Natalie Skinner's Facts:
One out of every three bites of food we take – including bananas, apples and chocolate, and more than half of the world’s supply of dietary fats and oils – is the result of the successful work of pollinators. We also get beverages, fibers, condiments, spices and medicines from plants that rely on pollination. And don’t forget that wildlife also benefit from food made possible by pollinators (Canadian Wildlife Federation)
Pollination and its products help keep our economy healthy. It is estimated that insect pollination is responsible for $1 billion worth of fruits and vegetables in Canada every year (Canadian Wildlife Federation)
The Ramsar Convention (properly called The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance) is an international treaty signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971. The treaty is intended to support conservation of wetlands and their resources such as wild rice or fish. Signing countries, including Canada, agreed to protect wetland sites of international significance (Ducks Unlimited Canada)
Sea ice in western Hudson Bay is receding about 14 days earlier than in the past. As a result, polar bears come off the ice from winter-feeding with less fat, reducing reproductive success. This is a concern because females breed on average only every three to four years and the reproductive rate for these bears are very low. (Ducks Unlimited Canada)
The uptake of persistent, or non-biodegrading, contaminants from the water, sediment and food sources are called bioaccumulation. Toxic metals and chemicals can be taken up by wildlife during feeding and then move through the food web to top predators such as beluga whales and raptors. Over time, as the contaminant is distributed throughout the aquatic food web, it affects every living creature within it, including humans (Ducks Unlimited Canada)
Recent studies have shown that there are about 2 hectares of productive land and sea space from each person on the Earth if we all shared equally. In Canada, the average Canadian uses almost four times this much (EcoVoyageurs)
The Ecological Footprint is the biologically productive land and sea area necessary to produce all the resources a given population consumes, and to absorb its corresponding waste (EcoVoyageurs)
There are over 900 species of bats in the world, 19 of which are native to Canada. Canadian bats survive the winter either by migrating to a warmer climate or by hibernating in locations where the temperature is relatively stable, usually caves (Canadian Wildlife Federation)
One litre of oil can contaminate up to two million litres of water (Canadian Wildlife Federation)
Most of the drinking water used in our homes is used for toilets, bathing, laundry and cleaning, while less than three per cent is used for drinking (Canadian Wildlife Federation)
During the summer, about half of all treated water is sprayed onto lawns and gardens (Canadian Wildlife Federation)
Hydroelectric power developments, though considered a source of renewable energy, can create environmental impacts that include:
- dams that block migration and travel routes for fish, often cutting them off from key spawning and feeding grounds;
- flooding of lands behind the dams with the destruction of terrestrial habitats and release of pollutants such as mercury;
- seasonal and daily changes in river water flow, leaving too little water for fish at some times and too much at other times; and
- diversion of water from one drainage basin (watershed) to another that allows undesirable alien species to colonize new areas and reduces nutrients to the estuaries of diverted rivers. (Canadian Wildlife Federation)
There are more than 500 plant and animal species at risk in Canada (according to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada), and more than 11,000 throughout the world. (Species at Risk Public Registry)
The single most prevailing factor responsible for the endangerment of species today is habitat loss and degradation. In fact, about 60 percent of species that the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada identified as being at risk are affected by habitat problems. If a species cannot find suitable conditions in which to live, it simply will not survive. (Species at Risk Public Registry)
An average car with a fuel consumption of 7.8 litres/100 km traveling 16,000 km per year emits almost three tonnes of CO2 per year. That's roughly equal to three times the vehicle's body weight. (WWF Canada)
The global average temperature has increased by about 0.7°C in the last hundred years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts temperatures to rise by up to 5.8°C globally by the end of this century. (WWF Canada)
Scientists have revealed that climate change could result in the extinction of more than a million terrestrial species within the next 50 years (WWF Canada)
The rapid rate of global warming puts one-third of the world's forests at risk, as well as the birds, frogs, mammals and other species that depend on forests for their survival (WWF Canada)
Production of recycled paper uses 80% less water, 65% less energy and produces 95% less air pollution than virgin paper production (Earth 911)
Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a single 100 watt bulb for 4 hours! (Earth 911)
Wolves prey on big game animals and help to control their populations. Where wolves are absent, white-tailed deer have overpopulated their ranges and damaged forests. Food shortages and mass starvation of deer during the winter sometimes follow. Where wolves remain, hunting by humans and easier access to big game in wilderness areas has led to increasing competition between people and wolves for game animals, as elk, moose, deer, and caribou numbers decline. (Hinterland Who’s Who)
Since 1974, more than 1 650 Peregrine Falcons have been bred in captivity at the Canadian Wildlife Service breeding facility at Wainwright, Alberta, at university-based facilities in Saskatchewan and Quebec, and at a private facility in Alberta. Staffs from wildlife agencies and non-profit organizations have released the captive-raised birds from natural cliffs and tall buildings at over 60 sites from southern Alberta to the Bay of Fundy on Canada’s east coast. In 2005, there were more than 200 pairs of wild Peregrines breeding in southern Canada and more than 300 wild pairs in Yukon and the Mackenzie valley. Over 7 000 pairs of Peregrines are now thought to breed in North America, including Mexico (Hinterland Who’s Who)
The leatherback sea turtle is classified as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union and as endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Leatherbacks have experienced a dramatic population decline of more than 60 per cent since 1982. The greatest predator of the leatherback is people. In some countries, humans kill nesting female turtles and harvest leatherback eggs to eat. (Hinterland Who’s Who)
The leatherback is the world’s largest living reptile, reaching the size of a double bed and weighing up to 900 kilograms (2000 pounds) (Canadian Wildlife Federation)The leatherback turtle sometimes ingests plastic bags adrift on the sea, confusing them with jellyfish, its prey of choice. (Species at Risk Public Registry)
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