Resource action programs in Canada are designed to safeguard wildlife resources and their habitats, including endangered species and migratory species. The Canadian Wildlife Federation (CNF) is dedicated to raising public awareness through educational campaigns and research. The Wildlife Act was passed, allowing for the creation, management and protection of national wildlife areas. In response to the Canadian Endangered Species Coalition campaign, federal and provincial ministers agreed on a national agreement for the protection of endangered species. Nature Canada launched a campaign to reduce all major Canadian sources of greenhouse gases, recommit Canada to the Kyoto Protocol and establish regulations that establish absolute emission targets for industrial polluters.
Nature Canada also launched a national campaign to protect the Suffield National Wildlife Area from expanding gas drilling operations. The Wildlife Area Regulations were modernized to better protect the priority habitats required for the conservation of migratory birds, endangered species, and other wild animals in Canada. The Endangered Species Act was passed to help prevent the disappearance of wildlife species in Canada, ensure the recovery of wildlife species that are extirpated, endangered, or threatened as a result of human activity, and manage species of special interest to prevent them from becoming endangered or threatened. The CNF and the Canadian Wildlife Service launched the Endangered Plants and Invertebrates Program in Canada (EPIC) to conserve wildlife in Canada by launching fundamental research in support of wildlife management, introducing a land acquisition process for a system of national wildlife areas and a national wetland preservation program focusing on prairies. The CNF report on wildlife conservation with a small budget concluded that illegal poaching, resource development, the presence of toxic chemicals, climate change and extremely inadequate funding (just 15 cents per hectare) threaten the Canadian system of national wildlife areas (NWA) and migratory bird sanctuaries (MBS). In recognition of its growing responsibilities to protect nature, Wildlife Service Canada became its own branch within the Department of the Environment. The main objectives of Canadian wildlife campaigns are to protect wildlife resources and their habitats, raise public awareness about environmental issues, reduce greenhouse gases, protect endangered species, modernize regulations for better protection of priority habitats, prevent the disappearance of wildlife species in Canada, conserve wildlife in Canada through research and land acquisition processes, and protect national wildlife areas from illegal poaching and resource development.
