Transforming conservation in Canada: shifting policies and paradigms

Wilderness and national parks play a fundamental role in defining Canadian identity, yet Indigenous Peoples have historically been excluded from conservation decisions, resulting in systematic dispossession and oppression. In this article, we collaborate with Dene Tha'First Nation to discuss the recent paradigm shift towards Indigenous-led conservation and propose guiding principles to advance and assert the critical role of Indigenous Peoples in conservation. We begin with a brief history of Indigenous Peoples in conservation, followed by the concept of Indigenous protected and conserved areas (IPCAs). Our analyses show that IPCAs have gained momentum recently, driven by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Canada's commitment to global conservation goals. With one of the largest landmasses and Indigenous populations in the world, IPCAs in Canada have the potential to make immense contributions to environmental and cultural conservation rooted in an intrinsic relationship to the land. Despite this biocultural diversity, as of 2022, less than 1% of Canada's landmass is declared as Indigenous-led protected areas. However, more than 50 Indigenous communities across the country have currently received funding to establish IPCAs or to undertake early planning and engagement that could position Canada as a global leader in Indigenous-led conservation. As the Government of Canada aims to designate 25% of the territory as protected space by 2025 and 30% by 2030, embedding Indigenous rights, knowledge, and values in the national conservation strategy will be essential to simultaneously honoring the commitments to reconciliation and meeting the ambitious targets stipulated in the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Section: Guiding Principles To Support Community and Indigenous-led C...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Holistic Approaches In Conservation Practices Policy and Gov...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Holistic Approaches In Conservation Practices Policy and Gov...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Indigenous protected and conserved areas (IPCAs): Canada's new path forward for biological and cultural conservation and Indigenous well-being

Mansuy,

Staley,

Alook

et al. 2023

“…Recent articles in this journal have made calls for new or amended species at risk legislation in BC (Westwood et al 2019) and ON (Bergman et al 2020;Bethlenfalvy and Olive 2021;Turcotte et al 2021) and to other biodiversity laws in Canada (Beazley and Olive 2021;Ray et al 2021). This essay picks up on those calls but focuses on the federal side with one simple message: laws matter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laws matter: a foundational approach to biodiversity conservation in Canada

Swerdfager

Olive

2023

Self Cite

This perspective essay examines the role of conservation law in contributing to biodiversity decline by exploring how current conservation laws exacerbate the challenges Canada faces. We contend that there are three intertwined foundation-setting functions of conservation law: they codify priorities and values, define and influence acceptable conservation behaviour, and drive the establishment of the institutions, programs, and governance arrangements of today’s conservation regime. We describe these functions and then assess whether conservation laws in Canada are adequately fulfilling the functions. We find that the federal conservation law regime is sub-optimal and likely incapable of halting and reversing the negative biodiversity trends. Based on this, we suggest a set of conservation legislative principles capable of catalyzing change and supporting the transition to a more sustainable conservation future.

“…To be successful, both climate-adapted management and conservation need to be backed by explicit adaptation objectives in policy and legislation providing a clear mandate, and strong governance with efficient implementation and enforcement. This requires political awareness and willingness to prepare for climate change and its consequences (Beazley and Olive 2021;Lindegren and Brander 2018;Bryndum-Buchholz et al 2021). Currently in Canada, neither the Fisheries Act nor its recent amendment (Bill C-68 in 2019) explicitly address climate change; however, recent changes include requirements for sustainable fish stock management, rebuilding plans for depleted populations, and protection of all fish habitats, which could facilitate ecosystem-based management and climate adaptation (DFO 2019b;Bryndum-Buchholz et al 2021).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term ocean and resource dynamics in a hotspot of climate change

Lotze

Mellon

Coyne

et al. 2022

The abundance, distribution, and size of marine species are linked to temperature and nutrient regimes and are profoundly affected by humans through exploitation and climate change. Yet little is known about long-term historical links between ocean environmental changes and resource abundance to provide context for current and potential future trends and inform conservation and management. We synthesize >4000 years of climate and marine ecosystem dynamics in a Northwest Atlantic region currently undergoing rapid changes, the Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf. This period spans the late Holocene cooling and recent warming and includes both Indigenous and European influence. We compare environmental records from instrumental, sedimentary, coral, and mollusk archives with ecological records from fossils, archaeological, historical, and modern data, and integrate future model projections of environmental and ecosystem changes. This multidisciplinary synthesis provides insight into multiple reference points and shifting baselines of environmental and ecosystem conditions, and projects a near-future departure from natural climate variability in 2028 for the Scotian Shelf and 2034 for the Gulf of Maine. Our work helps advancing integrative end-to-end modeling to improve the predictive capacity of ecosystem forecasts with climate change. Our results can be used to adjust marine conservation strategies and network planning and adapt ecosystem-based management with climate change.