The life of the WWF conservation crew: Not always glamorous, but always important work

By Jarmila Becka Lee and Pete Ewins
As ‘summer’ finally arrived in Ontario, we took the train from Toronto and dived into the dark bowels of an Ottawa hotel, for two days of intense work with a dozen other reps from industry associations and environmental conservation groups, who also sit on the federal Species at Risk Advisory Committee (SARAC). SARAC gives advice to federal ministers responsible for Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA).   Here are the types of things we get up to – giving you a flavour of the not-so-glam (yet pretty important nonetheless!) sides to our work as advocates for wildlife conservation.
Since SARA came into force six years ago, WWF has been a very active member of this advisory committee.   And quite regularly since Canada finally decided it needed ‘endangered species legislation,’ WWF has met with federal Ministers of Environment, and Fisheries and Oceans – the two main ministers responsible for this federal act.  Behind those closed doors, it’s remarkable how much we get done with the other members.  And this advice to the Government of Canada, especially around how to more effectively and efficiently implement this legislation, is crucial across our country, for recovering species at risk, and of course the habitats that are vital to their future.
The two of us (Jarmila and Pete) now alternate as the WWF member on this committee – two main meetings a year.  So, what kind of things did we cover/focus on this past week?

Jarmila Becka Lee, WWF Conservation Science Advisor, at SARAC meeting (c) Pete Ewins/WWF-Canada
Climate change impacts: This is all about projected unprecedented rapid changes to habitats, and species adaptation prospects – a huge threat to biodiversity of course, with WWF operating at local-to-global scales.  This time our Senior Climate Scientist, Dr. Jeff Price, gave a world-class webinar from his current desk in the UK. WWF is very proud to be able to share this cutting-edge research and data, on one of the toughest issues facing conservation biologists these days – the unprecedented rates of change to ecosystem conditions.

Recovery and critical habitat for aquatic species: One of the most important pieces of information for effective species recovery is the identification – and subsequent protection – of critical habitat (habitat that is essential for the species’ survival or recovery). This task can be particularly challenging for marine and freshwater species, which often travel long distances in their life cycles (such as Atlantic salmon), and where the state of research is sometimes not as advanced or detailed as in terrestrial species. Even so, federal Recovery Strategies are required by SARA to identify areas of critical habitat.

Recovery successes – lessons learned: Canada’s Species at Risk Act is still quite new, so as guidance it’s important to use lessons learned in successful long-running recovery initiatives, both in Canada and internationally, and apply those to the implementation of SARA.  WWF’s diverse experience around the globe can certainly play a role here. For example, the vital, successful stakeholder engagement (of which WWF was part) demonstrated in the creation of the Tortugas Ecological Marine Reserve in the Florida Keys can be applied in Canada where communities, industries, ENGOs, governments, First Nations and scientists all contribute to the protection and recovery of species at risk.
So, whether we’re helping on a wildlife research field project in the Arctic, or in an Ottawa boardroom wrestling with how best to get governments to sustain wildlife species recovery as a top priority, it’s all a crucial part of a day’s work for WWF’s conservation team.  Ultimately both lead to the same goal: the protection and recovery of Canada’s spectacular wildlife species and their habitats.  As we reflected on the train back to Toronto, when we DO succeed and all species and natural ecosystems have been ‘recovered,’ then WWF and other wildlife conservation groups should be out of business!