Nature Canada among finalists for Nature Inspiration Awards
By Tyler Thomas
Late last month, when the finalists were announced for the Canadian Museum of Nature’s annual Nature Inspiration Awards, Centretown-headquartered Nature Canada found its name alongside four others in the category of small or medium not-for-profit organizations.
Nature Canada is being recognized for a campaign launched in February 2016 called Keep Cats Safe/Save Bird Lives.
The campaign is a call to action surrounding outdoor cats, with the goal of keeping as many cats as possible indoors or supervised to the benefit of cats and birds alike. Leash-training cats and creating enclosed “catios,” or cat patios, in backyards are among the measures promoted by the campaign to reduce the number of bird deaths caused by feline hunters.
“It’s great because it does shine the light on what we’re doing,” said Ted Cheskey, senior conservation manager at Nature Canada, on the award nomination.
“Despite the campaign being ongoing, a great website, Margaret Atwood being a partner and a great social media reach with lots of partners, I think most people are still unaware of (the campaign),” he added. “Anytime there’s a potential award like this – and I do hope we get it – it’ll put us on the radar of more people.”
The project was a response to alarming figures released by Environment Canada in 2012 and 2013.
The report explored human-associated causes of bird mortality – including the windows of tall buildings, power lines, wind turbines and cats. It concluded that cats, both domestic and feral, were responsible for between 70 and 300 million bird deaths per year in Canada.
Nature Canada took these statistics and married them to the numerous other health dangers facing cats when they are allowed to roam free outside the home, and the present campaign was born. Though beloved pets for millions of Canadians, cats have a strong hunting instinct that has a serious impact on songbird populations.
“No other national organization was dealing with this issue or wanted to deal with this issue because of its sensitivity, and we thought it was something we could move into and make a difference in terms of our impact,” said Cheskey.
Since the launch of the campaign nearly two years ago, Nature Canada has hired a full-time campaign manager based out of Toronto, the Canadian literary icon Atwood has produced three award-winning graphic novels on the subject, and the campaign has had tremendous outreach with the help of humane societies and nature organizations.
Currently, Nature Canada is running a pilot in Guelph on best practices surrounding cat ownership and education, and hopes to bring the program to Gatineau, Vancouver and Edmonton in the coming years.
“It’s taking all the little baby steps, but it’s social change and social change takes place slowly,” said Cheskey. “Think of how long it took to get smoking out of the workplace. It takes time for things like this to happen and we have to be patient.”
The Nature Inspiration Awards themselves are a relatively recent prize program, with the first awards being presented in 2014. According to John Swettenham, director of marketing and media relations at the Canadian Museum of Nature, they were something the McLeod Street museum felt they really needed to create.
“Our roots are in the Canadian Geological Survey, going back over 150 years ago. Their job was to go out and find what nature we had in our country, and our mandate today includes the same one they had then,” said Swettenham.
He added that the museum is so much more than just the institution in downtown Ottawa, but a network of researchers producing important studies in their fields through the museum.
The awards give the museum a way to inspire people with the leadership of individuals, organizations and businesses when it comes to preserving and celebrating Canadian nature, he said.
The awards gala will be held Nov. 8 when the winners in each category will be announced.