Canada Target 1. By 2020, at least 17 percent of terrestrial areas and inland water, and 10 percent of coastal and marine areas, are conserved through networks of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures.
About the Target
Canada’s natural spaces are vital to our culture, heritage, well-being, and economy. Conserving Canada’s forests, wetlands, prairies, tundra, oceans, freshwater, and coastal areas contributes to biodiversity conservation, while improving the health of ecosystems. In turn, healthy ecosystems provide benefits such as clean air, clean water, pollination, mitigation of climate change, buffering from extreme weather events, and opportunities for people to connect with nature.
Canada has a long history of protecting nature through the creation of national, provincial, and municipal parks and other conserved areas. Protected and conserved areas include protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures. Protected areas include national/provincial/territorial parks, Indigenous protected areas, national wildlife areas, migratory bird sanctuaries, marine protected areas and some privately-owned protected areas. Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) are areas that may not have biodiversity conservation as their primary objective but are managed in a way that conserves biodiversity over the long term. Creating protected and other conserved areas is key to providing a living, diverse legacy for future generations of Canadians.
Canada Target 1 is linked with the following global Aichi target under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020:
Aichi Target 11 - By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.
2020 Final Assessment
As of the end of 2020, 13.8% of Canada's coastal and marine areas were recognized as conserved through a network of marine protected areas and OECMs, and 12.5% of terrestrial areas and inland water were recognized as conserved through protected areas and OECMs, including 11.7% in protected areas.
Canada has achieved and surpassed its target to conserve 10% of coastal and marine areas by 2020. Building on this success Canada must now turn towards a new target of conserving 25% by 2025 and 30% by 2030 and continue to take action to ensure that Canadians benefit from healthy coastal and marine ecosystems over the long term.
Ecological integrity of national parks Park ecosystems have integrity when their native components, such as native species and biological communities, natural landscapes, and functions, are intact and likely to persist. Representative components of major park ecosystems, such as forests, freshwater, and wetlands, are monitored to determine their condition and trend. As of 2020, the ecological integrity of 82% of national park ecosystems were maintained or improved.
National parks are interlinked with their surrounding ecosystems and are affected by many of the same pressures on the environment. Some of the stressors affecting ecosystems in Canada’s national parks include:
habitat loss and degradation
reduction of landscape connectivity (for example, building of roads and trails)
climate change impacts (for example, increasing temperatures) and climate-mediated ecological changes and cumulative effects (for example, diseases and natural disturbances)
loss of keystone species (for example, wolves or bison)
pollution and contaminants
invasive species
Canada did not meet its target of conserving at least 17% of terrestrial areas and inland water by 2020, however made significant progress. More attention to the conservation of terrestrial areas and inland water is required to ensure that Canada is on track to reach its newer target to conserve 25% of terrestrial areas and inland water by 2025 and 30% by 2030. This work will need to involve all levels of government, Indigenous communities and organizations, conservation partners such as land trusts, and the broader public.
Contributing Actions
Recent significant work to establish terrestrial protected and conserved areas include:
In 2019, the Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve, co-managed between Parks Canada and Indigenous Governments: Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation, Northwest Territory Métis Nation, Deninu Kųę First Nation, and Yellowknives Dene First Nation, along with Thaidene Nëné Wildlife Conservation Area, and the Thaidene Nëné Territorial Protected Area, were designated as an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area by the Łutsël K'é Dene First Nation, adding 26,000 square kilometres of protected area in the Northwest Territories;
In 2019 Kitaskino Nuwenene Wildland Provincial Park added 1,600 square kilometres, of protected area in Alberta and further expanded to over 3,000 square kilometres;
In 2020, St. Marys River Provincial Park added parcels totaling 32 square kilometres in Nova Scotia.
Additional effort is focused on the conservation of coastal and marine areas. Some recent initiatives include:
In 2019 amendments were made to the Oceans Act enabling the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to designate Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) thought the use of a Ministerial order, providing protection to vulnerable areas while further scientific research and consultation take place. The Act was also modernized to align with other environmental legislation in terms of fines, punishments, and enforcement provisions.
In 2019 Fisheries and Oceans Canada established the Tuvaijuittuq Marine Protected Area (MPA). Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Parks Canada had identified the area as a critically important habitat for Arctic under-ice and ice-associated communities. The Ministerial order provides protection for up to 5 years while the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, the Government of Nunavut and the Government of Canada work with Inuit and northern partners to explore the feasibility of longer term protection for this area. This MPA contributed 5.55 percent towards Canada’s marine conservation targets and encompasses an area of 319,411 square kilometres.
In 2019, Canada adopted new protection standards for federal MPAs and other effective area-based conservation measures to better conserve sensitive and important parts of our oceans. That same year, the Laurentian Channel MPA was the first MPA to be established that applied Canada’s new protection standards.
In July 2020, Canada joined the Global Ocean Alliance, which is advocating to protect at least 30 per cent of the world’s oceans through the establishment of MPAs and OECMs by 2030.
Post-2020 Actions
In 2021 Canada allocated $2.3 billion over five years in the Enhanced Nature Legacy initiative building on the 2018 5-year investment of $1.35 billion. As part of these investments Canada is committed to work with provinces, territories, Indigenous Peoples, and other partners to conserve 25% of Canada's lands and 25% oceans by 2025 and 30% of both by 2030.
Work is underway to establish the Central Purcell Mountains Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area in British Columbia; and
Under Budget 2021, the Government of Canada made a historic investment to protect the health of our oceans, including $976.8 million in funding over five years to reach ambitious 2025 marine conservation targets. To reach these targets, Canada will advance efforts to effectively manage existing MPAs and OECMs, establish new MPAs and OECMs, and continue to build upon and foster meaningful partnerships with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous governments, and local communities. As of the spring of 2021 the Natural Heritage Conservation Program (NHCP), administered by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), leveraged an initial $50 million out of the $100 million fund and matched it with more than $107 million in contributions from other sources resulting in more than 419 square kilometres of protected land and fresh water. Some provinces also administer private land conservation programs; for example, through its Greenlands Conservation Partnership initiated in 2021, Ontario is providing $20 million over four years to conservation land trusts, which will be leveraged to at least $50 million.
In 2021 Parks Canada launched an Ecological Corridors program to work with partners and stakeholders to develop guidance and tools that will inspire, enable, and catalyse action for the creation of ecological corridors connecting protected areas.
In 2021-22, DFO began work on the development of a national Framework for the Identification, Establishment, and Management of Ecologically Significant Areas (ESAs). ESAs are a regulatory area-based tool set out in the Fisheries Act that can be used to protect and conserve sensitive, highly productive, rare or unique fish and fish habitat within freshwater, marine and intertidal areas. The Framework will be published in March 2023.