Everyone can help!

Here are ten simple and concrete things that you can do to help protect species at risk:

1. 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.
• Did you know? There are 516 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.
2. Offer your help to teams working to recover species at risk in your area. They sometimes need a helping hand for specific activities.
• Did you know? In Nova Scotia, elementary school students built artificial nests to assist the recovery of the Roseate Tern, an endangered seabird.
3. Install bird feeders, especially in places where there are very few mature trees.
• Did you know? Certain bird species, such as the White-Headed Woodpecker, need dead trees to perch and nest in.
4. Grow native plants in your garden, while making sure to buy them from producers that do not harvest them directly from the wild.
• Did you know? 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.
5. Question residential area plans that could destroy the habitats of species at risk.
• Did you know? 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.
6. Reduce your contribution to the greenhouse effect: walk, ride a bicycle, or take public transportation to work. Choose an economical car, or carpool.
• Did you know? 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.
7. Do not use pesticides around the home.
• Did you know? 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.
8. When travelling, remember that it is sometimes illegal to bring back, without a permit, souvenirs made from plants and animals.
• Did you know? Some species are declining because they are the objects of excessive trade.
9. Reduce, reuse and recycle. Consume less and buy from companies that are involved in protecting the environment.
• Did you know? The leatherback turtle sometimes ingests plastic bags adrift on the sea, confusing them with jellyfish, its prey of choice.
10. Respect laws and regulations regarding species at risk.
• Did you know? 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.