Government of Canada invests $3 million in citizen science and open data for birds and biodiversity
News release
February 14, 2024 – Ottawa, Ontario
Birds are the most accessible and effective indicators of the health of air, water, and land. They are at the heart of Canada's biodiversity and play an essential role in maintaining healthy, resilient ecosystems in communities. When bird populations and their habitats are thriving, communities also benefit. When birds forage for food, build nests, and perform other necessities, they disperse plants and seeds that can reduce flooding and erosion, better filter groundwater, and provide more spaces to appreciate nature.
Today, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced an investment of $3 million to Birds Canada over five years. The funding will support citizen science programs and open data, providing access to hundreds of millions of data records gathered by volunteers and professional biologists on the distribution, abundance, and population trends for birds in Canada.
The new funding will allow Birds Canada to build and improve the tools needed to collect, analyze, and share open-access data that will inform a wide range of conservation efforts. Also, experts and citizen science volunteers will be mobilized across Canada to monitor migratory birds, including species at risk, to identify priority habitats and inform land-use management to better protect them.
The funding will support Birds Canada’s NatureCounts platform, one of the world’s largest biodiversity databases. The information and data in the NatureCounts platform can be used to inform environmental impact assessments, climate research, and industry practices. The data can also help determine the impacts of climate change stressors on ecosystems, biodiversity, and species, and evaluate the effectiveness of conservation and recovery actions.
Each year, tens of thousands of volunteers participate in Birds Canada’s citizen science monitoring and research programs. These citizen science programs, and the dedicated people who contribute to them, form the backbone of bird conservation in Canada. From February 16 to 19, 2024, bird enthusiasts of all ages, from beginners to experts, are invited to take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, a worldwide annual tradition that creates a real-time snapshot of where birds are over those four days.
Quotes
“Birds are the chorus to nature’s biodiversity. Embracing collaboration and making biodiversity-related data publicly available will lead to a deeper understanding of our environment as we continue making progress toward conserving 30 percent of land, fresh water, and oceans in Canada by 2030. I am inspired by the leadership of communities, citizen scientists, and organizations such as Birds Canada, who are stepping up and working together to build a nature-positive future.”
– The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change
“Three billion birds have been lost since 1970 in North America and half of bird populations are in decline worldwide—this demonstrates an urgent need to take action. Birds Canada is proud to work with thousands of volunteer citizen scientists across Canada. Their collective efforts yield meaningful, accessible data to support conservation, thus contributing to halting and reversing biodiversity loss and protecting our beloved birds.”
– Patrick Nadeau, President and Chief Executive Officer, Birds Canada
Quick facts
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This investment supports target 21 of the Kunming–Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to ensure that the best available biodiversity data, information, and knowledge are accessible to decision-makers, practitioners, and the public.
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NatureCounts is an extensive biodiversity data platform holding over a century of knowledge. Over 200 million data records on all bird species in Canada are freely available.
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Birds Canada is a national non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to the protection of wild birds and their habitats. Every day, thousands of caring donors, employees, and volunteers take action to increase the understanding, love, and conservation of birds in Canada.
Associated links
Contacts
Kaitlin Power
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change
819-230-1557
Kaitlin.Power@ec.gc.ca
Media Relations
Environment and Climate Change Canada
819-938-3338 or 1-844-836-7799 (toll-free)
media@ec.gc.ca
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Twitter page
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Facebook page
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