Evidence of meeting #15 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was protected.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Ben Chalmers Vice-President, Sustainable Development, Mining Association of Canada
I'd be happy to come back on the 17th.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
What about the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement? We have Mr. O'Carroll, and we have Ms. Lisgo on the video conference. What about the two of you?
Aran O'Carroll Executive Director, Secretariat, Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement
Madam Chair, we'd be happy to come back.
Kimberly Lisgo Conservation Planning Team Lead, Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement
Yes, that's fine.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
The Forest Products Association of Canada, Ms. Lindsay, you're on the video conference, too.
Kate Lindsay Director, Conservation Biology, Forest Products Association of Canada
Yes, I'm prepared to come back on the 17th.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
It's definitely not ideal. It's the best we could do after we found out the situation this morning, to try to poll people to see if they could work with us on it.
How about we call the vote for the motion?
Just to make it clear, Mr. Gerretsen, I understand your motion is to make the 17th a witness day, and then we'll have drafting instructions in the fall.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
Those who are going to come back, thank you so much for your patience and we look forward to seeing you on the 17th.
We have two witnesses who are with us today from Nature Canada. They are Alex MacDonald, senior conservation manager, and Eleanor Fast, executive director.
We also have, from Ducks Unlimited, James Brennan, director of government affairs, and Mark Gloutney, director of regional operations. We'll open the floor to you.
Just to let everybody know, at a quarter to one I'm going to stop the meeting because it has been made clear there is some committee business that's going to come forward today. Thank you.
Who would like to go first?
Go ahead, Mr. Brennan.
James Brennan Director, Government Affairs, Ducks Unlimited Canada
Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee, for inviting Ducks Unlimited Canada to contribute to the committee's study on federal protected areas and conservation objectives.
Ducks Unlimited Canada is very happy to be here today in its role as the leader in wetland conservation in Canada, as well as in its role as a key partner in the management of several federal protected areas that rely on healthy wetlands.
My name is Jim Brennan. I am director of government affairs for Ducks Unlimited Canada. I'm also the co-chair of the Green Budget Coalition. Joining me today is Dr. Mark Gloutney, director of regional operations for the eastern region of Canada.
We're pleased to provide you with a brief leave-behind PowerPoint presentation that provides you with a greater level of detail. I invite you to review this document at your convenience, and send us any comments or questions, should they arise.
Our mission at Ducks Unlimited Canada is to conserve, restore, and manage wetlands and associated habitats for North America's waterfowl. By focusing on habitat conservation, we're also able to preserve and restore wetlands for their life-sustaining functions for Canadian society.
Some of you may already know that Canada is home to almost one-quarter of the world’s wetlands. These wetlands provide Canadians with critical ecosystem services, including carbon capture and storage, water filtration services, flood attenuation, and green jobs, to name a few. Despite the clear economic and ecological values provided by wetlands, 70% have already been lost or degraded within settled areas of this country.
Surprisingly the loss continues as we are losing more than 29,000 acres of wetlands each and every year. Despite the work of organizations like Ducks Unlimited Canada, who have conserved and restored millions of acres of habitat, governments and conservation organizations cannot keep pace with this rate of habitat destruction.
Today we wish to raise three priorities with you. First is investing in the management of existing national wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries. Second is finalizing the accounting guidelines for the conservation activities across Canada, so they may fully contribute to our national inventory of conserved lands, and third is supporting land-use planning initiatives, in which many indigenous peoples and environmental groups are actively engaged to advance the protection of large areas of ecological and social significance.
I will now hand the mic over to my colleague, Dr. Mark Gloutney, who will outline his experience with NWAs.
Mark Gloutney Director, Regional Operations, Eastern Region, Ducks Unlimited Canada
Madam Chair and members of the committee, Ducks Unlimited Canada has been working to restore wetlands on 19 of the 54 national wildlife areas in Canada.
This partnership extends back to the beginning of the national wildlife area program where the federal government secured lands, and Ducks Unlimited invested in the restoration of the wetlands on the properties.
Since Ducks Unlimited started working on national wildlife areas in the 1970s, we have restored 20,000 acres and have invested $15 million on those properties. The results have been healthy, functional wetlands, where people can enjoy these critical habitats and where a multitude of waterfowl, amphibians, birds, and fish make their homes.
We also note that these wetlands are important components of successful species at risk recovery strategies. Restoration often involves built infrastructure, like dikes and water control structures. These all have finite lives. This infrastructure is in serious need of new investments.
Ducks Unlimited has been doing its part with investments of over $1 million last year alone in Ontario's national wildlife areas, but more is needed. Where the maintenance of wetland functions are core to the value of a national wildlife area, a failure to invest in the infrastructure will mean a failure of the protected area to meet its conservation objectives, and would also raise liability issues for the federal government and for Ducks Unlimited.
