Nature Conservancy of Canada Highlights Need For Greater Conservation in Canada
Our planet is a very different place today than when your grandparents where born. Despite the copious amount of conservation work occurring on a daily basis by citizens, volunteers and environmental groups biodiversity is continuing to be lost in Canada.
In order to restore Earth’s “factory settings”, to provide habitat for species and critical ecosystem services to Canadians, organizations such as the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is constantly finding more ways to rehabilitate our lands and waters.
As a result of working with private land owners and many partners, NCC has been able to conserve 2.8 million acres (1.1 million hectares) in important forests, wetlands, grasslands and coastal areas across Canada.
The lands are being maintained for today and in perpetuity, kept for future generations connecting Canadians with nature. Together, we have made great strides towards protecting our incredible wild spaces. NCC is urging people to stay connected to the outdoors and some of the most treasured areas in our country.
The conservation of our natural spaces affects the air we breathe and the water we drink. Our well-being, and the well-being of our children and grandchildren, depends on nature.
Here in Canada, where outdoor recreation is a way of life, protecting our land and water also promotes healthier living by ensuring that we continue to have places to hike, bike, camp, fish, ski and play.
Canada is blessed to have majestic natural areas. By working together, we can protect our watersheds, rivers, lakes, grasslands, forests and mountains so that we, our children and grandchildren have a chance to enjoy them.
The Earth is losing biodiversity and it is critical humans reverse these changes. Ecosystems can help protect our communities because they provide natural buffers against the effects of climate change. Our forests and wetlands help cool the planet, store carbon, ensure a supply of clean water and mitigate flood risk, among other benefits. Coastal habitats help local communities adapt to the harmful effects of climate change by protecting us from flooding and storm surges.
NCC is fundraising and negotiating for more lands — accepting donations, or paying up to the assessed value for lands that are important for nature. We want to conserve more lands that are vulnerable to habitat loss and fragmentation.
The work of protecting land has been helped along by the Government of Canada`s Natural Areas Conservation Program. For every two dollars the Nature Conservancy of Canada raises from private citizens, businesses and corporations, community and family foundations and provincial agencies, the federal government matches it with a dollar. These partnerships are critically important. Without it, these conservation projects would not have happened.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada is showing that growing the new sustainable economy and achieving conservation can coexist. Canadians wish to see jobs, prosperity and economic development and they also want healthy lands and waters. NCC is continuing its efforts to help make these two priorities happen simultaneously.
We invite you to join us on the land and help with preserving our natural spaces. The Nature Conservancy of Canada has started its year of stewardship activities, many which are family friendly. To learn more about events in this province, visit www.conservationvolunteers.ca.