Did you know that soil “breathes”? This winter, our Northern Boreal Mountain (NBM) team headed into a peatland in central Yukon to measure how much carbon dioxide and methane are released from the soil, even in the coldest months ❄️🧵

1/2 This week’s Honourable Mentions from the #2025KBAPhotoContest ✨ Moments of nature across Canada: a female red crossbill on a winter road in Algonquin Provincial Park KBA, a bonnet mushroom near K'ómoks KBA in BC & a plains bison moving through mist in Elk Island National Park KBA 🦬

📢 Upcoming webinar! Join Watersheds Canada on Feb 12 for a Freshwater Stewardship Community webinar with WCS Canada’s Peter Soroye, on how KBAs are identified and can support conservation work. 🗓️ Feb 12 at 2 pm ET / 11 am PT 🔗 Register here → https://f.mtr.cool/fnracksfxr

Thank you to everyone who joined our World Wetlands Day webinar & for all your questions about a stronger policy approach to protecting Canada's peatlands 🌎 In case you missed it, the webinar is now available to watch in full on our YouTube Channel 👇

Canada's peatlands don't get nearly the attention they're due! #WorldWetlandsDay (1/4)

Did you know that global peatlands store 30% of the planet's soil carbon on only 3% of the earth's land surface? More on the importance peatlands in this great segment from @victoriagoodday.bsky.social on the @wcs.org podcast for World Wetlands Day! #WorldWetlandsDay

Two days to go! 🌱 Don't miss our World Wetlands Day webinar! Join the experts to explore the importance of peatlands, the limitations of current policy approaches, and pathways for action 🌱 📆 Feb 2nd 2026 🕒 15:00 ET 🔗 https://f.mtr.cool/ucbhzkevys

Canada’s climate and economic future is deeply tied to its natural capital.   In Policy Options, WCS Canada’s Victoria Goodday argues that natural assets like peatlands must be central to Canada’s climate and economic agendas - and what’s at stake if they’re not 1/2

This week’s #2025KBAPhotoContest Honourable Mentions 💚 From beluga whales captured from above, to bog plants on Haida Gwaii, a rare Bogbean Buckmoth, and Foothills Parkland grasslands, wetlands, and aspen woodlands beneath Ninaistako (Chief Mountain). More to come next week 🦋

After nearly 20 years without updating the Species at Risk list used by the Forestry Industry, many of BC's endangered species still lack real habitat protection - even though science is clear that without it, recovery is unlikely (1/2)  📸 Cory Olson

There's still time to join our World Wetlands Day webinar! Join our experts to explore the importance of peatlands, the limitations of current policy approaches, and pathways for action 🌱 📆 Feb 2nd 2026 🕒 15:00 ET 🔗 https://f.mtr.cool/avbicriskg

Another set of moments worth celebrating 💚 This week’s #2025KBAPhotoContest #HonourableMentions capture nature at every scale: from a rare Audouin's night-stalking tiger beetle & delicate fern spores, to an aerial view of Lake Opinicon & volunteers surveying birds through coastal storms 🪽

📢 You're invited: World Wetlands Day webinar! Join our experts to explore the importance of peatlands, the limitations of current policy approaches, and pathways for collective action. 📆 Feb 2nd 2026 🕒 15:00 ET 🔗 https://f.mtr.cool/mcfeqbhsbw

This week’s selection of #HonourableMentions from the #2025KBAPhotoContest features another set of striking images capturing unique moments in nature - from ancient resilience to rare celestial alignments, and from coastal blooms to hands-on conservation in the field 🦋

Conservation impact comes from collaboration, knowledge-sharing & scaling what works. From B.C. to Alberta & now NWT, we're seeing how far our probiotic solution for white nose syndrome can go 🦇

Less than a week to apply for the next cohort of the Weston Family Boreal Research Fellowship Program! In addition to funding, the Fellowship offers mentorship & networking with Canada's leading conservation experts 🧪 Find out more & apply: https://f.mtr.cool/nwbhsxekyb

