Conservationists Call on Carney Government to Make Good on Promised Support for Nature Protection in Canada
The Endangered Ecosystems Alliance (EEA), a Canadian conservation organization that reaches nearly 200,000 people across its social media platforms, is calling on the federal Liberal government to make good on their promise to support the protection of nature in Canada.
On November 17, 2025, in response to a question in the House of Commons from Green Party leader Elizabeth May, Prime Minister Mark Carney stated that Canada was committed to its UN commitment to protect 30% of lands and waters in Canada by 2030 and would be announcing commitments to Canada's Nature Strategy in the coming weeks. Four months later, Ottawa has yet to announce new funding, while funding through Canada's Enhanced Nature Legacy fund to expand the protected areas system is set to expire on March 31, 2026.
“The federal government cannot claim to support its commitment to protect 30% of the lands and waters in Canada by 2030 while allowing the funding needed to achieve it to lapse,” said Ken Wu, Executive Director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance. “Protecting nature takes long-term investment, partnership with Indigenous governments and communities, and steady support for land securement, resource tenure buy-outs, stewardship, planning and management. If this funding is allowed to expire, years of momentum will be put at risk.”
The Carney government should, at minimum, maintain federal support at levels comparable to those committed under the Trudeau government’s flagship nature programs. Since 2018, previous Liberal governments have committed $5 billion in major federal funding for terrestrial nature protection, including $1.35 billion through Canada’s Nature Legacy, $2.3 billion for Canada’s Enhanced Nature Legacy, $800 million for Project Finance for Permanence funds, and $50 million for the Old Growth Nature Fund. An additional $1 billion was committed for marine conservation and protection.
In addition, another $4 billion was provided in additional funds (Nature Smart Climate Solutions, Natural Infrastructure Fund, 2 Billion Trees Program) of which significant portions were used to expand the protected areas systems in Canada. In total, $10 billion was provided by the Trudeau government to help Canada meet its protected areas targets under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
These investments have supported the establishment and expansion of protected areas, Indigenous Guardians programs, habitat conservation and stewardship, and Indigenous capacity to lead, manage, and benefit from conservation initiatives.
The EEA is also calling on the federal government to immediately renew and expand core funding for protected areas and Indigenous-led conservation, uphold, improve upon and publish a funded implementation plan for Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy, and reintroduce the Nature Accountability Bill that holds successive governments to Canada’s UN protected areas targets (30% by 2030 and likely 40% by 2040 and 50% by 2050) and which died before being passed when Parliament was prorogued for the federal election in early 2025.
Numerous studies show that protected areas result in a major net economic benefit for surrounding communities, including by supporting tourism, recreation, and real estate industries, by attracting skilled labour which then supports other diverse businesses, supporting carbon offset projects, providing non-timber forest products, and providing ecosystem services like clean water, natural sewage treatment, counteracting floods and extreme weather events, and more.
A new CPAWS study released in February found that protected and conserved areas in Canada generated $10.9 billion in GDP in the 2023–24 fiscal year and supported about 150,000 jobs. The study found that every $1 spent by governments and non-profits on protected and conserved areas generated $3.62 in visitor spending.
Extensive studies also show that nature is also vital for our health and well-being, with time in nature counteracting numerous ailments – heart disease, stress, anxiety, ADHD, chronic inflammation, cancer, and much more, via the psychological feedbacks to our physical health, the abundance of phytoncides - beneficial plant compounds that boost our immune systems when we breathe them in -, and diverse beneficial bacteria and other organisms that diversify our microbiomes.
“Protecting nature is a huge net benefit for the economy, for our health and wellness, and is vital for our survival. Canada has made big promises to the world on biodiversity, now the Carney government must show it is prepared to back those promises with real funding,” stated Wu.