Funding to help protect biodiversity in Alberta’s Eastern Slopes - Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative

Funding to help protect biodiversity in Alberta’s Eastern Slopes

Photo credit: Connie Simmons

New financial support to focus on critical habitat in Alberta’s Rocky Mountain region


Funding from the W. Garfield Weston Foundation will support Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative’s work in Alberta to protect the Rocky Mountain Eastern Slopes.

The diverse landscapes of the Rocky Mountains’ Eastern Slopes supports many of Alberta’s iconic wildlife species, including streams for at-risk species like westslope cutthroat trout, bull trout, and habitat for limber pine, whitebark pine, and other threatened plant, bird and animal species.

Despite its extraordinary ecological value, much of the Eastern Slopes remains under threat from industrial and residential development, including forestry and metallurgical coal mining, unregulated motorized recreation, and rural homes.

Focusing on four priority regions — the Bow Valley, Kananaskis Country, Livingstone-Porcupine Hills, and the Castle — Y2Y will work to hold on to critical protections, and support decisions about land use that prioritize the region’s ecological value.

“Conserving the critical habitat in the most sensitive areas of Alberta’s Eastern Slopes will help both people and wildlife,” says Dr. Hilary Young, Senior Alberta Program Manager for Y2Y.

Y2Y is proud to be partnering with the W. Garfield Weston Foundation to prioritize one of Canada’s most ecologically significant regions