Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I'd like to thank you for this opportunity to present on behalf of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.
We'd like to start by acknowledging the investments that were made in last year's budget to begin addressing conservation needs, in particular for protected areas in the Northwest Territories, species at risk, and for health of the oceans.
I'd like to tell you a little bit about the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. We are Canada's voice for wilderness. We were established in 1963 and we've been instrumental in protecting over 400,000 square kilometres of Canada's most treasured wild places. We operate from 13 chapters that cover nearly every province and territory and we have a strong base of support in our 20,000 supporters across Canada.
Nature is at the core of who we are as Canadians. Our spectacular land and seascapes and their natural riches have shaped our past and our current identity. How we treat Canada's lands and waters and the ecosystems they support will determine our future.
The need for decisive action to implement a conservation vision is more important than ever because of climate change. As the world gathers in Bali, Indonesia, to determine the actions needed on a global scale to combat climate change, we need to recognize that Canada will need to take action on both mitigation and adaptation fronts. There is a strong scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is already harming the health of the earth's ecosystems, which are our planet's life support system.
To ensure the survival of healthy ecosystems in this era of climate change, Canada needs to take immediate and decisive action to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. It's also extremely important that we act now to protect our remaining wilderness. Canada's wilderness is vital to Canadians and to the world as a source of clean air, clean water, and a vast carbon storage reservoir, as well as being a key factor in protecting biodiversity.
Canada needs to follow Australia's example by completing systems of protected areas on land and sea and ensuring that these are linked together as a network by encouraging compatible activities on working landscapes. The federal government needs to lead Canadian action towards this bold nature conservation vision.
Delivering on this vision in Canada will require strong collaboration among the federal government, provincial and territorial governments, first nations, private landholders, and other partners. The federal government has a critical role to play in delivering on conservation priorities within its own jurisdiction and providing leadership among all levels of government and other partners to implement Canada's commitment.
We've identified six key actions that the federal government should take to protect healthy ecosystems in the face of climate change. First of all, we need to include land, ocean, and freshwater wilderness conservation as part of a comprehensive climate change strategy. Second, we need to complete the national parks system and other forms of federal protected areas across Canada, and ensure their connectivity and long-term ecological integrity. The third key action is to protect large ecosystems in Canada's north in advance of industrial development. The fourth is to protect ocean and freshwater ecosystems through better planning and management of human activities. The fifth is to complete Canada's network of marine-protected areas, including national marine conservation areas and marine wildlife areas in all of our oceans and great freshwater lakes. And the sixth key action is to protect and restore habitat for species at risk.
I'm going to just focus on two of these, which are national parks and oceans, in this presentation.
Canada's national parks have been a source of great pride for Canadians for over 120 years. However, our parks system is not yet complete and our existing parks face growing threats to their ecological health.
There is an opportunity for this government to step in and complete the national parks system, an initiative that would be hugely popular with Canadians. However, a funding gap still exists to secure long-term protection for all of our national parks.
On the oceans front, the scientific evidence is conclusive. Globally, marine ecosystems are imperilled and scientists around the world have demonstrated the important benefits of establishing marine-protected areas to protect biodiversity, ensure the resilience of marine systems, and facilitate species' response to climate change.
I'd like to focus on the key financial implications of what we are suggesting and the investment that we believe is required.
We are also a member of the Green Budget Coalition. This is consistent with the recommendations we have developed as part of the coalition for an investment over five years of $851 million, and $212 million thereafter. This includes, on the oceans front, $286 million over five years, with $82 million per year thereafter; and for national parks and other federal protected areas, $565 million over five years, with $130 million per year thereafter.
This funding would produce enormous results in biodiversity conservation in Canada. It would result in 35 new marine protected areas, eight integrated oceans management plans, 11 new national parks, six completed national parks, more effective protection of these treasured ecosystems, and a revitalized system of national wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries.