Today, people around the globe will honour World Environment Day—an annual event dedicated to raising awareness and protecting the environment.
Today, people around the globe will honour World Environment Day—an annual event dedicated to raising awareness and protecting the environment. This year’s theme is “Biodiversity.” As Canadians continue to physically distance during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are reminded of how important nature is to our well-being. Protecting our natural surroundings is vital to our health, the economy, and our efforts to combat climate change.
To mark World Environment Day, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, today announced over 60 conservation projects under development across Canada. These projects, funded through the Canada Nature Fund’s Target 1 Challenge initiative, will conserve Canadian nature and are available to view on the map of Challenge projects. These projects will conserve biodiversity; protect species at risk; and enhance the ecological integrity, connectivity, and size of Canada’s vast network of protected areas. Nearly half of these projects are Indigenous-led, with the purpose of working toward creating Indigenous protected and conserved areas. By working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities, the projects announced today will also create jobs and support local economies across Canada.
Climate change continues to present a long-term threat to our health and well-being, and protecting nature is an important part of the solution. Nature-based climate solutions, such as protecting nature and planting trees, have the potential to provide over 30 percent of global climate solutions.
Read more at Canada.ca
Image by Alain Audet from Pixabay