Ducks Unlimited supports the active management of national wildlife areas in those areas that are of highest priority for waterfowl populations and under the highest threats.
The Green Budget Coalition, a group of 20 non-government organizations who yearly compile recommendations for the federal budget, had submitted two recommendations in 2016 for federal efforts related to protected areas.
Ducks Unlimited Canada contributed significantly to these recommendations, and recommended $30 million be dedicated annually to better manage national wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries.
As the committee studies what is needed to expand protection of Canadian lands and waters, we urge you to consider the allocation of adequate funding for the management of the whole network, especially national wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries.
Director, Government Affairs, Ducks Unlimited Canada
Thank you, Mark.
The second recommendation we would like to make is related to the way in which certain areas are accounted for in the current protected area inventory.
We have secured long-term protection on over 500,000 acres via fee-simple purchase or permanent conservation easements. However, based on the current guidelines, most of the lands we secure do not satisfy the criteria for permanent protection and inclusion in Canada’s protected areas inventory.
The federal government has already recognized the value of private lands conservation measures by funding programs such as the natural areas conservation program and the national wetlands conservation funds, which are due to sunset in 2019. It has also allocated modest amounts of funding to start the process to fully capture and track all of Canada’s natural heritage assets on private land.
As guidelines for protected areas accounting are being updated at the international and national levels, we recommend that the government continue to advance its national inventory of conservation measures. This complete baseline of national conservation measures will be essential to inform how the federal government develops a strategic road map to meet and exceed protection targets, in collaboration with provinces, territories, indigenous peoples, and other conservation partners.
The third and final point we would like to raise with the committee is the need to act now where opportunities present themselves.
In the Northwest Territories protected areas strategy, for example, protection is proposed for wetlands that are key breeding habitats for waterfowl populations that migrate across the continent. We strongly encourage the federal government to play a leadership role where such strategic land-use planning initiatives exist. Increased support to indigenous people and their partners would enable the more efficient identification of areas to be protected, the facilitation of fair negotiation processes, and the designation of these areas by federal or local tools.
As part of conservation planning efforts, we will need support to complete the Canadian wetland inventory, as there is no complete mapping of wetlands on the Canadian landscape to consistently inform land-use decisions. Wetlands should also be added to Natural Resources Canada's national terrestrial monitoring framework, so that we can better understand and monitor landscape change as it pertains to wetlands.
Another way to easily expand the protected areas network is to enable the Canadian Wildlife Service to secure lands adjacent to existing NWAs and MBSs as they become available. Currently, funds have been set aside under the national areas conservation plan, but the CWS does not have a mechanism to swiftly deploy these funds to hold biodiversity hot spots for migratory birds and species at risk near existing NWAs and MBSs.
We propose that the committee and government should examine how lands can be acquired under permanent protection through streamlined processes.
We thank you for the opportunity to speak today and highlight these issues of importance to Ducks Unlimited. We hope to have the opportunity to meet again to discuss strategies for the expansion of the protected areas network in Canada, as well as the role of wetland ecological services for Canadians.
Eleanor Fast Executive Director, Nature Canada
Thank you, Madam Chair, committee members.
Thank you for inviting Nature Canada to speak to the committee. It's an honour to be here. My name is Eleanor Fast, and I am executive director of Nature Canada. I'm joined here today by my colleague Alex MacDonald, senior conservation manager.
Nature Canada is the oldest national conservation charity in Canada. Since our founding is 1939, we've been working to protect habitats and the species that depend on them, as well as connecting Canadians to nature. Nature Canada is the national voice for nature, representing 45,000 members and supporters and a network of provincial and local nature organizations across Canada.
We are thrilled that the committee is undertaking this study on protected areas. Canada has a rich natural resource of forests, freshwater and marine habitats, and grasslands that make a significant contribution to the world's ecosystem services. Many of Canada's wild spaces remain intact and to some degree connected at the landscape level, but action must be swift in order to conserve this biodiversity for generations to come.
One component of this protection must be the designation of areas protected for biodiversity, for wildlife conservation, given the threatened status of many species and the still poorly understood impacts of climate change on wildlife populations.
Canada urgently needs a comprehensive implementation strategy for protected areas in order to achieve the Aichi targets and to arrive at a long-term vision. To reach our Aichi target goals of protecting 17% of Canada's land and 10% of our oceans by 2020, the federal government, provincial and territorial governments, indigenous governments, industry, and civil society must work hand in hand. The federal government has an important leadership and coordination role to play.
In the written brief that Nature Canada submitted, we have outlined five specific recommendations for the committee to consider. In the interests of time, I'm going to focus my remarks on the first two recommendations, but Alex and I are happy to take questions on any of them.
