David Suzuki Foundation

About the foundation

The David Suzuki Foundation was founded in 1990 by environmental activist David Suzuki. The charitable foundation is mainly active in Canada and the USA, where it works to protect the oceans, forests, sustainability and climate protection.

I was motivated to get involved in nature, animal and environmental protection projects in Canada partly because of my personal connection to this huge and impressive country and partly because of a specific recommendation from Peter Wohlleben.

One might think that such a large country with so few inhabitants could not have any environmental problems. The opposite is the case. Nature in a country on the edge of the Arctic reacts very sensitively. Many of the environmental problems occur far away from the areas where most Canadians live.

As a result, environmental awareness emerged late. Canada is far behind the industrialized nations in terms of environmental protection. Per capita_{CO2 emissions} are among the highest in the world. The timber industry is an important pillar of the Canadian economy, but the majority of forests are located too far away from residential areas and using them would involve high transportation costs. As a result, the tree populations near the settlements in the south are being overexploited; rainforests in the west are also affected and particularly at risk.

In the Arctic north, there is a danger from the oil and gas deposits and pipelines that run through the sensitive ecosystem.

Canada's primeval forest, the so-called boreal forest, is the largest forest in North America at 545 million hectares and plays an important role in the fight against climate change. It is the largest terrestrial carbon reservoir on earth. Since the 1990s, however, the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Québec have been one of the main sites of global deforestation. A clear-cutting with drastic consequences for the local people, the diversity of animals and plants and the global climate.

Canada's boreal forests are also home to numerous First Nations (indigenous peoples of Canada) who are fighting against the destruction of their habitat by the timber and paper industry. They are also a habitat for endangered large mammals such as bears, lynx, wolves and the Canadian caribou and are home to 30 percent of North American songbirds and 40 percent of the waterfowl that breed here each year. Canadian scientists fear that without the protection of the primeval forests, animals such as the caribou will be regionally extinct in a few decades.

The 615 First Nations tribes are often disadvantaged by society and frequently suffer from severe social problems.

For this reason, we support the David Suzuki Foundation, which works on many levels to protect nature from pollution and destruction in Canada and also campaigns for the (land) rights of indigenous peoples.

Protection and restoration of nature and biodiversity in Canada

Goals:

• Protection for Canada's boreal forests - some of the last wilderness areas on earth

• And associated with this: Protection of biodiversity and endangered species in Canada, e.g. the critically endangered woodland caribou

Methods:

• Work on current species protection legislation: lobbying, analysis and monitoring of species protection laws at national and provincial level

• Support and advice for First Nations in their efforts to establish their own protected areas (called IPCAs), organization of networking meetings, training courses; development of a network of young indigenous forest ambassadors.

• And associated with this: Protection of biodiversity and endangered species in Canada, e.g. the highly endangered woodland caribou