Good morning. My name is Sue Milburn-Hopwood, I am the acting assistant deputy minister for the Canadian wildlife service. We oversee Environment and Climate Change Canada’s work on biodiversity and manage the department’s protected areas program. Bob McLean, who is with me today, is the director general of assessment and regulatory affairs for the Canadian wildlife service, and until recent organizational changes, he was responsible for the Canadian wildlife service’s work on biodiversity goals and targets, as well as our protected areas program.
Environment and Climate Change Canada is the federal department responsible for coordinating the implementation of the United Nations convention on biodiversity. This responsibility means we led the work to develop the 2020 biodiversity goals and targets that Canada announced in 2015.
Given this role, I'll provide some overall context on behalf of the federal departments represented here today, and then I'll talk about our own protected areas in the department.
I'll begin by describing what the term “protected areas” means, and the rationale for them. A good definition comes from the International Union for the Conservation on Nature, or IUCN. A protected area is a clearly defined geographic space, recognized, dedicated, and managed through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystems, services, and cultural values.
Protected areas are referred to by many names. We have national or provincial parks, we have national wildlife areas, migratory bird sanctuaries, ecological or nature reserves, wilderness areas, community conservation areas, and even ecological gifts. These are the mainstay of biodiversity conservation.
By protecting the natural environment—our “natural capital” so to speak—protected areas contribute to maintaining the ecological services upon which we depend: clean water, protection from natural events such as flooding, and mitigation of the effects of drought. For indigenous communities, protected areas can provide a source of food and a place to sustain traditional practices. At the local level, protected areas can contribute to people’s livelihoods and provide recreational as well as economic opportunities. Finally, and increasingly importantly, they have a role in helping mitigate and adapt to climate change. It has been estimated the global network of protected areas stores at least 15% of terrestrial carbon.
The role and importance of protected areas to conserving biodiversity has been recognized internationally. In October 2010, in Nagoya, Japan, parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity agreed to the strategic plan for biodiversity for 2011-20, and the Aichi targets, as the basis for halting and eventually reversing the loss of the planet’s biodiversity. In February of last year, based on the Aichi targets, Canada adopted the 2020 biodiversity goals and targets for Canada. They describe 19 medium-term results to be achieved through the collective efforts of both public and private partners. Our national targets were developed through engagement with provinces, territories, national indigenous organizations, non-government organizations, and others. These goals and targets are guiding our actions and our investments in many aspects of biodiversity, including the creation of new protected areas.
Consistent with the global target, the Canadian target for protected areas is that “by 2020, at least 17% of terrestrial areas and inland waters, and 10% of coastal and marine areas, are conserved through networks of protected areas or other effected area-based conservation measures”. These targets are for Canada as a whole, and progress will be monitored at the national level.
All levels of government and sectors have important roles to play in conserving biodiversity. Canada’s protected area system includes federal, provincial, territorial, indigenous, and private conservation organizations that aim to create and manage protected areas.
To reach these goals, sustained effort will be needed for Canada to meet the 17% terrestrial target and the 10% marine target by 2020.
For the terrestrial target, Parks Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada are working to develop a road map in collaboration with provinces and territories. Recently, at a Canadian Parks Council meeting with provinces and territories, there was agreement to establish a multi-jurisdictional working group, co-chaired with Alberta, which was tasked with developing that road map by May 2017.
In order to contribute to these conservation targets, some of the departments and agencies in the federal government can create protected areas through various types of legislation, and for different reasons.
At Environment and Climate Change Canada, we focus on protecting key biodiversity areas, places that are important for wildlife, particularly habitat for migratory birds and species at risk. We establish migratory bird sanctuaries under regulations pursuant to the Migratory Birds Convention Act, and we designate national wildlife areas under regulations under the Canada Wildlife Act. Ours is the second-largest protected area system in Canada, encompassing an area of 12.4 million hectares of terrestrial and marine habitat, an area twice the size of Nova Scotia. The Environment and Climate Change Canada system includes 54 national wildlife areas and 92 migratory bird sanctuaries.
As we have colleagues with us today from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Parks Canada Agency, I'll make only brief comments about their protected areas. For its part, DFO focuses on marine ecosystems and species, protecting these under the Oceans Act. The Parks Canada Agency seeks to protect representative examples of Canada’s natural landscapes and seascapes under the National Parks Act or under the National Marine Conservation Areas Act.
Currently 10% of terrestrial areas and inland waters, and 1% of marine and coastal areas, are protected. The federal government manages about half of the area currently protected in Canada. This includes 45% of terrestrial protected areas and 83% of marine protected areas. Other levels of government make up the majority of the remaining protected areas in Canada. For Environment and Climate Change Canada, our current protected areas network accounts for about 25% of the total area of all federal protected areas.
Environment and Climate Change Canada proposes to add two new national wildlife areas over the next two years. We anticipate establishing Scott Islands marine national wildlife area in 2017. The Scott Islands and surrounding waters together make up one of the most productive and biologically diverse marine ecosystems, particularly for seabirds, on the Pacific coast. The ocean waters provide a key foraging area for birds that nest on the islands, and also attract five million to 10 million migratory birds annually as they travel vast distances across the Pacific to feed, including some species that have been identified as being globally at risk. It contains important habitat for several marine mammal species as well. This will be the first marine national wildlife area in Canada. The Scott Islands marine national wildlife area will increase marine protection in Canada by 0.22%.
The second proposed area for establishment in 2017 is the Edéhzhíe national wildlife area in the Northwest Territories. This unique ecosystem is located west of Yellowknife, and is also known as the Horn Plateau. The richness and diversity of the Edéhzhíe has made this area a cultural and spiritual gathering place for the Dehcho and the Tlicho people. The establishment of the Edéhzhíe national wildlife area will protect 15,000 square kilometres of habitat for boreal caribou, migratory birds, and other wildlife.