A plan to establish a vast 3,400-kilometre wildlife corridor from Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. to Canada’s Yukon has been named one of the finalists for Prince William’s annual environmental awards. The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) is the first Canadian project to reach this stage in the Protect & Restore Nature category of the 2026 Earthshot Prizes, which features a total of 15 finalists across various categories. Each category winner will receive a £1 million ($1.9 million Cdn) prize during a ceremony in Mumbai in November.
The Earthshot Prize praised Y2Y as a monumental conservation effort that aims to reconnect a vast mountainous landscape spanning Canada and the U.S., enabling wildlife to freely move as they did for centuries. This corridor supports numerous large mammal species like wolves, grizzly bears, wolverines, and endangered mountain caribou, covering an area exceeding 25 million hectares of protected land, slightly larger than the United Kingdom.
Commencing as a collaborative initiative between the U.S. and Canada in 1993, Y2Y has seen significant progress over the years, expanding protected areas within the corridor from nine percent to nearly 18 percent. By working alongside 800 partners, including governments, Indigenous communities, private landowners, and scientists, Y2Y has contributed to the creation of over 200 wildlife road crossings and played a crucial role in reviving the Klinse-Za caribou herd in British Columbia.
Inspired by a wolf named Pluie, whose satellite tracking data revealed extensive travels across multiple states and provinces, Y2Y aims to address the challenges posed by fragmented habitats and facilitate climate-induced migrations for various species. President and chief scientist of the initiative, Jody Hilty, emphasized the importance of thinking at a scale that aligns with nature’s needs to sustain wildlife populations like Pluie.
Despite the financial constraints, Hilty acknowledged that winning the Earthshot Prize would provide invaluable recognition, amplifying the initiative’s message and attracting more support towards their conservation efforts. The Earthshot Prize, established in 2021 to drive environmental innovation and combat climate change, features categories such as Protect & Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-free World, and Fix Our Climate, with awards set to continue until 2030.
