Canada Warbler Full-life-cycle Conservation Action Plan (2021)
Following the assessment of the Canada Warbler by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada in 2008 and its subsequent listing as Threatened under Canada’s Species At Risk Act in 2010, this plan was created with the vision of working towards “healthy and viable populations of Canada Warblers across the current range and extent of occurrence”. The Canada Warbler was re-assessed as Special Concern in Canada in November 2020.
Workshops and meetings using the Conservation Standards framework united over 125 stakeholders from 50 organizations and 11 countries within the range of the Canada Warbler and identified the principle threats faced by the species and the best strategies to alleviate those threats.
The principle threats identified in at least some portion of the range (and often in both the nesting grounds and non-breeding grounds) were:
- Habitat loss through land conversion (especially through agriculture, mining and urban expansion) and, to a lesser extent, habitat degradation;
- Adverse forestry practices;
- Climate change and severe weather; and
- Pollutants.
These threats may be compounded or give rise to other complicating factors and be impactful in a cumulative manner.
The four broad strategies identified were:
- Adaptive management and legal instruments;
- Best Management Practices (BMPs), including a focus on sustainable economic alternatives;
- Research and monitoring; and
- Outreach and communications.
The principle recommendations made were:
- Address habitat loss throughout the species’ range (cumulative evidence suggesting this is a driver of decline);
- Address range-wide impacts with international collaboration;
- Address differing regional impacts where appropriate (including habitat degradation as opposed to loss in some contexts);
- Coordinate efforts on the four broad strategies identified; and
- Maintain an international network of engaged partners.
