Yes, thank you very much.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee. Parks Canada welcomes the commissioner's report and agrees with the recommendations related to Parks Canada.
Parks Canada is the federal agency charged by Parliament through the Parks Canada Agency Act with protecting a network of natural and heritage places that include 46 national parks, 171 national historic sites, four national marine conservation areas, and one national urban park.
Our network of protected areas play an important role in helping communities and the ecosystems they depend on to adapt to and mitigate impacts of climate change by protecting and restoring healthy, resilient ecosystems and contributing to the recovery of species at risk.
Under the Species at Risk Act, Parks Canada is responsible for the protection of individual species found in our heritage places. This accounts for approximately 200 species that occur regularly on our lands and waters and approximately 40% of the species listed under the act. Parks Canada has now completed all 76 recovery strategies and species management plans for which we were the lead agency, including all seven progress reports, meeting all legal requirements in this regard.
Under the Species at Risk Act, an action plan must be prepared following the completion of a recovery strategy. An action plan outlines the activities required to address threats to improve the species' status. Currently the agency has completed 21 multi-species action plans covering 174 species occurring in our places, and priority recovery actions identified in those plans are implemented through the agency's conservation restoration program, which is a rolling fund of $84 million over five years.
In short, national parks and national marine conservation areas are places that play an important role in species and habitat conservation, encouraging research, protecting traditional lands of important indigenous people, and inspiring conservation actions beyond their boundaries. These places have an important role to play in the establishment of a network of connected, protected, and conserved areas, underpinning Canada's international and domestic commitment to protect 17% of its land and fresh water and 10% of its marine areas by 2020—as you know, an objective known as target 1.
Based on the most current data, 10.5% of Canada's land and fresh water is protected by federal, provincial, territorial, and indigenous governments and non-profit and private sector organizations. Of this, Parks Canada currently protects 3.4% through established national parks.
Parks Canada's continued contribution to target 1, in both terrestrial and marine environments, will be pursued through the expansion of its system of national parks and national marine conservation areas protecting natural areas representative of Canada's landscapes. To date, 30 of 39 terrestrial regions are represented and five of 29 marine areas are represented.
It is important to stress here that the basis of Parks Canada's terrestrial and marine systems plan is protection of representative natural areas, which is a key qualitative element of the international Aichi protected area targets of Canada target 1.
On the terrestrial side, Parks Canada is pursuing the establishment of the proposed Thaidene Nëné national park reserve in the Northwest Territories. This park will protect parts of the annual ranges of three barren-ground caribou herds and will ensure that the cultural connection to this place by indigenous peoples will be maintained for generations to come.
As another example, in October 2017, the governments of Canada and British Columbia, along with the leadership of the Okanagan nations, announced the launch of a tripartite process to establish a national park reserve in the south Okanagan.
On the marine side, Parks Canada is pursuing the expansion of its national marine conservation area system, including in the Churchill and Nelson rivers, James Bay, southern Strait of Georgia, and les Iles-de-la-Madeleine.
In August 2017, the governments of Canada and Nunavut and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, signed a historic memorandum of understanding declaring feasible the establishment of a national marine conservation area in Lancaster Sound.
Despite all of our efforts, Canada target 1 will not be achieved by the federal government alone. Over the past 15 months, the pathway to Canada target 1 initiative has succeeded in creating a unique alignment of federal, provincial, and territorial departments responsible for parks and protected areas, along with two national indigenous organizations.
Advice has been received from a national advisory panel, an indigenous circle of experts, and a consensus report from this committee.
In closing, given that the majority of Canada's terrestrial area is crown land, managed by provinces and territories and subject to the terms of treaties, including comprehensive land claim agreements and legal obligations under section 35 of the Constitution Act, reaching target 1 will only be possible if we maintain and broaden the collective momentum established under the pathway initiative.
Thank you.