City of Regina renewed as a Bird Friendly City by Nature Canada

For International Day of Biological Diversity, Nature Canada is delighted to announce that the City of Regina has successfully renewed their Bird Friendly City Certification for the 2024-2026 period at Entry level (50% of eligible points awarded).

Birds play essential roles in our environments as indicator species. Their population declines can signal broader ecosystem shifts and represent the negative impacts of urbanization, biodiversity loss and climate change. Canadian municipalities of all sizes need to act now, and with their community, to protect, defend and restore their local bird populations for future generations to come. As one of the very first four municipalities to become Bird Friendly Certified in 2022 and a Tree City of the World, Bird Friendly Regina and the City of Regina continue to advance their efforts to become more bird friendly and biodiverse.

In the past two years, Bird Friendly Regina has grown and expanded their reach and engagement to community members and local decision-makers to carry out and advance a variety of bird friendly practices such as: launching and announcing Regina’s Official City Bird with over 21,000 votes, keeping cats on private property, monitoring the city for bird-window collisions through Nature Regina’s Bird Safe Initiative and hosting bird-related events at Wascana Lake Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Learn more about their important efforts to save bird lives in Regina here (on this page).

Quotes:

“I am proud that the City of Regina has garnered an additional seven points from Nature Canada for our entry-level status. It shows that our City — the only bird-friendly city in Saskatchewan— is moving forward on policies and practices to protect our bird populations.” - Cheryl Stadnichuk, Councillor Ward 1, City of Regina, Bird Friendly Regina Advisor Member

“Birds play an essential role in maintaining healthy ecosystems which impacts our own health and wellbeing. This renewed designation is a tribute to the collaboration between our community and the City of Regina in creating safe environments for birds to thrive.” - Elaine Ehman, Past President of Nature Regina, Bird Friendly Regina Committee Member

Nature Canada’s Bird Friendly City Certification program encourages communities to take action to:

• reduce the number of human-related threats to birds such as roaming cats, the use of pesticides, and glass treatment on buildings with large windows;
• create safe environments for birds by promoting stewardship and ensuring that natural habitats are protected and restored;
• engage and educate citizens about the benefits of Bird Friendly Cities and celebrating birds in our communities.

Nature Canada is pleased to acknowledge the support of Environment and Climate Change Canada for the Bird Friendly City program and World Migratory Bird Day.

Nature Canada is Canada's voice for nature. For 80 years, Nature Canada has helped protect over 110 million acres of parks and wildlife areas in Canada and countless species. Today, Nature Canada represents a network of over 175,000 members and supporters and more than 1,200 nature organizations.

For more information about Regina’s Bird Friendly Certification please contact:

Cheryl Stadnichuk, Councillor Ward 1, City of Regina, Bird Friendly Regina Advisor Member

306-552-5617

CSTADNIC@regina.ca

Elaine Ehman, Past President of Nature Regina, Bird Friendly Regina Committee Member

306-533-8029

elaine.ehman@sasktel.net

For more information about Nature Canada’s Bird Friendly City Certification please contact:

Autumn Jordan, Urban Nature Organizer

613-562-3447 ext. 238

ajordan@naturecanada.ca

Link to the original media release.