Deputy Minister transition binder 2023: Nature

Purpose

To provide you with an overview of:

  1. The State of Nature / Biodiversity in Canada.
  2. ECCC’s key responsibilities on nature and the tools at the department’s disposal.
  3. Key challenges and opportunities – short-term and long-term.

Nature is important

Biodiversity is the variety of life on earth, including genes, species and ecosystems.

Canada’s biodiversity in numbers

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Graphic with seven circles, each of which highlights a fact about Canadian biodiversity, including that Canada is home to 28% of the world’s boreal forest, 20% of the world’s freshwater, 37% of the world’s lakes, 465 species of birds, the world’s longest coastline, 25% of the world’s temperate rain forest, and 24% of the world’s wetlands.

Canadians care about nature

Sources: Polling by Abacus Data, Pollara Strategic Insights and Quorus Consulting Group between 2019 and 2021.

But nature is in serious trouble

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  • Graph that shows population decline in North American bird populations since 1970. 3 billion birds have been lost over the last 50 years (meaning there are 1/3 less birds in the sky compared to 1970).
  • A map of Canada highlighting some stressors that are affecting nature. In the west, invasive mountain pine beetle and declining important species (salmon) are mentioned with corresponding photos. In Prairies, native grassland loss is listed with a photo of a bird perched on a reed. In the North, ecosystem fragmentation is listed with a photo of barren-ground caribou. In addition, there is a photo of icebergs in the sea labelled as “sea ice loss”. In Central to Eastern Canada, there is a photo of what appears to be northern snakeheads labelled as “invasive alien species”, and a second photo of a wetland with the label “coastal wetland loss”. Along the East Coast, there is a marine photo with the title “ocean acidification”.

Why are we losing nature?

Five main drivers of change in nature

The five main drivers of change in nature in rank order (from highest to lowest):

  • changes in land and sea use
  • direct exploitation of organisms
  • climate change
  • pollution
  • invasion of alien species

Biodiversity is a shared responsibility

Federal government Provinces, territories and municipalities Indigenous governments Landowners/managers, ENGOs
  • Oceans, the North, federal lands, including First Nation lands.
  • Migratory birds, aquatic species, listed species at risk.
  • International negotiations.
  • International and interprovincial trade.
  • Key ECCC partners are: Parks Canada, DFO, NRCan, AAFC, IAAC.
  • Non-federal lands and some marine areas, most terrestrial species, wildlife management, natural resource development, and land-use planning.
  • Opportunities to expand Indigenous leadership in conservation, especially where there are self government agreements in place.
  • Stewardship on private lands and provincial crown lands.

ECCC mandate focuses on conserving species and spaces

Tools to conserve nature

Collaboration and influence

Partnerships with federal departments, PTs, Indigenous organizations, non-governmental organizations, the private and philanthropic sectors and academia are key.

Science and Indigenous knowledge underpin all of ECCC’s conservation work.

Biodiversity policy: Global momentum, domestic implications

ECCC’s role: Lead work with Canadian and international partners to conserve nature domestically and abroad, including under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

Considerations/challenges:

Priorities include:

  • Implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework. First step - development of a comprehensive national biodiversity strategy and action plan to 2030.
  • Ensuring sustainable wildlife trade.

Current focus:

Summer 2022

  • Roundtables on Halting and Reversing Biodiversity Loss

Fall 2022

  • COP 15, December 7-19, Montreal

Spring 2023

  • Symposium & Thematic Engagement Events

Summer/Fall 2023

  • Drafting Plan & Engaging Experts

Winter/Spring 2024

  • Review & Revise Plan

Spring/Fall 2024

  • Approval & Implementation

Protected and conserved areas

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Map of Canada highlighting all terrestrial protected areas, terrestrial areas conserved with other measures, marine protected areas, and marine refuges. This graphic emphasizes that the Queen Maud Gulf (Ahiak) Migratory Bird Sanctuary is larger than Nova Scotia.

Issue: Canada committed to more than doubling the size of its protected areas by 2030.

ECCC’s role:

Considerations/challenges:

Recent focus:

Priorities include:

  • Advancing up to 4 Project Finance for Permanence initiatives​
  • Securing Nunavut Land Use Plan Agreement

Migratory birds

Issue: One-third of all migratory birds (~3 billion) have been lost over the past 50 years. 78% of migratory bird species spend at least half of the year outside of Canada.

ECCC’s role: Exclusive responsibility for migratory birds in Canada. The Migratory Birds Convention Act, enacted in 1917, is more than 50 years older than ECCC itself.

Considerations/Challenges:

Recent focus: Close, treaty-based cooperation with the U.S.A. International collaboration to address shared threats. A regulatory modernization effort is underway and there are compliance challenges for industry.

Priorities include:

  • *Redacted*

Species at risk

Issue: Indigenous groups and ENGOs petitioning for federal intervention through SARA’s regulatory tools due to perceived provincial inaction or weak provincial legislation. Increasing legal risk for the federal government.

ECCC’s role: Overall implementation of the Act; exercising regulatory authorities and implementing conservation measures for the recovery and protection of species at risk (SAR) and their habitat.

Considerations/challenges:

Recent focus: Implementing Pan-Canadian Approach to Transforming SAR Conservation in Canada providing focused efforts to priority species and spaces using a stewardship approach to achieve biodiversity outcomes. Successful court decisions reaffirming the Minister’s authority to take action on non-federal lands.

Priorities include:

  • Securing the protection of several species on provincial lands.
  • Approaches to compensation related to protecting critical habitat in Quebec.

Nature agreements

Additional context

Nature Agreements intended to support and seek commitments from provinces and territories to help achieve key federal conservation goals, notably:

Canada-Yukon Nature Agreement signed (Dec 2022).

Priorities include:

  • Active negotiations underway with British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Northwest Territories.
  • Seeking to enter or resume discussions/negotiations with several other jurisdictions in the coming months.

Fighting biodiversity loss and climate change

Issue: The dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss need to be tackled together.

ECCC’s role: Working with other federal departments (AAFC, NRCan) to advance actions on natural climate solutions that provide benefits for biodiversity and human well-being.

Considerations/challenges:

Recent focus: Implementation of 10 year ($1.411B) Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund and supporting 2 billion trees initiative (habitat restoration).

Priorities include:

  • Delivering on the natural climate solutions initiatives.

Opportunities moving forward

Moving forward, potential areas of progress and collaboration in nature protection are multiple.

 

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