The Nature Conservancy of Canada's work takes on new dimensions for the protection of our native biodiversity
THINKING BIG
“There aren’t a lot of places like Canada,” says John Lounds, president and CEO of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). “Unlike many parts of the world, we still have opportunities to conserve the wild landscapes we love,” he explains. From the windswept Acadian forests in the east, to the sprawling grasslands of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan and the towering Rocky Mountains, the breath-taking scale of nature in this country inspires people around the world.
But Canada’s wild spaces are disappearing at an alarming rate, giving way to urban sprawl and industrial uses.
The resulting loss of habitat contributes to more species being classified as at risk and endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
In recent years, NCC’s work has taken on new dimensions.
“Everything about our conservation work has been magnified: the challenges to biodiversity have never been greater. The need to act has never been more urgent,” says Mr. Lounds. “It’s a big challenge that’s going to take decades of conservation efforts before we get to where we
need to be.”
That’s why, when it comes to protecting our country’s natural treasures, something Mr. Lounds calls a “grand enterprise,”NCC believes the only solution is to think BIG. Nature demands no less.
BIG VISION
For more than 45 years, NCC has worked to identify ecologically significant land across the country, protect natural habitat and take care of it for future generations. Since 1962, the private, non-profit organization and its supporters have helped to protect nearly 2 million acres (about 800,000 hectares) across Canada; NCC focuses on southern Canada, where the biodiversity is richest, and where the human footprint is greatest. It’s also where about 70 per cent of species at risk are trying to survive alongside their human neighbours.
BIG PLANNING
Science drives NCC’s decisions on which lands to protect first, where to focus and how to manage the properties to enhance and restore their natural richness. NCC has completed 16 planning guides, called Conservation Blueprints (see page 2 for more information on these conservation planning tools), which provide the foundation for the organization’s work.
NCC now has Blueprints spanning all of southern Canada and shares this data with governments, communities, researchers and environmental organizations.
For example, NCC’s Conservation Blueprint for Canada’s Prairies and Parklands has identified over 20 natural areas in which to focus its work. NCC’s teams in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are taking the lead in a five-year, $40-million campaign to secure and conserve 100,000 acres (40,469 hectares) of the very best of Canada’s remaining grasslands.
This is a critically important goal given that 66 per cent of all native grasslands in NCC’s study area have been lost, and large, wide-ranging carnivores such as Plains Grizzly and Great Plains Wolf are are no longer found in the wild.
BIG PICTURE
The use of Conservation Blueprints has shifted NCC’s focus from working at the individual property level to understanding Canada’s biodiversity on a landscape scale.
“What we are learning is that every property is part of a bigger picture,” says Kevin Kavanagh, the national manager of NCC’s stewardship programs. “We’re also learning that as the environment changes over time, we need to think big because species always respond to change by moving to areas that are better suited for their survival,” he explains.
Mr. Kavanagh adds that in order for nature to thrive, “we need to respect the scales that nature requires. Successful conservation must ensure connectivity of habitat to give species room to move.”
Increasingly, NCC is working towards creating a network of protected areas linked across the landscape by natural corridors.
One of those connections has just been secured north of Kingston, Ontario. The Frontenac Arch is a unique area where the northern Canadian Shield dips to meet the southern Carolinian forests.
NCC and its partners have acquired a 1,100-acre (445-hectare) property along the Arch, which now contributes to maintaining and restoring a natural corridor for wide-ranging mammals such as Fisher. This project is also part of an initiative to provide critical east-west linkages between protected areas such as Algonquin Park and the Adirondack Mountains in New York State.
BIG RESPONSIBILITY
But once the properties are secured, the work isn’t done; it’s often just beginning. As NCC’s network of protected areas across the country expands, so does the responsibility to manage these areas to ensure their health for the long term. That’s where NCC’s Stewardship Endowment Fund comes in. Through this fund, NCC continues to build the investment base that will ensure sound management of thel and for years to come.
Revenue from this investment is used to support the costs of conservation work – including restoring habitat and species recovery – which is incorporated in the long term management plans developed by stewardship staff.
BIG INVESTMENT
NCC is uniquely qualified to meet the challenge, but no organization could succeed alone. Investment is crucial. Recently, the Government of Canada committed $225 million and entrusted NCC to lead the charge to conserve more than 2,000 square kilometres of ecologically significant lands across Canada. NCC and its partners will match that investment at least dollar for dollar (read more about the initiative on page 5).
Contd. Page 5
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Also appearing in this report:
Page 5
Big investments generate big results
A shimmering dot of green in the middle of Lake Erie, it is home to over 200 rare species and boasts biodiversity levels that are among the highest in Ontario.
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