Eleanor Fast
Executive Director

Wildlife in Canada can’t speak for themselves, but we can! And the voices of our 55,000 members and supporters speaking up together is a powerful thing.

We’ve seen that power recently. For example, in March I wrote about some of the work we’ve been doing as your Voice for Nature to increase protection of the Monarch butterfly throughout its range. Then hundreds of you signed a petition to the Minister of Environment demanding action. In July I was pleased to attend a meeting of the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation where it was announced that Monarch Butterfly conservation will be a key priority for environmental cooperation between Canada, the US and Mexico. Together we raised our voices and made a difference. Nature Canada will continue to work to be a voice for the Monarch butterfly.

Now, we ask you to raise your voices again. This time for threatened Swallow species. Last month I wrote to the Minister of the Environment urging action to list Barn and Bank Swallows as threatened species under the Species at Risk Act. Can you believe that it is four years since the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) recommended these birds be listed and still there has been no action? This is urgent; their numbers are declining rapidly. You can read more about this here.

It makes me sad to know that the government could have taken action four years ago to protect these Swallows and to ask for an assessment of others, and yet nothing has been done. When I speak with our Conservation Team about Nature Canada’s work on Swallows, particularly our Purple Martin project, we are all happy to be contributing to understanding and protection, but we know that if the government took action then even more could be done!

We know that together our voices achieve results. Let’s be a Voice for Nature for the Swallows. We don’t know who the Minister of Environment will be after the Federal election, but let’s make sure that whoever it is, one of the first things in their inbox is a petition from Nature Canada members and supporters demanding action to protect these threatened species.

I’ve already written a letter. Please will you join me and write your own. Or, even easier, simply sign our petition and we’ll ensure your voice is heard.