Question Period Note: Protected and Conserved Areas

Protected and Conserved Areas

• There is a biodiversity crisis in Canada and globally, and we are taking action to address it.
• We have committed to protecting 25% of Canada’s lands and inland waters and 25% of oceans by 2025. And, as member of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People we are advocating for an ambitious target of conserving 30% of the world’s lands and oceans by 2030.
• These targets are significant, and we are committed. We have made historic investments. Most recently, Budget 2021 announced $2.4 billion for nature conservation and more than $900 million for marine conservation.
• Since 2015, Canada has increased its protected terrestrial areas by more than 2%. As of December 2020, 12.5% of lands and inland waters have been protected. On the marine side, Canada has protected 13.8% of our marine and coastal areas.
• Achieving these targets in particular requires partnerships with provinces and territories and Indigenous governments. With these partnerships and strong federal leadership, we will continue to achieve measurable progress.

• In the 2019 Speech from the Throne, the Government of Canada committed to protecting 25% of Canada’s lands and inland waters. The plan for 25% by 2025 is grounded in science, Indigenous knowledge and local perspectives. It builds on the momentum from the 2018 Nature Legacy investments and focuses on key partnerships and collaboration built across the country:

1. Continuing federal leadership in protected areas, including protected areas science and research;
2. Working on Provincial and Territorial engagement;
3. Supporting Indigenous leadership in conservation;
4. Making private sector’s effort contribute to the target; and,
5. Increasing Canadians’ access to nature.
   • Protected and conserved areas are established in close collaboration with Indigenous peoples; provincial, territorial, and municipal governments; non-government organizations; philanthropic foundations and the private sector. Within Canada, lands can be counted towards our protection targets if they are considered a protected area or an Other Effective Conservation Measure (OECM). Both types of conservation action deliver enduring conservation; however, conservation is not necessarily the primary use at a site that is considered an OECM.

• Working with partners is essential in land based conservation efforts as lands available for conservation and protection are under diverse jurisdictions – 70% Provincial and Territorial crown lands, 11% private lands, 6% Indigenous lands, and 1% federal land.

• The Canada Nature Fund is a key part of the 2018 Nature Legacy initiative. It is a $500 million investment to support the efforts of non-federal partners whose commitment is critical to achieving success in nature conservation.

• Canada Nature Fund contributions were matched by philanthropic foundations, corporations, not-for-profits, provinces, territories and other partners.

• New protected and conserved areas established under the Nature Legacy include:

o Edéhzhíe Dehcho Protected Area and future National Wildlife Area in the Northwest Territories - the first Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) in Canada created under Nature Legacy;
o The first area recognized as an ‘Other Effective area-based Conservation Measure’ in Canada, on a military base in Shilo, Manitoba; and,
o Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve, Thaidene Nëné Wildlife Conservation Area and Thaidene Nëné Territorial Protected Area - designated as a whole as an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area by the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation.
• Canada is also leveraging existing long-standing programs that have contributed to private lands protection across Canada for decades, helping us get to where we are today and providing important opportunities for individual landowners to engage in biodiversity and nature protection. For example, since 1986 under the auspices of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan over 9.4 million hectares of wetlands and associated upland habitat have been secured in Canada.

Marine
• The Prime Minister mandated the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to introduce a new ambitious plan to conserve 25% of Canada’s oceans by 2025, working toward 30% by 2030, to be grounded in science, Indigenous knowledge and local perspectives.

• The responsibility for the network is shared among three federal departments and agencies with mandated responsibilities to establish and manage marine protected areas – Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Parks Canada Agency and Environment and Climate Change Canada.

• The Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and Minister responsible for the Parks Canada Agency has the authority to establish National Marine Conservation Areas (NMCAs) under the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act, National Wildlife Areas and Protected Marine Areas under the Canada Wildlife Act and Migratory Bird Sanctuaries under the Migratory Birds Convention Act.

• ECCC’s current protected areas system includes approximately 31 170 km2 (0.54%) of Canada’s marine habitat, with approximately 42% of its 147 protected areas having a marine component and up to 53% of its protected areas either have a marine component or are adjacent to the intertidal zone and heavily connected to the marine environment.

None