Birds Canada is the country’s only national organization dedicated to bird conservation. Our mission is to drive action to increase the understanding, appreciation, and conservation of birds in Canada. Every day, our thousands of caring donors, more than 60 passionate staff, and over 70,000 outstanding volunteers are taking action together as Canada’s voice for birds. Learn more at birdscanada.org.

Environment and Climate Change Canada manages wildlife matters that are the responsibility of the federal government. These include protection and management of Migratory Birds, nationally significant habitat, and Species at Risk, as well as monitoring and research on other wildlife issues of national and international importance. The department does research in many fields of wildlife biology and provides incentive programs for wildlife and habitat stewardship. As such, Environment and Climate Change Canada is pleased to support the Newfoundland Breeding Bird Atlas. Read about Environment and Climate Change Canada’s work on Migratory Birds here.

Newfoundland and Labrador’s wildlife resources are at the heart of our province’s heritage and culture. Our vast landscape is diverse, and so are the wildlife species that inhabit it. From the largest big game animals to the tiniest insects and rare flowers, the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture‘s Wildlife Division is responsible for managing and conserving Newfoundland and Labrador’s biodiversity and wildlife resources for the benefit of present and future generations.

Parks Canada administers Canada’s national parks and national historic sites, and its mandate includes fostering public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment in ways that safeguard the ecological and commemorative integrity of these places. On the island of Newfoundland these sites encompass more than 2,300 km² of lands and waters, and include two national parks and seven national historic sites. Gros Morne National Park (1,805 km²) protects extensive coastal, boreal forest and wetland habitats, and includes the best example of Arctic-alpine habitat on the island. Terra Nova National Park (399 km²) protects a deeply-incised coast of sheltered inlets, islands, and headlands, and includes large tracts of boreal forest as well as numerous bogs, rivers and ponds. Both parks have well developed trail networks that are well suited for birding. Many national historic sites also protect important bird habitats, in particular Cape Spear, Port au Choix, and L’Anse aux Meadows.

Memorial University of Newfoundland has a rich history of contributions to understanding birdlife in the region and beyond. Access to large seabird colonies along the east coast of the island has enabled extensive work by faculty, staff and students on the breeding biology, ecology, and conservation of marine birds. Much of this research has been linked to the island’s long history of heavy dependence on the fisheries, with a more recent shift to also assess the impacts of oil-well development on the Grand Banks. Likewise, study of Newfoundland’s landbirds by researchers at Memorial has often been tied to resource extraction, addressing the influences of timber harvest on the breeding biology, distribution, and conservation of birds in the balsam-fir dominated boreal forests of western Newfoundland. As well as this focus on interactions with humans in both terrestrial and marine environments, Memorial researchers study avian vocalizations, morphology, interspecies interactions, and the behavioral ecology of diverse taxa.

The Stewardship Association of Municipalities Inc. (SAM), is a non-profit organization whose Board of Directors consists of representatives of forty-three Newfoundland and Labrador municipalities who conserve and enhance wildlife habitat via the signing of habitat stewardship agreements with the province. SAM has been successful in engaging municipal governments in wildlife habitat conservation, with its membership having secured some 52,000 acres of wildlife habitat and influencing land use activities in over 600,000 acres right across the province. SAM works with the partners of the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture (EHJV) in Newfoundland and Labrador to conserve, enhance and restore important wildlife habitat. Together these municipalities practise informed decision-making relating to land use within, or adjacent to, municipal planning boundaries.

The Eastern Habitat Joint Venture (EHJV) was formalized in 1989 to coordinate the delivery of projects and programs that would meet the objectives of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) in the provinces of Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. In the late 1990s, planning for other bird conservation initiatives (shorebirds, waterbirds and landbirds) was initiated on a continental scale under the auspices of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI), with the approach of utilizing existing Joint Ventures as coordination, planning and implementation vehicles. The EHJV has expanded to incorporate these processes and will continue to use its synergy to coordinate programs that meet various bird and bird habitat conservation objectives.