Foundation

CWF Photo Club image: G. Goelzer

The Canadian Wildlife Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to the belief that the renewable natural resources of Canada are economic, social, recreational and aesthetic assets that must be restored, used wisely and perpetuated for posterity. The Canadian Wildlife Foundation’s Funding Program exists to promote wildlife habitat and the wise use of wildlife resources in Canada. 

Every spring and fall, the Canadian Wildlife Foundation’s Funding Program provides funding to conservation and education programs related to wildlife research and to registered Canadian charitable organizations.

In the last year, the Canadian Wildlife Foundation funded the following projects:

Boardwalk for Open Air Classroom
$5,000
The Somenos Marsh Wildlife Society is adding a 90-metre-long elevated boardwalk to their 150-metre-long Somenos Marsh Open Air Classroom boardwalk, which leads to a platform overlooking a wetland. Using its own backyard as inspiration, the Society educates visitors about the significance of wetland habitat to salmon.

Arctic Grayling
$2,500
As roads and stream crossings continue to be installed to support petroleum development in northern Alberta, Arctic grayling numbers have dropped by as much as 90 per cent. The Alberta Conservation Association is studying whether stream crossings and roads have any effect on Arctic grayling populations.

Grizzly Bear
$7,500
Researchers with the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta are examining the impact of open-pit mining on grizzly bear behaviour between the Alberta Foothills and the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

Eastern Yellow-bellied Racer Snake
$8,000
The eastern yellow-bellied racer has been declared a threatened snake species, and very little is known about its cloistered population found only in south-central Saskatchewan. A joint program between the University of Regina and the Royal Saskatchewan Museum is developing a recovery strategy for the species, identifying racer habitat and hibernation sites, collecting genetic samples and conducting surveys to determine ecological challenges and possible solutions.

Eastern Wolf
$7,000
Researchers in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Montreal are studying the effects of human-induced landscape changes on the health and hybridization of wild species like the eastern wolf.

Satellite Tracking Birds of Prey
$5,000
Bird Studies Canada is using satellite technology to track the movements of Ontario’s bald eagle and short-eared owl populations to determine the challenges these predators are experiencing. The bald eagle has faced numerous issues in Ontario including hunting, habitat loss and contamination caused by synthetic pesticides like DDT and PCB. Although the population has risen steadily since the 1980s (primarily because of the ban on DDT), there is growing evidence that Ontario eagles may now be suffering from elevated levels of heavy metals, such as lead and mercury. Bird Studies Canada has outfitted 24 bald eagles with transmitters to determine the juveniles’ movements and whether they are being exposed to contaminants during this time.

Over the past decade alone, the short-eared owl population in Canada has decreased by 25 per cent. Through satellite tracking, Bird Studies Canada will be able to answer where they breed, their habitat requirements and whether habitat loss and degradation are threatening the species.

Wetlands
$4,000
Salt marshes and freshwater marshes have drastically declined in New Brunswick due to development along coastlines, drainage for agriculture, urban expansion and forestry. The Tantramar Wetlands Centre, located in Sackville, N.B., offers education programs that teach over 1,000 Grade four to 12 students about the importance of wetlands and their conservation. In the Wetlands through Waterfowl program, students learn waterfowl ecology and identification and they participate in duck banding to learn about monitoring waterfowl populations. In the Wetlands in Winter program, students don snowshoes to track wildlife and assess wildlife populations, use specialized equipment to study aquatic invertebrates and examine buffer zones and wind chill factors in order to understand how crucial wetland habitats are for wildlife in cold weather.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Wildlife Conservation
$5,000
Researchers at the Avian Science and Conservation Centre at McGill University are studying the potential benefits of using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in wildlife conservation. The centre has found that UAVs can collect data with higher degrees of accuracy than manned vehicles can and reduce the risk of disturbing and harming wildlife and its habitat. 

Species at Risk in Nova Scotia
$3,000
The Nova Scotia Nature Trust’s Species at Risk Habitat Conservation Project is working toward protecting crucial habitat to at-risk species in Nova Scotia like the Eastern ribbonsnake, the piping plover and the Atlantic whitefish.

Biodiversity
$2,000
The Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute is home to a field station in southwestern Nova Scotia where researchers unite to conduct wildlife studies. The work they are undertaking includes maintaining the aquatic health of the Upper Mersey watershed and the Kejimkujik and Tobeatic Wilderness area, managing wetland buffers, researching species at risk and conducting studies about the impacts of climate change and pollution in the region.

