Six great gifts that protect wildlife

From Apr. 5 to 11, 2009, Canadians celebrate National Wildlife Week; a terrific time to share some of your precious donation dollars with an organization that protects and conserves nature. Best of all, your loved ones will appreciate these thoughtful gifts on behalf of the wild world.

Here are six ways to donate to a wildlife-friendly organization and get a great gift:

1. Give a charitable donation in their honour Up to $100 Make a donation in your loved one's name to WWF-Canada's Gifts for a Living Planet program. For $100, you can save a tiger and protect these seriously endangered animals from illegal poaching. Tiger skins look best on tigers, after all. Visit wwf.ca for more great gift ideas.

2. Plant a native tree $10 to $20 Trees that grow naturally in your region attract songbirds better than imported plants, need less watering and chemical fertilizers, and can be just as pretty as imported species. Visit evergreen.ca to find a tree that's appropriate for your gift recipient's garden.

3. Carry an Organic Bird Tote from Roots Canada $38 As one of 44 Canadian retailers participating in the ClickGreener program, Roots Canada will donate 1.5 per cent of the purchase price of anything you buy on their online store to four environmental non-profits: WWF Canada, Tree Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Federation and Carbonfund.org. The bag pictured here is made from 100 per cent organic cotton. Just be sure to start your shopping at clickgreener.com and click through to the Roots website. Other retailers participating in the program include Chapters-Indigo, Budget Rent-a-Car, Northern Reflections, HBC and WestJet.

4. A beautiful animal portrait from $125 Homemakers photographer Jo-Anne McArthur travels the world taking pictures of animals who are not wild -- but perhaps wish they were. Her aim: to educate all about how humans affect our four-legged, feathered or finned neighbours on the planet, from mantas who swim with tourists to circus elephants, working donkeys, and even zoos. Support her animal advocacy work by buying a print at weanimals.org.

5. Read Wild Animals in Captivity by Rob Laidlaw (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2008)$24.45 This children's book, authored by the founder of Zoocheck Canada, assesses the benefits and risks of keeping wild animals in captivity, and directs families to zoos that are committed to protecting animal welfare. Part of the proceeds from the sales of this book fund Zoocheck's campaign for better zoo regulation.

6. Buy art and decorate her home with a gorgeous painting From $195 Dozens of Canadian artists donate to wildlife causes. Arguably, the granddaddy of them all is Wildlife Habitat Canada's Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp & Print program, where you can buy a copy of Lily Pond - Ruddy Ducks by Quebec artist Patricia Pepin.

More great gifts

Keep her ducks in a row From $10 Your gift of these utterly cute duck-head paperclips supports Ducks Unlimited Canada's efforts to conserve wetlands for birds, frogs, and other wildlife.

You might also like: Active By Nature Gardening Set ($34.95) -- a sturdy green cotton canvas bag with 10 pockets and three trowels. Or a 'Get the Duck out of My Kitchen' Apron ($24.95) for cooks who like a distraction-free cooking space. Or try a cotton twill casual dress shirts ($33.95), in sand, white and navy.

Whatever you choose to give, your beloved animal-lover will be grateful that you honour his or her care for the natural world with a thoughtful gift.

Go wild in your own backyard! Find out how to Bring birds and butterflies to your garden.

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