The Natural Heritage Conservation Program
The Natural Heritage Conservation Program (NHCP) is a national program that establishes new protected and conserved areas by working with partners across Canada to secure ecologically sensitive private lands and private interests in lands.
This investment in nature is an important step in achieving Canada’s target of conserving a quarter of its lands and oceans by 2025, working towards conserving 30 % by 2030. It is also a vital contribution to meeting our commitment to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030 and achieve full recovery for nature by 2050.
The Natural Heritage Conservation Program’s Objectives
The Natural Heritage Conservation Program focuses on two objectives:
- Contribute to protecting 25 per cent of Canada’s lands and inland waters by 2025 and working towards 30 per cent by 2030; and
- Contribute to strengthening protection and recovery of species at risk and their habitats.
In addition to protecting biodiversity, protected areas also play an important role in supporting society through the goods and services they provide, including for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Protecting ecologically sensitive land and species: A success story still being written
To date, the Government of Canada has invested more than $440 million in the Natural Heritage Conservation ProgramFootnote 1 , with matching contributions of $870 million raised by Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the country’s land trust community.
By working with our partners, the NHCP has so far protected more than 700,000 hectares, an area bigger than the province of Prince Edward Island, of ecologically sensitive lands which act as habitat for more than 200 species listed under the Species at Risk Act. The protected and conserved lands include grasslands, forests, lakes, and wetlands.
How we’re funding the Natural Heritage Conservation Program
In Budget 2018, the Government of Canada made an historic investment of $1.3 billion in nature conservation, known as the Nature Legacy—the single-largest investment in nature conservation in Canadian history. The investment in the Natural Heritage Conservation Program, part of the Nature Legacy initiative, was $123 million over four years. Thanks to this initial funding, more than 235,000 hectares of Canada’s ecologically sensitive land has been protected and conserved, with at least 92,000 more hectares to come before the end of March 2023.
In December 2022, the Government of Canada announced an additional investment of up to $90 million, over three years to secure an additional 180,000 hectares.
The NHCP is delivered through agreements with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and Wildlife Habitat Canada, in collaboration with the Alliance of Canadian Land Trusts on behalf of local and regional land trusts across the country.
Information for land trusts is available on Wildlife Habitat Canada’s Land Trusts Conservation Fund website.
Matching Funds for a Bigger Impact
For every dollar of federal funding, the Natural Heritage Conservation Program matches a minimum of $1.50 from non-federal sources, including in-kind matching, such as land donations from private landowners and corporations, including ecological gifts. Between 2023 and 2026, at least $225 million in total funding will go to further improve Canada’s natural environment and create healthier habitats for species at risk.
In the News
Important links
Page details
- Date modified: