National Conservation Fund

Recommendations for Budget 2006

Recommendation
Make a leadership investment of $250 million into a highly leveraged National Conservation Fund. This initial investment should be matched by all levels of government, non-governmental organizations, community groups and others by a target of 3:1. The fund would support priority conservation initiatives on the ground on a project-by-project basis, and would engage Canadians across the country. This investment could result in conservation outcomes with a value of up to $1 billion — a strong return on taxpayers’ investment.

Investment Required
$250 million leadership investment to be leveraged by partners.

Benefits for Canadians

  • Restore Canada’s international leadership in nature conservation by helping fulfill existing commitments,
  • Stretch Canadians’ tax dollars to achieve Canada’s conservation goals more efficiently and effectively on the ground,
  • Engage hundreds of thousands of Canadians in conservation through partnerships with the voluntary sector,
  • Contribute to a new and better relationship with Aboriginal people by supporting their full participation in conservation and land-use planning on their traditional territories,
  • Create more certainty for all sectors, as a result of accelerated land use and conservation planning, and
  • Develop better protection for protected areas by supporting stewardship of surrounding lands.

Background and Rationale:
“It is only by working together — as governments, industries, communities, Aboriginal peoples and others — that we can secure our natural capital for our own and the world’s benefit.”8

As discussed in the Introduction, the Green Budget Coalition believes a government-wide Natural Capital Framework would be an important means of integrating the value of environmental goods and services into its decision-making processes.

Implementing such an ambitious framework for the conservation of our national biological diversity will require the engagement of many groups and sectors in integrated decision-making processes at the local, regional and national levels: provincial, territorial, municipal and First Nations governments, as well as civil society, community groups, universities, private citizens and the private sector. In other words, a national goal for conserving natural capital is not the exclusive responsibility of the federal government, but requires broad participaton from all sectors of Canadian society.

For example, the comprehensive integrated land-use planning exercises needed now, in advance of development in the few remaining industrially unallocated landscapes in Canada, will require substantive participation from local and Aboriginal communities, and environmental organisations. Unfortunately, many of these groups lack the resources and capacity to meaningfully engage. To ensure their equitable participation in the full range of current and future integrated decision-making, land-use planning and local stewardship initiatives, the Green Budget Coalition is requesting that the Canadian Government contribute $250 million to establish a highly leveraged National Conservation Fund.

Many Canadian organizations and individuals have valuable skills and resources to contribute to a shared goal of nature conservation. By investing in this leadership conservation fund, the federal government would provide an incentive to bring these potential partners to the table, as well as to leverage the funds to achieve greater results. Working together is clearly more effective than “going it alone”.

Modeled in part on the existing federal-provincial infrastructure program, and supported by a similar recommendation from the National Round Table on Environment and the Economy’s 2003 report on Nature Conservation,9 our proposal for a leveraged National Conservation Fund will provide not only good economic value, but will encourage creativity and flexibility in conservation initiatives.

Partnership conservation programs such as the Natural Legacy 2000 initiative conserved hundreds of thousands of acres of Canada’s vast wilderness areas, and conducted research on endangered species recovery and conservation planning. Furthermore, through this program, conservation groups leveraged a federal investment of $10 million to deliver a program worth almost $40 million on the ground. Applying this formula to a National Conservation Fund means that $1 billion of conservation value could be achieved from a $250 million federal leadership investment.

A National Conservation Fund should focus support on the following key priorities:

  • Supporting the participation of all interests in integrated science-based land use and conservation planning to ensure conservation decisions are made before opportunities are foreclosed by industrial development,
  • Private land conservation and stewardship programs,
  • Capacity building for Aboriginal communities to lead land use planning and resource management processes in their traditional territories, and
  • Maintaining and restoring the ecological integrity of protected areas by supporting conservation initiatives on surrounding lands.
Alternative and Complementary Policies
Canada has international and national commitments to conservation that have yet to be fulfilled. The federal government could work independently to fulfill the commitments for which there is clear federal jurisdiction. However, this approach would be less efficient and effective than working cooperatively with all interests. A leadership investment in a highly leveraged National Conservation Fund would support a cooperative, efficient approach to conservation that would complement existing federal programs.

See Ongoing Recommendations, pages 21-24, for recommendations for:

  • Advancing Canada’s Oceans Action Plan,
  • Conserving our Migratory Birds,
  • Maximizing the Ecological Gifts Program, and
  • Preserving Canada’s Protected Areas.
Contacts:
Julie Gelfand, Nature Canada
613-562-3447 ext.231
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8. Securing Canada’s Natural Capital: A Vision for Nature Conservation in the 21st Century. National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, 2003, 125pp. (p 94) back to text

9. Securing Canada’s Natural Capital: A Vision for Nature Conservation in the 21st Century. National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, 2003, 125pp. see Recommendation 19 (p. 90) back to text

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