Welcome to our Manitoba Office. Since 1999 Wilderness Committee staff have been on the ground in Manitoba, pushing for protection of wild spaces, wild species, and healthy communities. Our first campaign in Manitoba was to end logging in provincial parks, which we had success within 2008 when all but one Manitoba Park banned logging. We continue to press for an end to mining and all industrial activity in provincial parks.

Since then, we work on many additional issues. On the east side of Lake Winnipeg lies the Heart of the Boreal, the greatest intact forest left on earth, and we have been campaigning to have lands and waters here protected according to the wishes of local First Nations. Lake Winnipeg drains the largest watershed for its size on earth, and the water flowing into the lake is being degraded, threatening the health of Lake Winnipeg. Our campaign to protect Lake Winnipeg is focused on changing attitudes and actions upstream in the watershed. Boreal woodland caribou live in remote and intact old forests, but developments like logging continue to shrink their habitat. We continue to press to save this iconic species. A low carbon future is needed now, and we are pushing to end fossil fuel developments and new pipelines while ensuring that Manitoba’s hydroelectricity is managed in a just way for First Nation communities. 

Please join us in our work! Scroll down to take action; and volunteerdonate, or shop online for eco-gifts, cards and calendars.

Our Campaigns

Two bumblebees on a pink flower
Photo: Chris Bidleman

A specific class of pesticides called neonicotinoids (neonics) are harmful to bees and it’s slowly being recognized and banned, all over the world but Canada still hasn’t banned this harmful pesticide. Bees may be small, but the impact they have on our environment – and our daily lives – is immense.

Caribou are an iconic species, featured prominently on Canada’s 25-cent coin. Boreal woodland caribou are a variety of caribou, related to the caribou living in the north. Boreal caribou live in forests, and travel much shorter distances every year, if at all.

For years, we’ve stood up for a healthy climate in Canada by opposing new fossil fuel infrastructure. But parallel to this fight is to create a vision for the communities we want to live in.

A polar bear walks across ice
Photo: Mike Grandmaison
Studies show over 50 per cent of wildlife species across Canada are experiencing population declines. How can this be happening if we have a federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) that is supposed to protect them?
Healthy freshwater is a provider, both for us and for nature. The plants that we rely on for food and shelter need clean water, animals need water, and freshwater fisheries are a sustaining part of Indigenous peoples. We need clean drinking water for ourselves and use water to keep our households and cities clean and sanitary. The land we live on and care for is filled with freshwater. It is our responsibility to care for it.
To meet our goals and fend off climate disaster we need a plan to protect our precious wilderness, an escalating price on carbon, an end to fossil fuel expansion, and a just transition for workers affected by our new zero-carbon economy. Manitoba can and must lead the charge.

Vast expanses of intact, representative ecosystems in Manitoba provide clean air and clean water. Unfortunately, many of these remaining natural areas are under direct threat from development.

Sunset over a still lake, with forested shores in the background and flowering branches in the foreground
Photo: Mike Grandmaison

When folks think of experiencing the outdoors, their first thought is often parks. Provincial parks in the lands now called Manitoba are home to sparkling lakes, clear rivers, sandy beaches and wild boreal forests.

Peatlands are the world’s largest terrestrial carbon sink, making them one of the greatest climate change mitigation tools available. Mining for peat releases this vast carbon store into the air and stops the area from sequestering new carbon. Mining for peat further affects local water quality, and removes a distinct...

Contact us

Manitoba Office
Unit 2A - 553 St.Mary's Road
Winnipeg, MB
Treaty One Territory, Homeland of the Métis Nation
R2M 3L4

204-942-9292

contactmb@wildernesscommittee.org

Hours: Monday to Thursday, 10am - 4pm. Call our office for an appointment.

Send us a message

See staff

 

Reports & Publications

Join Our Team

WC people

Working for the Wilderness Committee is a rewarding experience, and a chance to make a difference.

See current employment opportunities
Volunteer

Volunteer

Our volunteers are essential to our work. Get great experience, meet like-minded folks and help preserve our Canadian Wilderness!

See current volunteer opportunities

Get Manitoba action alerts