Nature Canada's first recommendation is to ramp up efforts to establish new, and expand existing, national wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries.
Environment and Climate Change Canada's Canadian Wildlife Service manages a network of over 12 million hectares of federally protected areas for wildlife conservation—the national wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries. These areas are there to protect wildlife populations, particularly migratory birds and species at risk. They are often overlooked as protected areas, but they are important and currently comprise about 11% of terrestrial and marine protected areas, second only to Parks Canada, and they encompass more marine areas than the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' marine protected areas.
The network of national wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries suffers from a low profile and significant threats to ecological integrity. The network is underfunded. Currently it receives about a dollar per hectare for the entire program and just 25¢ per hectare for site maintenance.
In the Green Budget Coalition's recommendations for the 2016 budget, $3 million was recommended to create three new national wildlife areas, and $10 million for management of existing sites, ramping up to $30 million annually by 2019. However, funding for new national wildlife areas was absent from the federal budget, even though relatively modest sums could make a huge impact.
As well as being relatively inexpensive, national wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries are easier to create than national parks and offer more management flexibility, making them appealing in meeting the 2020 timeline of the Aichi targets.
Nature Canada and our partners have done significant work in identifying sites most in need of protection as national wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries. With partners, we have recognized 600 important bird and biodiversity areas, IBAs, across Canada's diverse landscapes. We've built a comprehensive database, developed many site conservation plans, and developed a network of hundreds of volunteer stewards who conserve IBAs.
These sites provide a template for the expansion of national wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries, and Nature Canada and our partners are ready to work with the federal government to help reach the Aichi targets and the long-term vision that is needed beyond that.
The second recommendation that we would like to make is simply to stop losing protected areas. Given Canada's commitment to the Aichi targets, transferring ecologically sensitive habitat that currently enjoys some protection into private hands without binding rules to protect ecological integrity simply does not make sense, yet the Government of Canada is currently in the process of transferring 700,000 hectares of native grasslands in 62 community pastures formerly managed by the prairie farm rehabilitation administration, or PFRA. The government is transferring them to the Government of Saskatchewan, which has stated that it intends to sell these lands once transferred.
Temperate grasslands are among the most endangered ecosystems in Canada and globally, and the federal community pasture program invested hundreds of millions of dollars over 80 years to restore and manage more than a million hectares of native grasslands. These community pastures are home to some of the highest concentrations of species at risk on the continent and 31 federally listed species at risk. This is an urgent issue, as many of these community pastures are scheduled to be transferred in 2017. Nature Canada recommends a pause while a strategy to protect these habitats and species at risk is developed.
That outlines the first two recommendations that we made in the brief. The other recommendations are these.
Recommendation three is to ensure that the Parks Canada Agency and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have sufficient resources to meet their objectives for establishing new and expanded national parks, national marine conservation areas, and marine protected areas.
Recommendation four is to negotiate the establishment of new protected areas with indigenous governments as part of the nation-to-nation process that the federal government is committed to.
Recommendation five is to demonstrate federal leadership on the use of Aichi target 11, “other effective area-based conservation measures”, to protect important terrestrial and marine ecosystems in concert with the indigenous and local governments, private landowners, and non-governmental organizations responsible for their stewardship and management.
More details on these recommendations can be found in the written brief that Nature Canada submitted.
Thank you, again, for giving Nature Canada the opportunity to speak to the committee. Alex and I look forward to your questions.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
Thank you so much. We will move right to questions.
Mr. Shields, you are up first.
Conservative
Martin Shields Conservative Bow River, AB
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Brennan, you mentioned $30 million and active management. What would that look like?
Director, Government Affairs, Ducks Unlimited Canada
Active management, for us, is generally focused on building a strong plan for a protected area. Perhaps Mark could speak to some of the work that we have done.
Conservative
Martin Shields Conservative Bow River, AB
“Active management” sounds like more than a plan to me. Something on paper is not active. When you say “active”, I am looking for where the action is.
Director, Regional Operations, Eastern Region, Ducks Unlimited Canada
The action is really about maintaining the ecological integrity that exists within the national wildlife area. Are there pieces of infrastructure, like dikes and water-control structures, that need to be rebuilt? Are there grasslands that need to be managed to enhance and maintain their biodiversity? It is really about supporting the active work that happens within the boundaries of the national wildlife area.
Conservative
Martin Shields Conservative Bow River, AB
Are you talking about an extension of what you already do, nothing different?
Director, Regional Operations, Eastern Region, Ducks Unlimited Canada
It is extending what we are doing and then adding in some of the other activities that we could do to help with recovery strategies for species at risk, for example. Many of those strategies are pretty new. It's adding value within the national wildlife area system.
