The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) is working hard to expand the protected areas system across Canada, with an emphasis on the most endangered ecosystems (typically in southern Canada and coveted for logging, suburban sprawl or agricultural conversion) and with a novel approach that emphasizes the engagement of non-traditional allies (businesses, unions, faith groups, and others) to expand and strengthen the movement, ensuring concrete support for land-embedded communities (eg. Conservation financing to support Indigenous Protected Areas), and overall working on the large-scale awareness and engagement of Canadians in general on key campaigns and issues to enhance ecosystem literacy.
The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA) is currently developing several new campaigns that seek to change the "fundamentals" that will help pave the path to enable the protection of endangered ecosystems across Canada, including old-growth forests, prairie grasslands, aspen parkland, deciduous and mixed forests, and freshwater and marine ecosystems.
We realize that without transforming Canadian culture and the economy, and vastly increasing the understanding of and connection to nature among millions of more Canadians, progress for protecting nature will be stalled, particularly in the most contested ecosystems - and in fact, we will end up increasingly playing defence against the roll-back of conservation gains over time.
Over the ensuing weeks and months, you will see our new campaigns that include:
- A "Go Outside!" campaign, to get Canadians off their phones and away from their online addictions that are driving mass misery, anxiety and a disconnect from nature and people. Young to old, we will aim to get people outside to explore some of the most beautiful trails and natural areas in Canada. We will highlight many of the best trails in Canada and will put out resources for Canadians to get outside into nature in their regions. We will also work to systematically educate Canadians on the "Ecosystems of Canada".
- A "Nature is the Remedy" campaign, to ensure Canadians understand that nature is vital for our health (mental and physical well-being), wealth (major protected areas foster and attract much more diversified and prosperous economies), and survival (saving nature counteracts climate change and the extinction crisis). This will be a concerted campaign using all tools in the toolbox - social media, news media, and our own videos.
- A "Conservation Economy Strategy" - a campaign to get governments across Canada to implement major sets of policies and incentives that will help diversify and bolster sustainable economies in communities away from a reliance on destructive industrial resource extraction, thus making it easier to expand the protected areas system. Without getting governments to deploy their vast resources to transform the economy into a smart, modernized, sustainable one away from the old destructive and dirty industries with larger ecological footprints, protecting nature will continue to be like trying to push a giant boulder up a mountain against gravity - instead, we need gravity (the economy) with us as we work towards conservation goals.
And we will continue to campaign hard to:
- Ensure the reintroduction and strengthening of the federal Nature Accountability Bill, that enshrines Canada's international protection targets (e.g. 30% protection by 2030 of Canada's lands and waters) into law.
- Protect the old-growth forests and ecosystems in BC, by working for Ecosystem-Based Protection targets (via the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework), a BC Protected Areas Strategy, Solutions Space funding for First Nations old-growth logging deferrals, and closing the conservation loopholes in the conservation reserve system. A major new angle to the campaign is currently in the works here.
- Continue working directly with several First Nations communities in BC to help establish Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs).
- Supporting local conservation groups in Canada - coming up will be campaigns to reverse the Ontario government's introduction of Bill 5 that removes endangered species protections and creates environmental deregulation zones, and against the Alberta government's move to enable open-pit coal mining in the endangered foothills and Rockies.
The EEA works to prioritize protection of the most endangered ecosystems while engaging non-traditional allies (businesses, unions, diverse faith groups, multi-cultural outreach, and outdoor recreation groups), supporting Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) with critical support, and ensuring the large-scale education and mobilization of Canadians for protecting nature.
The EEA is aiming to raise $30,000 in grassroots fundraising by June 30th. Can you help us?
