$90 million invested to boost the Natural Heritage Conservation Program
Dec. 16, 2022
Global Korean Post
Canada is currently welcoming the world to Montréal for the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). COP15 presents an opportunity for Canada to show its leadership, along with international partners, in taking actions to conserve nature and halt biological diversity loss around the world, and the Natural Heritage Conservation Program is a flagship example.
Conserving and restoring nature is vital to the health and well-being of Canadians, to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, and to mitigating and adapting to climate change. Canada’s network of protected and conserved areas plays a vital role in restoring healthy, resilient ecosystems and contributing to the recovery of species at risk.
On Dec. 13, Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced that the Government of Canada is investing up to $90 million over three years to extend the Natural Heritage Conservation Program (NHCP). This investment will secure an additional 180,000 hectares of ecologically-sensitive land and establish new protected and conserved areas across the country.
This additional investment to the Natural Heritage Conservation Program will be managed through agreements with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and Wildlife Habitat Canada, on behalf of local and regional land trusts across the country. For every dollar of federal funding, the program will match a minimum of $1.50 from non-federal sources, including in-kind matching, such as land donations from private landowners and corporations. The announcement leverages at least $225 million in total funding to further pursue Canada’s goal of protecting 30 percent of land and water by 2030.
A prime example of this came earlier this year when the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), in collaboration with forestry company Domtar and supporters from around the world, rallied to protect globally significant forest and wetlands. Together they landed the largest private land conservation agreement in Canadian history to conserve more than 1,500 square kilometres (twice the size of Toronto). This included 100 lakes and 1,300 kilometres of rivers, streams and shoreline, known as the Hearst Forest in Northern Ontario.
Since 2007, Canadian land trusts have conserved more than 700,000 hectares—an area bigger than the province of Prince Edward Island. This ecologically-sensitive land includes grasslands, forests, lakes, and wetlands. It is in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments, partners, and Indigenous peoples that the Government of Canada can work toward halting and reversing nature loss by 2030 and to achieve a full recovery for nature by 2050
