This year’s World Wildlife Day focuses on the recovery of key species for ecosystem restoration and Air Canada is pleased to announce the return and expansion of its urban beehive initiative. We will be installing one beehive each at our Montreal headquarters and in Toronto at our Flight Operations Centre as we expand this important initiative.
With 20,000 bees in each hive, Air Canada is proud to contribute to helping revitalize our ecosystem.
“Air Canada is committed to doing more in the communities we serve. By again hosting beehives in Montreal and Toronto, we are improving the local biodiversity and ecosystems while also providing educational and awareness opportunities for our employees to engage with the world around them,” said Teresa Ehman, Senior Director of Environmental Affairs at Air Canada.
Air Canada is exploring the potential uses of the honey produced from the hives, including the possibility of having it featured in the Maple Leaf Lounges as was done with honey from our hives in 2018.
The airline is also reaffirming its commitment to the Buckingham Palace Declaration, a landmark agreement which outlines real steps to shut down routes exploited by the illegal wildlife trade, signed in June 2020.
Canada’s largest airline is a leader in the global aviation industry in fighting the illegal wildlife trade and became the first carrier in the Americas to be IATA IWT Certified in September 2020.
Since then, Air Canada has launched a number of initiatives and awareness campaigns to reinforce its commitment to stopping the shipment of illegal wildlife.
“The illegal wildlife trade not only threatens the existence of endangered species but also impacts human livelihoods, biodiversity, and natural resources just to name a few,” Teresa said. “As Canada’s flag airline that connects six continents, and as part of our commitment to meaningful climate action with a net-zero GHG emissions from our global operations by 2050, we are consciously integrating sustainability into our business practices to help mitigate all impacts of climate change”
Most recently, in collaboration with Edmonton International Airport, Air Canada conducted a passenger awareness and engagement campaign to encourage passengers to become wildlife watchers.
The airline had previously shown its commitment advocating to ending illegal wildlife trade practices through a major, first of its kind forum it hosted in March 2021, which included a presentation from Dr. Jane Goodall, world’s foremost expert on wild chimpanzees, recognized for her ground-breaking discoveries about their behaviour.
Air Canada has also worked with the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA) to develop a Member to Member webinar in January 2022. The webinar included presentations from United for Wildlife, the Wildlife Enforcement Directorate of Canada, and Air Canada Cargo with the goal of, bringing more education and awareness on the subject to industry partners