Wishing all of our followers and supporters a very happy new year! Here's to even more conservation wins in 2026 🎉

Camera traps help us to monitor wildlife populations and quantify the impact human activity, including mining, roads and human transportation, is having on Canada’s wildlife. This year, we deployed and/or retrieved nearly 200 cameras capturing a variety of Canadian species #Countdownto2026

With the generous support of the Weston Family Foundation, we continue to mentor the next generation of conservation scientists through our Weston Boreal Research Fellowship. This year's cohort have been in the field performing research across a variety of ecosystems and species #Countdownto2026

Most bats in BC roost in trees. But logging of old-growth forests has left few places for bats to successfully birth and raise young. Our team are working with partners across the province to build roosts that mimic natural bark and crevices🦇 #Countdownto2026

This year’s KBA Photo Contest was bigger and better than ever before, with a record 450 entries! 📸 #Countdownto2026 For the first time, we saw submissions from every province and territory in Canada, spotlighting the beauty and importance of Canada’s most important places for biodiversity.

WCS Canada’s work takes place on Indigenous lands and waters. Through our research, where invited, we aim to support Indigenous-led conservation. This requires a shift towards approaches and practices that respect and recognize Indigenous Knowledge Systems #Countdownto2026

Our field team checked out around 450 cavities for nesting activity in the Yukon in 2025 #Countdownto2026 This monitoring effort supports our research on the importance of recently burned boreal forest to bird communities, and the impacts of post-fire logging 🔥

While we often talk about getting our boots muddy, sometimes fieldwork involves no mud at all #Countdownto2026 In 2025, our Arctic field team flew over 4000km conducting aerial surveys that allow us to monitor populations of key species in the Canadian Arctic ✈️

1/2 The fantastic Biodiversity Bike Ride wrapped up in 2025 🚲 Kevin travelled to 100+ Key Biodiversity Areas, cycling the equivalent of the Trans Canada Highway – twice! Check out our interview with Kevin on his return from his adventure, including a story map showing the sites he visited.

#ICYMI: This year, we published a National Peatland Policy Strategy, including tailored implementation plans for all 13 provinces & territories #countdownto2026 Reflecting expertise of 100+ peatland knowledge-holders, the strategy calls on all governments to protect & steward Canada’s peatlands.

New research co-led by WCS Canada shows that Cape Parry’s isolated thick-billed murre colony is increasingly exposed as climate change opens Arctic waters longer each year & ship traffic expands into molting & feeding areas ↓

Arctic development is accelerating, but Canada hasn’t acted on its draft Ocean Noise Strategy yet. Rising ship traffic threatens quiet Arctic seas, affecting ecosystems & nearby communities. More ↓ calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/silence-on-ocean-noise-while-arctic-development-races-ahead

Getting the next generation engaged with conservation is huge part of our mission at WCS Canada 🎒 This year our teams in the Arctic and Ontario visited schools in Inuvik, Ulukhaktok, Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, Moosonee, and Moose Factory to talk about our conservation work #countdownto2026

This year, together with the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, we launched the First Nations Women Transforming Conservation Fellowship #countdownto2026 Our fellows have already made a profound impact, from getting out in the field with research teams, to heading to New York for Climate Week.

In 2025, 185 new sites became Key Biodiversity Areas 🙌 #countdownto2026 These incredible sites from all across the country contribute to the persistence of biodiversity nationally and globally. Explore KBAs at https://f.mtr.cool/ldylysaaol

Canada Jays are known as resident birds, but Former Weston Fellow Alex Sutton’s tracking work showed some dispersing kilometres into new territories - reshaping what we know about the species 🪽 https://f.mtr.cool/mhvkjigyvd

For the first time 2026, scientists in Alberta are testing a probiotic treatment developed from beneficial bacteria found on healthy western bats. This project brings together science, stewardship & community to give bats a fighting chance #countdownro2026 @albertabats.bsky.social

