The moose in the room: Canada’s changing conservation landscape

Dr. Adam Ford

 Canada Research Chair in Wildlife Restoration Ecology, University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Abstract

Conservation biology has long held certain species in high regard and overlooked others -  large, charismatic carnivores and high-profile, rare species have consumed the most funding and political attention in recent decades. In Canada, which contains the largest areas of intact wildlife habitat in the world, there are growing signs that the focus of conservation biology’s past will be insufficient to meet the needs of the future. Recent court decisions and trade offs in the outcome of different endangered species recovery tools, indicates that species with strong ties to Indigenous cultures and the food security/sovereignty across cultures will take a more central place in conservation and land management. Moose capture this changing sentiment like few other species. With links to food, predator culls, protected area management, and climate change, moose are poised to be one of the most important drivers of land use decision making across one of the largest countries in the world.