Bats
$5,000
In response to the unprecedented number of bats dying in the United States at the hands of white-nose syndrome, the biology departments at Saint Mary’s University and Dalhousie University are conducting a joint research study to learn about the health of bats in Canada. The team will cover 32,000 kilometres of caves and abandoned mines in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, where they’ll report on the general health of bats, including their body and reproductive condition, and will collect small hair and wing membrane tissue for genetic testing. They’ll also study bat movement and activity that might relate to the spread of disease.

Forest to Sea Watershed Education Program
$4,000
The Galiano Conservancy Association’s Forest to Sea Watershed Education Program offers environmental education to schools and groups across Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.

Habitat Conservation in Salt Spring Island
$5,000
There are 45 species listed as at-risk in Salt Spring Island. And considering that 90 per cent of the region is composed of private land, the Salt Spring Island Conservancy is dedicated to educating the public about the importance of this critical habitat and the wildlife that lives in it.

Sea to Sky Wetlands Project
$5,600
The B.C. Wildlife Federation’s Wetlandkeepers: Sea to Sky project trains and educates participants in the inventory, mapping and restoration of wetlands.

Alberta’s Birds
$3,300
The Federation of Alberta Naturalists is coordinating 48 of the province’s Important Bird Areas and will work towards bird and habitat monitoring, environmental education, community outreach and habitat restoration.

Prairie Habitat
$10,400
The Saskatchewan Natural History Society’s Stewards of Saskatchewan project works to conserve 75,500 hectares of natural prairie habitat for at-risk wildlife like the burrowing owl, loggerhead shrike and piping plover.

Barn Owl
$1,650
With habitat dwindling, the barn owl is listed as endangered in both Ontario and Quebec. Friends of Wye Marsh are constructing a barn owl aviary to offer shelter for these birds of prey and also to educate students in the Midland, Ontario, region.

At-risk Reptiles
$7,000
Bruce County is home to many reptiles that have been listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern, including the spotted turtle, massasauga rattlesnake, eastern milksnake, queensnake and eastern ribbonsnake. Ontario Nature’s Reptiles at Risk Awareness Program in Bruce County works to increase public awareness about these reptiles and how they can reduce human threats to the populations.

Conservation of Parc régional des Grandes-Rivières
$4,100
The Parc régional des Grandes-Rivières has 85 birds, 20 mammal, 17 fish, two amphibians and one reptile species within its borders. The Société de Gestion Environnementale is committed to educating students and the general public about the importance of wildlife in the area.

Bees
$2,500
Bees are disappearing at an alarming rate across the globe; while researchers are still trying to pinpoint the precise cause, there are many threats to these pollinators, including habitat destruction, pesticides, pollution, parasites and viruses. The Conservation Council of New Brunswick’s Backyard Bee Box Project aims to protect bees by teaching the public how to create pollinator-friendly gardens and construct bee boxes to house their nests.

Ocean Health
$7,500
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society is creating a short film entitled “Ocean Memories” to educate Canadians about the importance of our oceans and how we can reduce marine water pollution.

Flora and Butterfly Gardening
$6,850
The Friends of Keji Cooperating Association is bringing researchers, farmers, seniors and other community members of southwestern Nova Scotia together to create and maintain four native flora gardens. These gardens will offer habitat to an array of wildlife, including the province’s at-risk species.

Sackville River
$5,000
The Sackville Rivers Association educates elementary students about the importance of fish and fish habitat through two programs: Fish Friends and River Rangers. In the spring, Fish Friends helps students identify Atlantic salmon eggs and monitor their development, hatching and feeding stages of life, ultimately releasing salmon fry back into the Sackville River Watershed. In the autumn, River Rangers instructs elementary students about the native fish, aquatic insects, water quality and fish habitat in Sackville Rivers.

Orville Erickson Scholarship
$22,500 to undergraduate and graduate students
The Orville Erickson Memorial Scholarships are awarded once per year to post-secondary students in the field of conservation. The fund is administered by the Canadian Wildlife Foundation and is financed entirely by private-sector donations in memory of Orville Erickson, a prominent Canadian conservationist and past CWF president. In 2009, scholarships were awarded to 12 undergraduate and graduate students (Cassandra Brinovcar, Jennifer Brouwer, Kayley Fowler, Brendan Guy, Julianne Kucheran, Jeff Howard, Lara Cortese, Peter Fast, Jessica Martino, Corey Scobie, Aaron Spares and Karen Vanderwolf).