The Carleton Conservation Collective is a volunteer initiative made up of a few dozen conservation biologists, graduate students, undergraduates, and faculty from Carleton University who are passionate about making the world a better place for both people and wildlife. That starts right here on our beautiful campus, where we tackle environmental issues through the implementation of diverse and impactful conservation actions. Rooted in the belief that anyone can participate in conservation, the Collective believes in cross-departmental collaboration and community engagement; we strive for real, actionable change across campus for the mutual benefit of nature and people.

Carleton University is rich with biodiversity, surrounded by green space and bordered by the Rideau River and Canal. Our campus is home to many species, including nesting Red-tailed Hawks and endangered Chimney Swifts to name a couple. However, threats to biodiversity are prevalent across all urban spaces, including Carleton’s. Some of these threats include bird-window collisions, which kill 1 billion birds across North America every year and the spread of invasive species that threaten native biodiversity of all kinds.

There are many conservation initiatives we would like to achieve around campus–from making windows more bird-friendly to reduce bird-window collisions, to planting native wildflower gardens to promote pollination and native biodiversity–but the costs of these actions can be prohibitive. Our hope is to spread awareness about conservation issues, inspire future conservation activists and environmental stewards, and find tangible solutions to help protect biodiversity on Carleton’s campus.

The funds received by donors will graciously go towards supporting various conservation actions, including those previously outlined. For instance, some funds will be directed towards the purchase of Feather Friendly decals and other materials for bird-friendly window treatments; other donations will go towards purchasing native plants, seeds, soil, and all other necessary equipment needed to build and plant a native pollinator garden on campus.

All donations are immensely appreciated as these conservation actions are only made possible through your generous help and support! As our first bird-friendly mural campaign demonstrated, all funds will be used to directly implement conservation activities that benefit campus biodiversity and connect Carleton’s community with nature.