Efforts to protect the Earth with ’30 by 30′

Canada has an expansive system of protected natural areas that, when taken together, cover an area larger than the city of Ontario.

Peary reindeer on the British island of Ellesmere. This area is larger than France and Spain combined and three times the size of Germany. However, Canada has a natural area conservation goal called “30 by 30” that aims to preserve at least 30% of the country’s land and seas by 2030. Goal “30 by 30” To live up to the “30 by 30” goal, new protected areas must preserve biodiversity and secure areas for carbon storage, fresh water supply, or protection of recreational areas. based on nature. However, many of these key areas of great benefit coincide with competitive land uses such as agriculture, forestry, and natural resource extraction. This is a challenge for Canada. Traditional conservation methods may not be enough to achieve the “30 by 30” goal and new and innovative conservation methods are needed. The “30 by 30” goal comes from the “Coalition of High Ambitions for People and Nature” – a United Nations initiative to tackle the global climate crisis. 55 member states, including Canada, the European Union, Japan and Mexico, have committed to achieving the “30 by 30” goal. Other countries such as the United States, which are not full members of the alliance, have recently made similar commitments. The reason behind the 30% target is clear: It is imperative to ensure that natural areas that provide essential benefits to humanity such as food, clean water, clean air and a stable climate… are protected. This is considered an “ecosystem service” and is a collection of benefits that the natural environment brings to humans. Humans have dramatically changed, about 75% of the land on Earth, and have caused drastic negative impacts on at least 40% of the oceans, resulting in about a quarter of species being threatened with extinction. Low rates of global biodiversity and loss of natural areas now threaten the world’s natural life support systems, scientists say. Expanding protected land globally is key action that will help reverse these trends, thereby protecting biodiversity and benefiting people. A protected biodiversity area in Canada. Creative conservation Canada’s protected areas cover 12% of the country, and this area could have grown to 17% by the end of 2020 as new parks and new reserves are completed across the country. Expanding from 12% to 30% means adding an area roughly equivalent to the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba combined. One study found that about two-thirds of the area that provides fresh water and recreational opportunities for Canadians coincides with agricultural land and where resources (oil and gas, minerals, and timber) are owned. This highlights the need for innovative conservation approaches, especially those that focus on the landscape. While natural areas are often prioritized for conservation, farms, forests and pastures are also critical to achieving the 30% target. Landscape conservation requires new and flexible approaches. This could include landowners restoring and managing the land, adding wildflower bands to enhance field pollination, or improving soil and water management to protect water quality. In forests, it is necessary to protect old trees and their carbon stores by prioritizing forest ecosystem health and biodiversity over economic profit. In addition, it is necessary to maintain the complex forest structure by conserving large trees or creating gaps in the forest canopy and planting a variety of forest trees to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services. Among the techniques mentioned above, there are many techniques that are not new, but combining them in a conservation framework like other conventional techniques would be novel. Previous conservation methods have mainly relied on individual areas in the form of protected areas. It will also be new for governments to actively collaborate with communities, indigenous peoples and conservation groups to carry out conservation work. It is very important to combine the above methods to achieve the “30 by 30” goal. The good thing is that Canada already has a number of factors to make the above combination. Biosphere reserves combine the exploiting lands here to be highly protected, and provide a prime example of how to designate, manage, and operate diverse types of conservation and use. of human. Indigenous protected and conserved areas are another example that can enable countries to manage, use and protect traditional lands according to their legal and cultural systems. These are being applied more and more in Canada. Finally, urban parks such as Rouge National Park in Toronto have been a major benefit to city dwellers and help connect those living in neighborhoods with nature. A forest in Canada. Challenges and benefits Major obstacles to the use of these new conservation methods include the need to rigorously evaluate whether conservation practices are effective. Many of the methods mentioned above are not easily suited to this type of assessment. Next is the “30 by 30” goal of biodiversity conservation, while some of the methods above focus on ecosystem services first and then on biodiversity. How will we decide between these different approaches? The new approaches are complex, requiring large capital and cooperation between governments and communities. In addition, it is difficult to implement and monitor after the method is established, which can lead to unexpected delays and delays. Despite these challenges, new conservation approaches have real potential to conserve some of the most threatened species and ecosystem services where the risk of harm is highest. This ensures the achievement of the “30 by 30” goal of conserving nature and the essential benefits it brings to people.