Canadian Prairies are disappearing faster than the Amazon rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef

A group of conservationists says it’s time to act to save the Canadian Prairies, which they say are disappearing off the face of the Earth faster than the Amazon rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. Nature Conservancy Canada says more than 70 per cent of Canada’s prairie grasslands have been converted for other uses such as agriculture and industry. By comparison, just 20 per cent of the Amazon has been converted for other uses. The environmental group says some of the world’s most significant remaining grasslands are in Canada, but could soon disappear unless more is done to save them. Dan Kraus, a scientist with the conservancy, tells CTV News the biggest risk is lost biodiversity. He says most people think of the Prairies as flat wheat fields, but they were once home to huge herds of bison, which used to be among the largest populations of large mammals in the world. “There’s a wild side to the Canadian Prairies, and that’s the part that’s slipping away from us,” he says. Millions of migratory birds spend time in the Prairies each year, and more than 60 rare species call the habitat their home. Some bird species have lost more than 70 per cent of their population in the last 40 years, and that decline will continue if unchecked, Kraus says. “It’s still a place where you can have this incredible spectacle of migratory birds,” he says. “We’re trying to protect some of those remnants that we have left.”

Source: Edmonton Journal, December 16, 2016
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/national/canadian+prairies+vanishin…