On the terrestrial protected areas, Nova Scotia is currently ranked third in Canada, while the other Atlantic provinces are at the back of the pack on protected areas in terms of total percentages. What are the reasons for that?
What I highlighted in my opening remarks is that there are three main reasons. One is that there is clear legislation that says this target will be met by this time and that there is an accountability measure on that. That's really important. The real-life experience from Nova Scotia was that as successive governments changed through time, the legislation stayed the same.
Number two is systematic conservation planning versus a site-by-site approach. If you're doing one site at a time, it's going to take you forever to reach your targets. Use the proper science, use traditional ecological knowledge, select the areas as batches, and ensure that you meet your targets.
The third one is collaboration very early on in the process. Bring in people, start to build a consensus, make sure you talk to everybody who has a stake and an interest in the conservation. Doing that might take a little longer to get things started, but overall, with implementation and getting support for the final plan, there's a much greater chance of success.