Environment committee  No. For example, if one were thinking about wetland restoration, the national wetland conservation fund, it would be restoring the habitat capacity of those wetlands.

Environment committee  Yes. Moose and deer, for example, would prefer early successional habitat, as distinct from caribou.

Environment committee  Yes, that's correct, and it speaks to the importance of scale that I drew attention to earlier. If there are, say, forestry operations here, is habitat being restored some place else in, say, that boreal caribou range?

Environment committee  Boreal caribou and woodland caribou in general have a fundamentally different predator aversion strategy compared to moose and deer.

Environment committee  Yes, that's correct in the context of one of the local populations that Alberta is actively managing. They were able to demonstrate an increase in the population of caribou through that particular population management technique.

Environment committee  It is fresh money for new activities. The national conservation plan included the $50 million for the wetlands conservation fund that we mentioned already, and an additional $50 million for the habitat stewardship fund and the aboriginal fund for species at risk. What we've done

Environment committee  The Nature Conservancy is the recipient of the $22.5 million for the program called the natural areas conservation program.

Environment committee  The numbers that I relayed to you a moment ago relate to five-year totals. The $252 million is the five-year total.

Environment committee  It's in the other programs that I just mentioned. The natural areas program is highlighted because it's a grant. Most of the rest of the funding is flowed through contributions, and that's where the bulk of it would be—the habitat stewardship program, aboriginal funds—

Environment committee  I'd want to look at the line item to make sure that I'm answering your question correctly.

Environment committee  It's the willingness of the landowner. If the landowner buys in, it's almost a certainty we're going to get the result. The real key is to monitor those agreements, because when landownership changes, one might get a different land management philosophy, and then I think it's imp

Environment committee  It's okay, you can call me Bob for sure.

Environment committee  That's a very generous—I'm sure too generous—comment, but thank you very much. I appreciate that. I think it's a multipronged approach. With respect to habitat, just as with biodiversity itself, it's important to keep a diversity of tools to achieve the outcomes. I think governm

Environment committee  There are a few other projects I didn't mention previously. The Squamish River Watershed Society is implementing a Squamish central estuary wetland restoration project. That's in B.C., on the Pacific coast. We've already mentioned the North American waterfowl management plan. T

Environment committee  Thank you for your question and I'll take a stab at it. I think it is about the fundamental question around biodiversity conservation and in some ways my answer—and I hope it doesn't get too technical—relates a little to earlier questioning around climate change. I was respon