Federal report calls for reforms, new funding in nature protection – CP

Source: The Canadian Press
Jun 15, 2018 

OTTAWA _ A new federal report calls for big changes in how natural areas are protected.

The national advisory panel on how Canada should meet its 2020 conservation goals says the current approach is failing.

The panel’s report says a new agency should be formed to co-ordinate provincial and federal efforts to create new protected areas.

It recommends a major role for Indigenous people.

The report also recommends hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding for everything from research to resolving land conflicts.

Canada has pledged to protect 17 per cent of its land mass by 2020.

The current total is about 11 per cent _ an increase of only one per cent since 2010.

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