In December, the world agreed on a plan to protect and restore the natural world on a planetary scale. The resulting Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (MBF) leaves us with a choice: will this agreement be a catalyst for action in favor of nature or will it mark its collapse? ?
In 2010, the world adopted similar targets1. Once due, in 2020, none had been reached. In the meantime, our grasslands have continued to wither, our wetlands have continued to shrink, and support for conservation work has failed to keep pace with nature’s decline. This time we simply cannot afford to fail.
The disappearance of species and natural habitats that are dear to us affects the whole of society, threatening food crops, water supplies and the air we breathe. The decline of the natural world affects us all, and its recovery affects us equally.
To ensure we achieve our goals this time around, and in particular the goal of conserving 30% of our country’s land and water by 2030, we need to work together and collectively measure our success. All of society must come together to protect the natural world.
This spirit of collaboration is already producing results. Last month, efforts by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) to broker and fund an agreement between NCC, Interfor and the Province of British Columbia resulted in the protection of 75,000 hectares of rare inland temperate rainforest in the valley. of the Incomappleux River. This monumental achievement in favor of nature would not have been possible without bonds of trust and collaboration between different sectors.
The Incomappleux River Valley project is the latest in a series of victories for the conservation of natural environments in Canada over the past year. These victories also include the Terres boréales projects (Ontario)2the largest conservation project in Canadian history, Kenauk (Quebec)3which will be the site of an open-air laboratory intended to study the effects of climate change among other projects.
For each of these recent projects, NCC has mobilized its scientific expertise, its creativity to strike agreements, its relationships and its funding to collaborate with governments, industry and Indigenous communities to offer effective solutions to support nature. . Together, these accomplishments have made it possible to protect an area almost five times the size of the island of Montreal.
Redouble your efforts
That said, these successes are still not enough.
We must immediately and urgently redouble our efforts, because the objective of keeping 30% of the territory is not an arbitrary figure. This is what scientists believe is the minimum necessary to halt nature’s decline and protect the ecological processes on which we depend.
NCC has its own plan to double the impact of its work by 2030, but we all need to get on with it to ensure a future that’s respectful of nature.
Currently, just under 14% of Canada’s territory is protected. To more than double this area, large contributions are needed from all sectors. Governments alone cannot bring about the sweeping changes that nature demands.
We can find conservation solutions. Governments, industry and landowners can protect pristine natural environments through OECMs (other effective area-based conservation measures); with sufficient resources, indigenous communities who have looked after their territories for millennia can create IPCAs (Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas); and forestry and other resource companies may be given incentives to relinquish their tenures, as was the case with the Incomappleux River Valley project.
The tools at our disposal to conserve nature in Canada are many and varied, and each deserves to be explored. We must promote them and allocate sufficient resources to them. They must be used by private sector land managers, supported by governments and adequately funded. Most importantly, they must be used in an atmosphere of fairness, respect and inclusion.
Only through a whole-of-society approach can we maintain, restore and enhance the resilience of all ecosystems.
Nature has always ensured our survival. Today, its future depends on us.