Canada, with its vast areas of land and abundance of resources, is home to many unique and complex habits that are home to a number of important species. Environmental policies play a key role in the survival of many endangered plant and animal species and guide conservation efforts in Ontario. In order to protect endangered species and conserve their habitats, government officials must place greater emphasis on creating effective policies that address the problems at their root and help address key issues such as habitat loss, pollution and human interaction with these species and their environment. The terms at risk and endangered species have a very similar definition and will therefore be used interchangeably. The following is Parks Canada's (2009) definition of species at risk: “Species at risk are in danger of extinction (vanishing from the world) like dinosaurs or extirpation (missing from a certain part of the world) like dinosaurs . wolf in Nova Scotia. Species at risk are usually at risk due to environmental or human-induced changes to them or their habitat on a local, regional or global scale.” Some of the various animal species at risk were discussed in class, but plant species and smaller autotrophic organisms were not detailed and will therefore be excluded for the purposes of this document, although many of these species are as important as animal species. This essay will examine the many problems these animals face in trying to survive. Habitat loss, pollution, and human interactions (humans encroaching on their habitat) are among the most pressing issues facing wildlife species such as the American badger, barn owl, and wood tortoise, and as the Commissioner for the Environment... in the middle of paper......Softshell. Species at risk. http://www.rom.on.ca/ontario/risk.php?doc_type=fact&id=97&lang=en Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. (2008a). Snuffbox. Species at risk. http://www.rom.on.ca/ontario/risk.php?doc_type=fact&id=284&lang=en Parks Canada. (2009). Definition of "species at risk". Retrieved from http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ns/cbreton/natcul/natcul1/d/i.aspx Parks Canada. (2010). Learning about the "big bad wolf": conserving the eastern wolf population in La Mauricie National Park. Species at risk Successful recovery stories. http://www.pc.gc.ca/nature/eep-sar/itm11/itm11e.aspxVenter, O., Brodeur, N., Nemiroff, L., Belland, B., Dolinsek, I., Grant, J (2006). Threats to endangered species in Canada. BioScience, 56(11), 903-910.World Wildlife Fund (WWF). (2013). Threat overview and impact. In the Pollution section. http://worldwildlife.org/threats/pollution