world It means the
In 1961 a small but influential group of scientists, naturalists, business and political leaders came together to create the World Wildlife Fund, dedicated to tackling environmental issues on a worldwide scale. WWF is now one of the world’s largest and most respected conservation organizations with almost five million supporters and a global network active in more than 100 countries.
Today WWF-Canada, part of the WWF global network, is looking for Canadian leaders who not only recognize the need to stop the degradation of the planet, but also have the will, the foresight and the determination to take on the task. While that task sometimes seems daunting, WWF-Canada, the country’s only global conservation organization, has a vision and plan designed to succeed. Through a strategic focus on climate, water and people, we engage the best minds and science in an effort to solve some of the most important environmental challenges facing Canada and the world, and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.
“Nowhere in the world are so many natural treasures governed by so few people. Canadians have a special responsibility to steward them well.” Gerald Butts | President & CEO, WWF-Canada
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For a livin Humanity’s demand on the planet has more than doubled over the past 45 years. By depleting our natural resources, we have put our world in jeopardy. At WWF, we believe it is possible to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. We can do this by conserving the world’s biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. Integrating local conservation knowledge and experience with a network of global expertise, we have access to the greatest conservation minds across the globe. As the most trusted, respected and recognized organization in the field, we have unparalleled power to influence and catalyze diverse forces across nations, industries, governments and communities to work together for real change. From the Amazon’s rainforests, to the coasts of East Africa, from the Himalayas to the bank towers of Beijing, WWF finds solutions to the most pressing issues of our time. Here at WWF-Canada, we focus on climate, water and people because these are issues of global consequence in Canada, to the world and to future generations:
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ng planet Climate
because rising global
temperatures are the single biggest threat to biodiversity, with effects already evident in Canada’s Arctic.
Water
because life on Earth cannot survive
without it. With the world’s longest coastline and abundant freshwater, Canada has a special duty to steward these resources responsibly.
People
because we cannot achieve
sustainability unless we engage those who can make it happen: decision makers, industry leaders, and Canadians across the country.
“WWF’s work has been so compatible with the vision northern peoples have of themselves and their natural resources. It has been an excellent collaboration of ideas, passion, and purpose.” Stephen Kakfwi | Former President of the Dene Nation, Former Premier of the Northwest Territories
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Climate
Take the
Canada’s action on climate change will determine our economic future, our legacy to next generations and the fate of our wildlife and wild places. WWF’s approach is to promote solutions while at the same time raising awareness of the risks associated with locking into a high-carbon future. From transportation, to renewable energy, from energy efficiency to innovation, solutions exist for a green Canadian economy. What we need is a Canadian Energy Strategy which meets our energy needs with 100% renewable energy, in order to keep global warming below the danger threshold of 2 degrees Celsius.
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In order to avert dangerous climate change, the global average temperature increase since pre-industrial times must be kept below 2°C (3.6°F).
heat off our planet. It means the world. In the Arctic, where the earliest and most tangible realities of climate change are irrefutable, we lead WWF’s global efforts to ensure the survival of vulnerable ecosystems and species while demonstrating to the world the need for urgent action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Our global stewardship of the Arctic will determine the longterm survival of ice-dependent species including polar bears, narwhal, caribou as well as the northern communities that rely on them. Our approach includes working with Inuit communities to bridge the gap between Western science and local knowledge and our goal is to secure a governance and management regime that protects at least 50% of Arctic ecosystems, anchored by a high Arctic refuge for ice dependent species.
Just as climate change is affecting polar bears at the top of the food chain, the acidification of the Arctic Ocean will destroy organisms at the bottom of the food chain, ultimately affecting the entire Arctic food web.
“WWF is our local-to-global conservation organization, bringing together great minds and great science to tackle the world’s most important and pressing issues.” Galen Weston Jr. | Executive Chairman, Loblaws Alexandra Weston | WWF-Canada Board Member
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Water
Help preserve an
Freshwater protection Only 2.5% of the Earth’s water is fresh and less than 1% is in forms that are accessible to humans Yet in an increasingly thirsty world, Canada enjoys a relative abundance of water— the Great Lakes and several of the world’s last large free-flowing rivers. But pollution, rising demand for water and hydroelectricity, and climate change threaten our freshwater resources and ecosystems as never before.
Canada does possess 20% of the world’s freshwater, but in terms of renewable supply, Canada actually has only 7%, much less than Brazil (18%) and Russia, and about the same as the United States.
WWF-Canada’s national freshwater program is designed to secure our water future, for people and for nature. With a strategic focus on Canada’s rivers, our solutions start from individual watersheds and build outward to influence public policy, engage Canadian businesses and industry to reduce the water footprint of key commodities and products and inspire the Canadian public in order to protect and restore the health of Canada’s freshwater ecosystems.
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essential, finite resource. It means the world. Healthy oceans Marine plants produce 70 percent of the oxygen that sustains life on this planet, and their ability to absorb carbon dioxide is crucial in the fight against climate change. Oceans sustain coastal communities and economies around the world. Once considered an inexhaustible source of food, our oceans are now in a state of global crisis.
Every year, destructive fishing practices kill millions of non-target animals (“bycatch”) such as marine turtles, dolphins, sharks, and seabirds.
WWF-Canada is committed to ensuring the health of all three of Canada’s oceans. To achieve this we are working with key players in Canada and around the WWF network to protect key marine ecosystems, advance smart oceans management, and make sure that seafood is harvested in ways that safeguard marine environments and the species within them.