Canada’s Major Projects Office aims to speed development. The issue is weak planning. Early planning, baseline data, Indigenous knowledge & a mitigation hierarchy reduce risk—shortcuts don’t ↓

Knowledge has the most power when it moves - across communities, decision-makers, and practice. Like pollinators, knowledge mobilization helps ideas grow into action 🧵(1/7)

In 2026, the Ontario Mineral Tracker published 251 notices alerting people to local mineral exploration in Ontario.  The tracker aims to make it easier for people to know about mineral exploration that is happening in their area, and to make it easier to speak up if mining activity is not wanted.

From morning lift-off to low-tide calm: four moments in nature from BC to NL - an American Wigeon in Steveston, Amanita muscaria in Pacific Rim, the cliffs of Burnt Cape, and a quiet Parksville sunrise. A small glimpse of Canada’s coast-to-coast beauty 🦋 #2025KBAPhotoContest #HonourableMentions

Our Western Arctic team counted over 1700 ringed seals in the field this year. Knowing what seals eat helps us to understand how they adapt to climate change, how healthy they are, and what species are present in their environment 🦭  #countdownto2026

What could development look like if peatlands were treated as essential infrastructure? Our National Peatland Strategy focuses on: ➡️ Better policy & regional planning ➡️ Indigenous-led stewardship ➡️ Funding research & community capacity

We're counting down to 2026 with some success stories from this year, kicking off with peatlands! Collecting peat samples is tough work – this year our field team collected 27 from across Ontario & the Yukon! These samples help us examine carbon & mercury accumulation & storage in peatlands.

🎧 “Don’t get too bogged down in the negative stories. There’s always hope in conservation, and even small wins can snowball in unexpected ways.” Former Weston Fellow Alex Sutton on why small actions matter 🦋 https://f.mtr.cool/bpcpuayjgj

Canada’s northern mountains are biodiversity powerhouses - home to endemic plants, rich valley-bottom habitats, and key migratory corridors. But these ecosystems are rapidly changing as the climate warms 🏔️ #InternationalMountainDay

Honourable Mentions continue with a cabbage white butterfly in Ojibway Prairie, grey seal nurseries on Sable Island, Elder Bill Jones speaking on old-growth forests & fungi thriving in ancient layers 🍄 Four very different scenes, all showing the deep connections between species, people, and place 🤎

Calls to “cut red tape” are framed as the key to growth. But as Justina Ray & Trevor Swerdfager outline in this op-ed, real barriers aren’t safeguards but lack of integrated planning. More ↓

It’s #WorldSoilDay - take a trip through Canada’s northern peatlands with our upgraded story map 🌎 Learn why they matter for climate + biodiversity & how the National Peatland Strategy can help protect these critical ecosystems → https://f.mtr.cool/mpcvidxryr

DYK: Canada 🇨🇦 is home to 25% (!!) of the world's peatlands. These are climate-critical ecosystems because of how much carbon they store. Check out the new National Peatland Strategy released today from @wcscanada.org. ⬇️

Canada is home to ~25% of the world’s peatlands, containing around 150 billion tonnes of carbon. But they’re under threat. Today, WCS Canada launched a proposed National Peatland Strategy, built with 100+ experts 🌎

Ahead of #WildlifeConservationDay, we’re shining a light on the species that ground our work: bats, boreal birds, caribou, freshwater fish, wolverines & Arctic marine mammals 🦭 We work with Indigenous partners, communities & other experts to build a clearer picture of what species need to thrive 🧵

New research co-authored by WCS Canada in Marine Ecology Progress Series warns that increased shipping through the Arctic - driven by longer ice-free seasons - could have serious consequences for one of the world’s most isolated seabird colonies 🧪 (1/4)

Former Weston Fellow Ben O’Reilly reflects on the real value of wetland regulations, and why removing them has downstream consequences for communities. 🔗 Full story: f.mtr.cool/mjesgqutnb