Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) (French: la Société pour la nature et les parcs du Canada (SNAP)) was founded in 1963 to help protect Canada's wilderness.

CPAWS is Canada's voice for wilderness protection. For more than 50 years it has championed protection of Canada’s forests, waters and parks with a focus on protecting large, connected areas. To date, CPAWS has succeeded in helping to protect over 50 million hectares. CPAWS vision is to keep at least half of Canada’s public land and water wild – forever.

As a national charity with 13 chapters, over 50,000 supporters, and hundreds of volunteers, CPAWS works collaboratively with governments, local communities, industry and indigenous peoples to protect Canada’s public land and water.

From the vast northern Boreal forest to the temperate forests stretching across Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes, Canada is home to some of the largest unbroken tracts of forest on the planet. CPAWS’ goal is to conserve at least half of Canada’s Boreal forests, and to create a network of large conservation areas within the temperate eastern woodlands of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario.

Campaign Examples

Canada has one of the oldest and most extensive parks systems in the world. CPAWS advocates for new parks and acts as a watchdog to ensure that existing ones are well-managed. With pressures on Canada’s wilderness growing, creating more parks and ensuring existing ones are well-funded and protected is more important than ever.

Campaign Examples

Canada has the longest coastline in the world, and a marine area that is half the size of our country. But its marine ecosystems tend to be out of sight and out of mind, and they are in serious trouble. CPAWS’ long term goal is for Canada to complete a national network of marine protected areas that protect at least half of Canada's oceans, with an objective to meet the international target of protecting at least 10% of coastal and marine areas by 2020.

Campaign Examples

Grasslands are some of the most unusual ecosystems in the world, but are also considered the most threatened, with the highest concentration of species at risk. CPAWS chapters in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan are working to protect these unique landscapes and their rich biodiversity.

There is more and more evidence emerging that increasingly urban Canadians are less and less likely to be active outdoors, or to have the opportunity to directly experience nature. Connecting Canadians to Nature is about building a culture of wilderness advocates through wilderness experiences. The Get Outside program offered by certain chapters (BC, Wildlands League) is an important component of this program area. CPAWS’ Southern Alberta chapter also offers an extensive nature education program for school-age children and youth.

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