Urban awareness and attitudes toward conservation: A first look at Canada's cities

•Urban Canadians have little awareness of conservation policy.•Urban Canadians have little awareness of endangered species.•Urban Canadians do not feel personally responsible for the protection of urban biodiversity.•Urban Canadians support federal government involvement in the protection of urban biodiversity.

Biodiversity loss is a global issue that has more recently been brought to the forefront of local governments with the aid of the 2008 Bonn Call-for-Action. However, species at risk conservation continues to receive little attention at the local level even though urbanization is primarily responsible for habitat destruction in developed countries. This paper illustrates that urban residents lack awareness of policy and endangered species based on 900 survey responses from Toronto and Vancouver residents. Additionally, this study finds that urbanities feel very little responsibility for conservation as compared to other actors like farmers and the federal government. To address the lack of awareness and bolster positive attitudes toward urban conservation the paper argues municipal governments should create eco-literacy programs and link biodiversity conservation into already existing climate action plans or green strategies.