(Montreal) A large majority of the Canadian population is worried about the decline of biodiversity and wants immediate action to counter it, according to a survey released on Sunday.
The disappearance of animal and plant species worries 87% of Canadians and 83% of Quebecers, reveals the survey conducted by Ipsos for the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
One-fifth of Canada’s listed wildlife and plant species are threatened with extinction, said a federal government report released at the end of November.
Society as a whole, from governments to businesses to individuals, is not acting quickly enough to tackle the problem, believe 81% of Canadians – the result is the same for respondents in Quebec.
The survey also shows that 80% of Canadians and 77% of Quebecers are worried about the fact that future generations will not have access to nature near their homes.
It’s “encouraging” to see that Canadians are concerned about declining biodiversity, said Catherine Grenier, president and CEO of the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
The organization sees it as “a real rallying cry” for delegates gathered at COP15 to encourage them to adopt a bold and concrete global framework to preserve and restore nature, says the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
Climatic changes
More Quebecers than Canadians, 75% versus 63%, believe that nature conservation is a tool to fight climate change.
A majority of respondents (81% in Quebec and 80% in Canada) say they are worried or very worried about the impact of climate change and say they have noticed an increase in the number of floods, tornadoes and droughts over the recent years (85% in Quebec and 84% in Canada).
Urgent action in response to climate change is most strongly called for in British Columbia, with 93% of respondents believing that more rapid action is needed to counter its effects; Quebec follows at 90%.
Today we are faced, as a society, with two immense challenges: the decline of nature and climate change. When one of these phenomena increases, so does the other. Neither can be resolved without conserving nature.
Catherine Grenier, Nature Conservancy of Canada
The survey was conducted online between November 23 and 28, 2022 among 2,006 people aged 18 and over in the country, including 524 from Quebec, with a level of precision of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times on 20.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada is a non-governmental organization dedicated to the protection of nature which has advocated for the restoration or conservation in the country since 1962 of more than 150,000 square kilometers of natural habitats – which corresponds to more than twice the surface area of the New Brunswick.