LIVING PLANET REPORT: “Starkest Picture of Wildlife Loss in Canada Yet!”

“Protect Nature and Wildlife species at risk now!”

Sea Otter & Greater Sage Grouse

 

LIVING PLANET REPORT: “Starkest Picture of Wildlife Loss in Canada Yet!”

 

Yes, that Canada. Our Canada. “Where pines and maples grow.
Great prairies spread and lordly rivers flow.” Remember?

 

The newly released World Wildlife Fund Canada’s Living Planet Report Canada 2025: Wildlife at Home has a shocking conclusion. It reveals the most severe average decline in the size of monitored wildlife populations in Canada. The worst since WWF-Canada began reporting two decades ago.

The Report uses the largest dataset to date.

Sadly, the report presents the clearest — and starkest — picture of wild animal and plant loss in Canada yet. More than half (52%) of the species studied are decreasing in abundance. On average, every species group included — birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles and amphibians — is trending in the wrong direction.

The answer to such public “wildlife” questions as “Why is the greater sage-grouse endangered?” is clear.

 

LPRC 2025 comes at a time when governments across Canada are prioritizing rapid development. While loosening regulations that protect nature and species at risk. Urgent action is needed now! We must restore, protect and steward the diverse habitats species call home.

Troubling trends across habitats and species groups.

The biggest declines were seen in grassland habitats, where wild animal populations declined by 62% on average since 1970.

In forests, mammal populations declined by 42%, on average, over the last five decades.

And throughout Canada, species of global conservation concern, those found on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, saw their populations decline by 43% on average.

Some wildlife species such as sea otters and raptors are doing better than the national average.  Others, like bats, caribou and snowy owls, are doing far worse.

The snowy owl is incredibly adapted to the Far North. Snowy owls’ flight feathers, for instance, are tipped with soft down, enabling them to hunt noiselessly over the arctic tundra.

However, the species was recently listed as “Globally Vulnerable” by the IUCN.

That’s due to changes in food availability caused by climate change.

And increasing mortality rates from collisions with bigger vehicles and rising corporate buildings.

What does Globally Vulnerable mean?  It ain’t good!

The window to halt and reverse biodiversity loss is closing.
The LPRC comes at a pivotal time. A mere five years from the deadline for Canada to reach the 2030 targets set in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy.

 

It also follows the passing of new legislation, federally and provincially.

Giving governments sweeping new powers to fast-track major infrastructure projects by bypassing environmental safeguards and legal protections for species at risk.

“In nature, everything is connected. The degradation of a habitat or loss of a single species can echo far beyond it. Once a population is declining, the trends become harder to reverse,” explained Megan Leslie. Megan’s the President and CEO of WWF-Canada.

“The findings of the Living Planet Report Canada are nature’s warning light. And it’s telling us that wild animals and their habitats are threatened. This warning also gives us an opportunity to turn things around before it’s too late. It’s imperative that we act now to protect and restore the nature that not only sustains wildlife, but also the heart of our economies.”

 

Critical Quote:

James Snider, VP of Science, Knowledge and Innovation at WWF-Canada, added, “Even in a nature-rich country like Canada, wildlife is struggling. The trends uncovered in the Living Planet Report Canada show populations are continuing to head in the wrong direction. The longer we take to respond, the steeper the decline will become…

“Following five decades of persistent declines in wild animal populations, now is not the time to walk back protections for wildlife and habitats. Rather, Canada has a growing responsibility to scale up efforts to restore, protect and steward what remains of species’ habitats, their homes.”

 

To See My Original Animal Stories, You Can Go To CIVILIZED BEARS – ANIMAL STORIES By BRIAN ALAN BURHOE

 

Resources:

For more information, visit Living Planet Report Canada.

About the Living Planet Report Canada

The Living Planet Report Canada presents a comprehensive overview of the state of wildlife in Canada though the C-LPI. Much like the stock market measures economic trends over time. The C-LPI is “a biodiversity indicator used to track trends in Canadian vertebrate wildlife abundance over time.”

LIVING PLANET REPORT: “Starkest Picture of Wildlife Loss in Canada Yet!”

 

About World Wildlife Fund Canada

“WWF-Canada is committed to equitable and effective conservation actions that restore nature, reverse wildlife loss and fight climate change. We draw on scientific analysis and Indigenous guidance to ensure all our efforts connect to a single goal: a future where wildlife, nature and people thrive. For more information visit wwf.ca.”

For further information or to request an interview:

Contact Emily Vandermeer, Senior Communications Specialist,

1. evandermeer@wwfcanada.org
2. 519-616-1556
3. media@wwfcanada.org

 

IMAGES: Snowy owl, Alberta © Don Getty (CNW Group/World Wildlife Fund Canada). Others from Civilized Bears Wildlife Digital Album

SOURCE: World Wildlife Fund Canada, CNW Group & CivilizedBears

RESEARCH: See More at BrianAlanBurhoe.com.

TAGS: Canada 2030 Nature Strategy, Greater Sage Grouse, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Living Planet Report, Living Planet Report Canada, prioritizing rapid development, Red List of Threatened Species, why is the greater sage-grouse endangered?

 

“Protect Nature and wildlife species at risk!”