National Conservation Awards Shine a Spotlight on Collaborative Efforts to Connect Canadians to Nature and Save Species on the Brink of Extinction

Conservation efforts are successfully reviving species, but governments must ensure these gains persist for the long-term. Elephants, with their long memory, can locate water sources during droughts, but their loss leaves herds vulnerable. As elephants move, they also disperse seeds, which helps forests regenerate even after large mammals have vanished.

However, the canopy may still appear unscathed, masking the true extent of biodiversity loss. At the U.N.’s COP17 biodiversity talks in Yerevan, Armenia, representatives will evaluate countries' progress in mitigating these losses. Some damage will be challenging to quantify within a negotiation timeframe. Other absent species are already gone for good.

The slender-billed curlew, last seen in Morocco in 1995, was declared extinct in 2024. The vaquita and Sumatran rhino still exist, but both could vanish within a decade. Children born today may only know these animals through archival footage or AI simulations. Coral reefs are also under threat, as warming seas make it harder for bleached corals to recover between heatwaves.

An upcoming El Niño could exacerbate the problem, increasing the risk of drought and fires in tropical forests. Meanwhile, wars consume resources and attention, while authoritarian regimes limit the freedoms needed for effective conservation.