Canada’s federal government, the province of British Columbia (BC), and the First Nations Leadership Council have signed off on a shared approach to implementing habitat restoration and species-specific actions in the province.
The agreement, announced last Friday, signifies one of the largest nature investment plans for the country and gives strong prominence to Indigenous peoples in environmental stewardship.
“This is a major step forward in support of Canada’s goal to protect 30% of lands and waters by 2030, which all provinces should get behind,” said Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, in a statement.
“The Tripartite Framework Agreement on Nature Conservation will serve as a model of collaboration with First Nations to halt and reverse the loss of nature,” he added.
The C$1 billion ($732 million) agreement will look to boost biodiversity protection across four key areas: habitat and ecosystem conservation, habitat enhancement and restoration, species at risk, and foundational knowledge and information-sharing.
The area will see up to 13,000 square kilometres of high-priority old-growth forests protected through the establishment of a new fund, with a C$50-mln investment from Canada, matched by BC.
Another sizeable chunk of funds will be directed to restoring the habitat of species deemed “at risk” and wildfire protection, with C$104 mln coming from the nation’s “2 Billion Trees” programme.
The spotted owl has been prioritised as “at risk”, with a control programme for their competitors such as barred owls being established with the funds.
Recognising First Nations people’s role in nature stewardship is also enshrined in the agreement. It aims to improve their participation in governmental meetings, jointly coordinate restoration and protection management, and integrate their insights and views in spatial planning.
Previously, First Nations peoples had struggled to sell their carbon credits to access private buyers, which required the BC government to step in with a five-year deal, which will expire in 2025.
“Respect for the inherent title and rights and legal orders of First Nations must be the foundation for any conservation initiative in our respective unceded and ancestral lands. The framework agreement represents an important step forward in securing genuine nature conservation in this province,” said Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs in a statement.
The three parties involved in this agreement said they would work to enhance at least 140,000 hectares of wildlife habitat in British Columba by 2024-25, which they say exceeds regulatory expectations.
Canada’s federal government continues to be a prominent player both domestically and internationally in biodiversity funding.
Earlier this year, the country donated the largest amount of funds so far from a single country to a new global fund, which aims to support countries to meet their biodiversity targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
By Tom Woolnough – tom@carbon-pulse.com
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