcalf Foundation,
WWF-Canada and McMaster
University are joining forces
to create Canada’s first-ever
national carbon map. Knowing
where Canada’s natural carbon
stores are located will help
us reduce emissions that
contribute to biodiversity loss
and accelerate climate change
so we can safeguard Canada,
now and in the future.
Sigrid Kuehnemund is WWF-Canada’s
vice president of wildlife and industry.
Based in St. John’s, Newfoundland,
Sigrid works to reduce threats to wildlife
and their habitats from industrial and
commercial activities, focusing on
ecologically responsible solutions.
Have a question
for our scientists?
Email evandermeer@wwfcanada.org
and your question could appear in a
future Living Planet magazine.
LIVING PLANET FALL 2020 — PAGE 7

GIFTS THAT CHANGE
The World
Adopt a
koala family
this holiday
season to help
wildlife thrive.
Free shipping
for all family
adoptions.
Choose from over 40 species and find more inspiring
gifts at wwf.ca/shop or call 1-800-267-2632
CHAIR: David Martin
PRESIDENT AND CEO: Megan Leslie; EDITOR: Emily Vandermeer
WWF-Canada, 400-410 Adelaide Street,
Toronto, Ontario M5V 1S8, Canada
TOLL-FREE: 1-800-267-2632
EMAIL: ca-panda@wwfcanada.org
WEBSITE: wwf.ca DONATE: wwf.ca/donate
WWF-Canada is a federally registered charity (No. 11930 4954 RR0001), and an official national organization of World Wide Fund For Nature, headquartered in Gland, Switzerland. WWF is known as World Wildlife Fund in Canada and the U.S. Published (September 2020) by WWF-Canada, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada. Any reproduction in full or in part of this publication must mention the title and credit the above-mentioned publisher as the copyright owner. © WWF-Canada (2020). No photographs from this production may be reproduced. All rights reserved.