Our Projects
Adoption of the One Plan Approach places Canada in a leading role for species conservation world-wide, while also realizing a more effective and cost-efficient approach to species at risk recovery planning and implementation. Through the use of science-based, inclusive and participatory planning processes, and leveraging the expertise of Canada’s Accredited Zoo and Aquarium community, we will ensure that restoration and recovery of Canada’s critically endangered species benefit from possible management options.
The Canadian Species Initiative strives to:
- Increase awareness of ex situ conservation roles and activities in Canada.
- Use science-based tools and workshops to evaluate and incorporate, as needed, ex situ options into species conservation planning and then monitor the impact of ex situ management.
- Involve both in situ and ex situ communities in species conservation planning and implementation in Canada by providing leadership in application of the IUCN’s One Plan Approach.
Species Conservation Planning
Typically spanning 3-4 days, Species Conservation Planning workshops are facilitated to help stakeholder and knowledge holders use sound science to evaluate data, identify threats, and determine necessary conservation actions. The planning process involves preparing, defining success, understanding the system, deciding where to intervene, agreeing on methods, and planning for implementation.
In Canada, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) is an independent advisory panel to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada that meets twice a year to assess the status of wildlife species at risk of extinction. Members are wildlife biology experts from academia, government, non-governmental organizations and the private sector responsible for designating wildlife species in danger of disappearing from Canada. Specific criteria are used when making a designation. If a recommendation of ‘threatened’ or ‘endangered’ is accepted, the federal government then prepares a species-specific recovery plan. However, neither the COSEWIC status assessment or the recovery planning process explicitly examines whether, or not, ex situ management can assist in addressing threats to the species. CSI has identified a list of focal species, selected based on the criteria used to designate the species as endangered, and is working to hold workshops that will identify if, when, and how, ex situ management could assist in recovery of endangered wildlife in Canada.
Example: A Conservation Action Plan was developed for the critically endangered Carolinian population of Gray Ratsnake over the course of a three-day workshop hosted by African Lion Safari in Cambridge, Ontario in November 2025. Participants used information available from federal and provincial recovery plans, and the provincial Government Response Statement, as well as new information from recent research, to develop a subpopulation specific threat assessment. This assessment and a Population Viability Assessment developed in advance of the workshop were used by participants to decided where and how to intervene for the best results in each subpopulation. A Recovery Implementation Group (RIG) was established to provide support, monitor activities and serve as an informal governance body in the coming years. The in-person workshop was sponsored by the Leeds-Grenville Stewardship Council, NRSI, and African Lion Safari, with tech equipment provided by the Canadian Herpetology Society. Dr. Phil Miller, Director of Single Species Conservation Planning for CSPG, supported the development of the PVA and facilitation of the in-person workshop.
Ex Situ Conservation Assessment
These workshops bring in situ and ex situ communities together to apply a structured and transparent decision-making process that follows the IUCN Guidelines for the Use of Ex Situ Management for Species Conservation. The process is designed to be flexible and can be used for a single species or groups of species. In an Ex Situ Conservation Assessment Workshop, the list of potential roles are assessed to identify priorities for ex situ conservation activities and programs, which are then evaluated based on the conservation value, feasibility and risk.
Example: In partnership with CPSG, CSI and Wildlife Preservation Canada conducted a virtual ICAP workshop in March 2021 to assess ex situ conservation options for the 39 taxa of Canadian snakes. A diverse group of experts including zoo staff, government and First Nations representatives, and species experts from across Canada, the United States, and Mexico came together to discuss the ex situ conservation options for snakes in Canada. Conservation education, training, and research actions were identified for all Canadian snakes, and the need for some targeted intensive conservation programs were identified for several highly at-risk species. Actions identified in the workshop will complement in situ conservation efforts and CSI is looking forward to continuing to work with the Canadian herpetological community to move these efforts forward. The workshop report is available for download below.
“Congratulations to the organizers and participants of this workshop. … it was an amazing event and you should all be proud of the great detail of knowledge you have about Canadian snakes. It should be a great conservation tool for this species we all like so much.” Dr. J. Jesús Sigala Rodríguez, Co-Chair of the IUCN Viper Specialist Group
Population Viability Assessment (PVA)
Population Viability Assessment (PVA) ensures that scientific analysis of demographic and stochastic processes are considered and integrated into species conservation plans. Within the participatory, stakeholder-inclusive species conservation planning and ex situ conservation assessment workshops, a population viability analysis (PVA) provides guidance to stakeholders and helps set science-based and measurable targets for species recovery.
Examples: We assisted CPSG Head Office in development of a full annual cycle PVA for the eastern loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus migrans), a migratory songbird considered critically endangered in Ontario. African Lion Safari has been a partner in the conservation breeding program for the species since 2008 – results of PVA suggest that this management action has kept the wild Ontario population of Loggerhead Shrike from extirpation. The PVA results were used during an international workshop that brought together stakeholders from across the U.S. and Canada. The results helped identify in situ and ex situ management actions and align conservation action across the range of the Eastern Loggerhead Shrike. The workshop report is available for download.
In 2025, in consultation with experts from across Ontario, we developed a PVA for the Carolinian Population of Gray Ratsnake in Ontario. As one of the largest snake species in Ontario, adult Gray Ratsnakes (Pantherophis spiloides) are typically 1 to 2 meters long, but some individuals have been known to reach lengths of up to 2.55 m! This species is slow to mature, taking 6 to 8 years to reach adulthood. The Gray Ratsnake is found at its northern range limit in Ontario. The PVA was integrated into a species conservation planning workshop that brought together diverse stakeholders and catalyzed on the ground action for this critically endangered species. With less than 300 of these snakes left in southwestern Ontario, workshop participants identified the need for a head-starting program, which the PVA suggested would help to guard against loss of unique genetic diversity and improve the long-term outlook for the species. African Lion Safari is now work with partners to establish this ex situ program.
