Biodiversity > Canada announces biodiversity, climate funding for 40 projects

Canada announces biodiversity, climate funding for 40 projects

Published 23:32 on November 21, 2022  /  Last updated at 00:33 on November 24, 2022  / Stian Reklev /  Biodiversity

Canada will provide C$109 million ($81.5 mln) in funding over the next five years to 40 projects as part of its efforts to meet national biodiversity and climate targets, the government announced Monday.

Canada will provide C$109 million ($81.5 mln) in funding over the next five years to 40 projects as part of its efforts to meet national biodiversity and climate targets, the government announced Monday.

The funds will be taken from the Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund, which will distribute a total C$631 mln over the decade, according to a press release from Environment and Climate Change Canada.

The batch of projects include 24 schemes that will be place-based, and that will conserve some 32,000 hectares of nature, restore up to 5,500 ha, and enhance management of 460 ha worth of wetlands, grasslands, and forest areas.

“Through actions like these, Canada is working to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030 and achieve a full recovery for nature by 2050,” the announcement said.

Canada expects GHG emissions to be reduced by around 85,000 tonnes of CO2 annually from the projects.

Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault made the announcement just two weeks before Canada is set to host the Convention of Biological Diversity’s COP15 in Montreal, where it is hoped world leaders will commit to ensuring a stop of nature loss by the end of this decade and full natural restoration by mid-century.

“We wish to see the world adopt Canadians’ ambition on nature conservation, which is what will drive Canada’s position at the Nature COP in Montreal in December,” the minister said.

The Montreal conference will run from Dec. 7-19.

Other projects in the funding announced Monday included C$1.7 mln for the Kawartha Land Trust to secure carbon-rich land, such as forests, wetlands, and grasslands with extensive biodiversity in Ontario.

“This funding will allow us to reach out to key landowners across our landscape to help them understand the part their land plays in our local ecosystem,” said John Kintare, the Trust’s executive director.

“We will work with all who are willing to secure important carbon stores and enhance land management so that our local lands can have a global impact,” he said.

By Stian Reklev – stian@carbon-pulse.com