Our International Program

More than 90 per cent of Canadian birds are migratory. Our birds, therefore, rely on the maintenance of healthy habitat in more than one country. For this simple reason, bird conservation is by definition an international activity with governments, biologists, planners, birders and non-government experts seeking to conserve species throughout their entire range.

As a Canadian co-partner in the outstanding global partnership known as BirdLife International, Nature Canada staff and volunteers work strategically—month by month, spring, summer, fall and winter, year after year—to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity. We steer their programs here in Canada, attend international and regional meetings and conferences, host visitors to Canada and stay in touch with our BirdLife partners around the globe. An important part of this work involves supporting integrated conservation and development projects in areas where unsustainable economic development pose an imminent threat to habitat.

Species under threat of extinction
Of the 1,211 globally threatened bird species (about 12 per cent of all species) approximately 105 threatened species occur in North America and 325 more are in South America. Seven of the 12 countries in the world with the highest concentration of threatened species lie in the Americas. Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Mexico account for more than 75 per cent of all threatened birds in the Americas.

Concerned about these numbers, Nature Canada has been in the field since 1999 trying to reverse this trend. We work with other concerned partners in the Americas to ensure that birds are protected throughout their entire ranges.

At present, Nature Canada works with partners in Mexico, Panama and Paraguay.