Canada commits .3 billion to protect nearly 30% of its land and water

Story: 2025 C.E.  |  Last updated: April 20, 2026

Canada is backing one of the most ambitious nature conservation programs in its history, committing $1.3 billion over five years to protect the country’s land and freshwater — and scientists say the effort could not come at a more urgent moment. The push, supported by a coalition of federal, provincial, and Indigenous governments, aims to set aside at least 17% of Canada’s land and water by 2020 C.E., with advocates pressing for a longer-term goal of 30% by 2030 C.E.

At a glance

• Canada land conservation: As of 2019 C.E., Canada had protected 11.8% of its landmass — federal funding is accelerating efforts to reach and surpass that baseline.
• Indigenous co-stewardship: Indigenous governments are formal partners in setting aside protected areas, including a 30,000-hectare expansion of Alberta’s Kitaskino Nuwenëné Wildland Provincial Park.
• 30% by 2030 target: The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society argues Canada must protect roughly 330 million hectares — nearly triple current protected land — to meaningfully reverse biodiversity loss.

Why the scale of the problem demands a bigger response

Biodiversity is declining faster than at any recorded point in human history. More than one million species worldwide face extinction, according to a landmark assessment by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Canada is not insulated from that trend — since 1970 C.E., half of all monitored species in Canada have declined, and half of those declined by more than 80%.

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) argues that the current federal target of 17% protection, while meaningful, falls well short of what science recommends. Most conservation studies suggest that protecting somewhere between 30% and 50% of a country’s land and water is necessary to maintain viable populations of native species and keep ecosystems functioning. “We need global goals and targets for the next decade that are on a scale that will actually tackle the nature emergency that we face,” said Alison Woodley, a CPAWS executive.

Canada is in a unique position to act. The country holds roughly 20% of Earth’s wild forests, 24% of its wetlands, and nearly one-third of its land-stored carbon. Protecting those systems doesn’t just benefit wildlife — it directly supports Canada’s climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.

What the $1.3 billion is already doing

The federal investment has moved quickly from pledge to action. Under a “Quick Start” initiative, funds have helped expand Ontario’s Thousand Islands National Park, add to Alberta’s Kitaskino Nuwenëné Wildland Provincial Park, and grow Halifax’s Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Park, among dozens of other projects across the country.

A separate commitment has directed federal money toward acquiring at least 200,000 hectares of private land and freshwater in southern Canada — regions where biodiversity faces the most intense pressure from agriculture, development, and resource extraction.

These projects represent more than acreage. Forests pull carbon from the atmosphere — Canada’s forestry sector removed approximately 34 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from the air in 2015 C.E. alone. Wetlands buffer communities against flooding. Coral reefs and mangrove swamps reduce the force of cyclones. The IPBES Global Assessment has documented how healthy ecosystems underpin food security, clean water access, and human health in ways that no technology can fully replicate.

The role of Indigenous stewardship

Indigenous nations are not simply stakeholders in Canada’s conservation push — they are increasingly central to it. Indigenous governments hold stewardship over vast territories, many of which overlap with the most ecologically intact and carbon-rich landscapes in the country. Their participation in protected area designations is both a matter of rights and a matter of effectiveness.

Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found that Indigenous-managed lands consistently show better biodiversity outcomes than state-managed protected areas. The reason is straightforward: communities with deep, multigenerational ties to a place bring knowledge and incentives that government agencies cannot replicate. Kitaskino Nuwenëné Wildland Provincial Park, expanded with federal funds and co-managed with Cree communities, reflects this philosophy in practice.

That approach is gaining traction internationally. At biodiversity negotiations under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, countries are discussing new global targets for the next decade — and Indigenous land rights are increasingly recognized as a cornerstone of any serious conservation framework. Canada has an opportunity to model that approach at home and advocate for it abroad.

A conservation superpower in the making

CPAWS describes Canada as a potential “conservation superpower” — not a boast, but a statement about responsibility. The country’s vast intact landscapes are a globally rare asset. Protecting them generates cascading benefits: cleaner air and water, pollination that supports agriculture, climate stabilization, and the cultural and spiritual wellbeing of communities — particularly Indigenous ones — whose identities are inseparable from the land.

The 30% by 2030 C.E. target would require tripling the land currently under formal protection in under a decade. That is an enormous undertaking, and CPAWS acknowledges it demands not just money but political will and coordinated leadership across federal, provincial, territorial, and Indigenous governments. The society is calling for Canada to press other nations toward similar commitments at international biodiversity talks — turning domestic ambition into global momentum.

The challenge is real. Reaching 17% is not guaranteed, and scaling to 30% — let alone the 50% some scientists recommend over the longer term — will require sustained commitment across changing governments and competing economic pressures. Land protection can also create tensions with resource-dependent communities, and getting the balance right between conservation goals and local livelihoods remains genuinely difficult, particularly in regions where extractive industries are the primary source of employment.

But the foundation is there. The funding is in place, the science is clear, and — crucially — Indigenous nations with the knowledge and the rights to protect vast territories are at the table. That combination is rare. When it comes together, the results tend to last.

Read more

For more on this story, see: CBC News

For more from Good News for Humankind, see:

• Indigenous land rights recognized across 160 million hectares at COP30
• Ghana expands marine protected area at Cape Three Points
• The Good News for Humankind archive on environment

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