WWF Celebrates Canada Water Week March 16-22!

Toronto, ON (March 16) – This year, WWF-Canada recognizes Water Heroes during Canada Water Week, March 16-22. Canada Water Week is a coast-to-coast celebration of freshwater, leading up to World Water Day, March 22.

WWF invites Canadians across the country to celebrate our true natural wealth – water – and the hundreds of individuals and organizations working on the ground to protect and improve the health of our rivers, lakes and streams. From studying wood turtles in Petitcodiac, NB, to protecting salmon in Lost Shoe Creek, BC, we are supporting Canadians who want to make a difference.

This work is supported in part by WWF’s Loblaw Water Fund, a granting program to help improve the health of and address threats to freshwater ecosystems across the country. A total of 10 grants were made possible in 2014 by the Loblaw Water Fund, with more to be announced in April 2015.

WWF will be sharing these success stories and honoring the Water Heroes who are supporting our goal to ensure all of Canada’s waters are in good ecological condition by 2025. To reach that goal, WWF has been working with a wide range of partners to assess the health of, and current threats to, all lakes, streams and rivers across Canada – gathering data that will help support solutions for water health, now and in the future.

Canadians across the country will be sharing events on the national Canada Water Week site – including river film festivals, watershed friendly yard campaigns, water-themed concerts, eco-art exhibits and many more events.

“Canada is blessed with an abundance of freshwater – we have one-fifth of the world’s total freshwater – and it is our duty to ensure the health of these watersheds for generations to come. From frogs to fish, we all need these complex and fascinating ecosystems to live and to thrive,” said WWF-Canada President and CEO David Miller. “WWF’s recent Living Planet Report showed a shocking 52 per cent decline in all species over the last 40 years, but freshwater species have declined by a staggering 76 per cent worldwide in the same time. Canada must be a leader in protecting these vital waterways.”

Links
WWF’s Canada Water: http://www.wwf.ca/waterweek
Loblaw Water Fund: http://www.wwf.ca/conservation/freshwater/loblaw_water_fund
National Canada Water Week: www.canadawaterweek.com

Download: Loblaw Water Fund Fact Sheet

For more information, contact:
Tammy Thorne 416-489-4567 x 7276, [email protected]