“WWF engages constructively with businessand regulators to harness market forces thatdrive positive change: it’s good for natureand good for business.” Henry E. Demone | President & CEO, High Liner Foods Inc.
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People
Take action
Globally, people are using about 25% more natural resources than the planet can replace. And if everyone on the planet consumed resources the way Canadians do, we would need 4.3 Earths just to keep up.
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for a living planet. It means the world. We are the first generation with both the knowledge of environmental problems and the tools to solve them. We must start with ourselves. When it comes to creating a greener future, we’ve all got a role to play. Every step we take to use less energy, create less pollution, and generate less waste adds up to a planet-sized impact. The habits of a lifetime can be difficult to break and it’s easy to think that one person can’t make a difference. But change is possible. Through education, outreach and public campaigns, WWF-Canada will mobilize one million Canadians over the next three years to turn consciousness into meaningful action on the environment. We will focus on behavioural change, both small and profound, because these issues can’t be solved without major shifts in behaviour, attitudes, and daily actions. By building a broadbased constituency for conservation, we will lay the groundwork for lasting change. Our success will mean that Canadians tread more lightly on the Earth, make choices and decisions that are better for us and for the planet, and inspire action by government and business.
“WWF takes on ambitious challenges and succeeds. That is why they have earned my support and are one of my favourite organizations.” Margaret Atwood | Author
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Invest
in a sustainable future
The environment needs leaders like you. By investing in WWF-Canada, you’ll become, with other visionary Canadians, an environmental catalyst, helping to bring together the most innovative minds and the best science to tackle the planet’s most pressing issues. Your bold actions now will help ensure that our generation of Canadians is remembered for living with foresight, restoring the Earth’s balance and building a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.
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Strategic Solutions
Science and Technology
Leadership
Accomplishing conservation at a transformative and sustainable level requires the ability to think and plan strategically and then act quickly when moments of urgency and opportunity arise. Whether its achieving protected areas on the ground and sea, bringing an endangered species back from the brink, or pushing through new green policies, WWF’s conservation programs need support to deliver lasting results.
Science and research have always been at the core of WWF’s evidence-based approach to conservation, but today, in our fast-paced global society, the tools needed are broader. From information technology to global collaboration, from radio collars to satellite tracking, from consultations with local communities to sharing learning and information with conservation leaders around the globe, science and technology are central to conservation results today and tomorrow.
Leadership comes in many forms.
Area of “Greenest” Need Your gift to this area underpins our every accomplishment by helping us design and implement our strategic greenprint for our top conservation priorities. Your investment will put resources where they are most needed to help tackle the biggest issues of our time.
Science & Technology ———————————————————
Science, Research and Investigation
Your support will provide funding for the research, technology, analysis and scientific inquiry needed to find solutions needed for a living planet.
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Conservation Priorities
Your gift to one of these priority areas will support the overall work to develop specific, strategic solutions for: • The Arctic • A Greener Climate • Freshwater • Healthy Oceans • Species
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Whether it is a WWF program leader devising new solutions, a corporation changing the way it does business, or a young child making better choices for the environment, everyone can make a positive difference for our planet.
Leadership ———————————————————
Action for a Living Planet
Help WWF educate and mobilize Canadians to live more sustainably. ———————————————————
Best and Brightest
Enable us to help attract, nurture and retain the best people to do this critical work. ———————————————————
Corporate Leadership
Support work with businesses and industries that are finding innovative approaches to reducing their footprint while at the same time succeeding in the marketplace.
Impact
WWF: a legacy of innovation and achievements As the voice of reasoned conservation action based on irrefutable scientific evidence, WWF has 40 years’ history of transformative successes around the world. By focusing strategically, developing key partnerships and setting meaningful targets, we achieve results that make a real difference, including these accomplishments: WWF-Canada led the successful effort to protect endangered right whale feeding grounds by shifting shipping lanes in the Bay of Fundy. For the first time in history, shipping lanes were moved for conservation reasons.
Climate Saver companies are collectively working to reduce GHG emissions by more than 50 million tons. These independently estimated reductions are equivalent to the annual emissions of Switzerland.
Canada has more certified forest than any other country on the planet, thanks in large part to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which in 1993 set the highest international standard for forest management.
WWF’s partnership-building work in Cuba resulted in the banning of the longstanding harvest of critically endangered Hawksbill turtles and the development of sustainable economic opportunities for coastal communities.
Marine protected areas have been established on three ocean coasts (the Gully in the Atlantic, Bowie Seamount in the Pacific and Niginganiq in the Arctic), and WWF-Canada also had a key role in creating the world’s largest freshwater reserve in Lake Superior.
Hundreds of millions of people around the planet have participated in Earth Hour by switching off their lights for one hour, showing their desire for action on climate change. Over three decades, WWF’s conservation efforts have significantly revived Indian Rhino populations, from a low of only 600 in the wild to as many as 2,400 in the Terai Arc Landscape of India and Nepal, and the grasslands of Assam and north Bengal.
Through WWF’s Endangered Spaces Campaign, 38 million hectares – an area larger than the size of Germany – were added to Canada’s parks and protected lands.
“This is the heart of our change agenda – to capitalize on the extraordinary strengths of our global Network to deliver conservation impacts on a scale commensuratewith the threats facing our planet.” Jim Leape | Director General, WWF International
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Photo Credits Front cover 1 2 3 top centre bottom 4 background left right 5 top bottom 6 background top bottom 7 top bottom 8 9 10 12 background left from top to bottom
right from top to bottom
Inside back cover Back cover
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