CANADA’S NEW NATURE STRATEGY SETS THE STAGE FOR ACTION

OTTAWA, June 14, 2024 – The Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) is encouraged by the Nature Strategy and calls on the federal government to make faster progress on existing programs for biodiversity and commit to additional actions to meet the new national biodiversity goals.

“It is good to see the government recommitting to all 23 targets, integrating existing significant investments in nature under one strategy, and identifying important additional actions,” said David Browne, director of conservation for CWF in response to Canada’s newly released 2030 Nature Strategy. “This strategy is a good step forward.  It sets the stage for action and a strong commitment is needed for the transformative change called for in the Global Biodiversity Framework. Additional actions and investment to do more for species at risk, set goals for habitat restoration, and reduce the risk from pesticides and other toxic pollutants will be critical at a time when current actions are not halting, let alone reversing species decline.”

CWF is already taking action and ready to scale up. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians have contributed biodiversity data through iNaturalist Canada to be used for conservation including species at risk assessments, the federal government’s General Status of Species in Canada Report, and defining Key Biodiversity Areas. Our Conservation Science team has been restoring pollinator habitat for species like the Monarch butterfly,  addressing threats to endangered freshwater turtles, bats and the North Atlantic Right Whale and working on wildlife habitat connectivity by developing the Canadian Aquatic Barriers Database and restoring fish passage.

Opportunities identified in the Nature Strategy that require concrete action include:

• Improving and strengthening supply chains by securing seed sources, supporting training, capacity building, and Indigenous leadership in seed conservation and restoration, addressing policy gaps, and ensuring the required infrastructure is in place, such as for housing native seed sources.
• Launching a national program to track pesticide use, determine risk and targeted actions and ultimately reduce the use/impacts.
• Promoting better engagement with Indigenous groups, the public, industry, provinces and territories for conservation action, knowledge sharing and data collection.
• Defining and protecting critical habitat for species at risk and committing to actions to eliminate the causes of decline.

The Canadian Wildlife Federation is a national, not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to conserving Canada’s wildlife and habitats for the use and enjoyment of all. By spreading knowledge of human impacts on wildlife and the environment, carrying out actions to conserve and restore species and habitats, developing and delivering conservation education programs, advocating for changes to government policy and programs, and co-operating with like-minded partners, CWF encourages a future in which Canadians can live in harmony with nature. For more information, visit CanadianWildlifeFederation.ca.

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Heather Robison, Media and Community Relations Officer

heatherr@cwf-fcf.org

613-599-9594 x 212

or

media@cwf-fcf.org