(Ottawa) Approximately 14,000 km2 along the British Columbia coast will add to already protected marine areas in the Great Bear Sea. Conservation efforts will be led by 17 North Pacific Coast First Nations through an agreement with the federal and British Columbia governments.
“This initiative demonstrates what we have known for a long time,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday during a press conference in Vancouver. “Reconciliation, nature protection and economic growth go hand in hand. »
He then shot an arrow at the Conservatives who had just captured the Liberal stronghold of Toronto – St. Paul’s during the by-election held the day before.
“We cannot take the natural beauty of our great country for granted,” he said. Yet this is exactly what happened under the previous Conservative government. They have gutted environmental protection, muzzled scientists and abandoned the existential fight against the climate crisis. We cannot and will not allow this to happen again. »
The Great Bear Sea Permanency Project Funding (PPF) initiative will have a budget of $335 million from both governments and philanthropic organizations. Ottawa allocates 200 million and British Columbia, 60 million. The contribution from philanthropic organizations must reach 75 million.
“Once invested and exploited, this initial capital will bring in more than $750 million over the next 20 years,” said Chief Marilyn Slett, President of the Coastal First Nations.
This money will help protect certain species of endangered whales, corals, salmon and seabirds.
The project is inspired by the Coast Funds established in 2008 to protect the Great Bear Rainforest on the coast. The funds were used to create 1,250 jobs and 120 businesses in conservation, ecotourism and renewable energy, according to its website.
The signing of this new agreement follows the commitment made by Prime Minister Trudeau during the 15e United Nations conference on biodiversity (COP15) in Montreal in 2022. He had promised to finance four conservation initiatives led by Indigenous people, up to 800 million. The Great Bear Sea FPP is the first to come to fruition.
The others are the Qikiqtani permanence, in eastern Nunavut, where the Inuit are on the way to being able to manage nearly a million km2 land and water; the permanence of the Northwest Territories which would make it possible to protect 2.5% of the 30% of territory and marine areas that Canada has committed to protecting by 2030 and the conservation of the traditional lands of the Omushkego Nation which includes the Hudson Bay Lowlands of Ontario and Nunavut as well as a significant portion of the boreal forest.