Canada's biodiversity

Tara and Niimi are camping near a river. Suddenly they hear the sound of a tree falling, and a splash when the branches hit the water. What was that sound? Should we have a look? Look Tara, it’s a beaver!

It’s building a dam! I can’t wait to tell everyone that we’ve seen a live beaver! In Canada, where Tara and Niimi live, beavers are an official symbol of the country — an animal used to represent Canada in some way. But of course beavers are not the only animals in Canada. Canada is the second largest country in the world in area, and hosts a range of different ecosystems.

There are temperate rainforests on the Pacific coast, prairies in Western Canada, kelp forests off all three coasts, tundra and areas of permanent ice in the Northern regions, and deep-sea vents in the oceans. And with a variety of ecosystems comes a variety of different species. In fact, Canada is home to around 71 000 species of animals, plants, fungi and bacteria. A little over half of Canada’s species live on land, around a fifth in freshwater and the rest in marine environments. This is why we can say that Canada is rich in biodiversity.

Biodiversity supports pollination, water purification, nutrient cycling and climate regulation — processes that keep the environment healthy and functioning. Not just for plants and animals, but for humans too! This is why biodiversity is so important. Much of the Canadian tourist industry is sustained by people wanting to visit the beautiful natural areas, and catch sight of animals such as the beaver. A lot of food production depends on large numbers of pollinators, as well as healthy soils, which all rely on high biodiversity.

We can get a lot back from healthy ecosystems: fish, wild berries, mushrooms, maple syrup, timber, and even medicinal ingredients! Much of Canadian biodiversity is under threat. Many of the biological resources cannot recover as fast as they are used up. For example, between the 17th century and mid-1800s, the fur trade, led to beavers being killed for their fur at an enormous rate. This almost led to beavers becoming extinct.

Another thing is that natural spaces are being destroyed because of construction and expansion of cities, roads and other infrastructure. As a result, the Canadian government, along with various organisations and First Nations groups, recently started to introduce more and more measures to try and protect the country’s biodiversity. And Tara and Niimi have an important role to play! The traditional knowledge, innovation and practices of Indigenous communities, like the band Tara and Niimi belong to, are crucial for successful protection of biodiversity. Members of Tara and Niimi’s band take only what they need from their environment.

They take great care of natural resources, both how much they use and in what way. Tara and Niimi’s community has a lot of knowledge about protecting their natural environment. This is why one of their elders was asked to help the local authorities come up with an action plan. One action was to reroute pollution from the river and stop logging nearby. The goal?

To get beavers moving back into the area. And it seems it’s been a great success!