For Immediate Release
Canada Makes Significant Investment in Nature to Protect 25% of Lands and Ocean by 2025
Toronto, Ontario – Wildlands League commends the federal government for significant investments that will help safeguard Canada’s incredible natural legacy and heritage for generations to come.
With Budget 2021 – A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth and Resilience, Canada commits $3.3 billion over 5 years towards achieving protection of 25% of lands, inland waters and ocean by 2025. The federal commitment includes supporting Indigenous-led conservation and creating thousands of jobs in nature conservation and management.
“Nature has been our refuge and our safe place during the pandemic,” states Janet Sumner, Executive Director. “By taking this important next step, Canada is advancing a greener, healthier future for our kids and grandkids,” Sumner added. “The future will thank us for continuing to make nature conservation a priority and showing leadership on the biodiversity crisis.”
For the second year running, the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked climate and biodiversity-related loss as humanity’s biggest threats to the economy. “The evidence is clear protected areas are the best Nature Based Climate solution we have. We will not achieve a secure climate without investments in nature to safeguard land to sea carbon from disruption and degradation,” stated Sumner.
The costs of extreme weather events, particularly flood have been rising for years as storms have become more frequent and severe. The Insurance Bureau of Canada documents a rise in average losses from $405 million per year from 1983-2008 to $1.8 billion from 2009-2017. “Today’s investments in natural infrastructure set the stage to help species at risk and save on both insurance claims and costly construction for built solutions,” commented Sumner.
“Our task is clear. We will work with this government and all governments, including Indigenous governments, as well as industry partners to deliver 30% protection of Canada by 2030,” Sumner said.
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For more information contact:
Janet Sumner
Executive Director
Wildlands League
416-579-7370
Wildlands League is one of Canada’s pre-eminent conservation organizations, collaborating with communities, governments, Indigenous Peoples, scientists and progressive industry to protect nature and find solutions that work for the planet and for all.
We have been working in the public interest since 1968, imagining the future we need and building the solutions to make it happen. Our vision is to protect at least half of Canada’s land, freshwater and ocean to address both the climate crisis and the collapse of nature.
