As Ontario’s leading conservation charity,
Woodland caribou © Paul Tessier
Climate Change
Canada is warming twice as fast as the global rate, causing profound changes to our climate, health and biodiversity.
We are in the throes of a climate crisis due to high concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere – mainly from human activities.
The science behind climate change is clear and the trend is alarming. Changing course is a matter of generating the political will. Rising temperatures are forging radically different landscapes across the province. Climate change is imperiling water, food, biodiversity and the natural systems that we rely on. Ontarians are experiencing the impacts daily.
Conservation Authorities
The Government of Ontario betrayed the people of Ontario in favour of bad developers with the Passage of Schedule 6 on December 8, 2020.
The government ignored a deafening chorus of expert warnings, to instead reward the worst developers and land speculators by incapacitating the system that protects source water and guards Ontarians against flooding, landslides and other environmental disasters.
Migratory Birds
One of the biggest threats migratory birds face is collisions with windows. These result in a yearly death toll of more than 1 million birds in the GTA alone. We protect Ontario’s feathered friends through public education, advocacy and legal action.
You can help give the birds you love safe passage.
Minister’s Zoning Orders
The Government of Ontario is misusing Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) to fast-track development on natural areas and farmland.
While Ontarians grapple with the social and economic impacts of a global pandemic, the Government of Ontario is quietly setting the stage for development projects to proceed without public consultation or the right to appeal. Our focus should be on enhancing community resilience to climate change and potential future pandemics. To do so we must enable and support public participation in determining the future of our farmlands, forests, wetlands and other natural areas.
Natural Heritage Systems Planning
Strong natural heritage systems protection is necessary to maintain and enhance long-term quality of life, environmental health, ecological integrity and economic prosperity. Natural Heritage Systems are the natural heritage features, areas and linkages intended to provide connectivity and support natural processes which are necessary to maintain biological diversity, natural functions, and ecosystems.
Pollinators
Pollinators are declining in Ontario as a result of habitat loss, disease, pesticides and climate change. We’re working hard to bring back the buzz by advocating for the ban of neonicotinoid pesticides and by encouraging people to create pollinator habitat.
You can help Ontario’s wild pollinators thrive.
Wetlands
More than 70 percent of southern Ontario’s original wetlands have been lost. We advocate for stronger wetland policy and do public outreach to help conserve these delicate ecosystems that are home to some of the greatest diversity of life, including species at risk.
You can help bring back imperilled wetlands.