• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
Renewables ‘Set to Soar’ with 440 GW of New Installations in 2023: IEA June 4, 2023
Greek Industrial Giant Announces 1.4-GW Alberta Solar Farm, Canada’s Biggest June 4, 2023
Shift to Remote Work Cuts Commutes, Frees Downtown Space for Affordable Housing June 4, 2023
2.7M Hectares Lost, Nova Scotia at Ground Zero in ‘Unprecedented’ Early Wildfire Season June 4, 2023
Is Equinor’s Bay du Nord ‘Delay’ a Cancellation in Slow Motion? June 1, 2023
Next
Prev

Canada Must Protect ‘Near Urban’ Wild Spaces to Meet Conservation Goals

July 20, 2021
Reading time: 2 minutes

waferboard/Wikimedia Commons

waferboard/Wikimedia Commons

8
SHARES
 

The federal government must prioritize the protection of “near-urban” nature—spaces rich in biodiversity but increasingly fragmented and fragile—if Canada is to make good on its promise to protect 30% of its land and waters by 2030.

Achieving such protection will require diverse and intersecting partnerships between provincial governments, local and national organizations, and especially, Indigenous communities, write three environmental protection experts in a recent op-ed for Policy Options. Edward McDonnell, CEO of the Greenbelt Foundation, Diego Creimer, Quebec climate solutions campaign lead at the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and Marc-André Viau, political advocacy lead at Équiterre, add that success will require significant and dedicated funding. 

  • The climate news you need. Subscribe now to our engaging new weekly digest.
  • You’ll receive exclusive, never-before-seen-content, distilled and delivered to your inbox every weekend.
  • The Weekender: Succinct, solutions-focused, and designed with the discerning reader in mind.
Subscribe

The authors say those partnerships should concentrate on vulnerable patches of forest and wetlands amid the densely populated and heavily industrialized Greater Golden Horseshoe region around Toronto, as well as those found within metropolitan Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, and Quebec City. Active stewardship of these areas could bring multiple benefits to city dwellers, including flood protection, heat wave mitigation, and the profound psychological and spiritual benefits that are now increasingly understood to come from time spent in nature.

“Near-urban nature across southern Canada contains some of the country’s highest levels of biodiversity, while it also faces some of the greatest threats,” the authors write. It is also a critical element of nature-based solutions, which “are emerging as cost-effective, practical options that address the twin biodiversity and climate crises.”

But there are plenty of barriers to protecting near-urban spaces, the writers add. In addition to the threat of seemingly inexorable urban sprawl, the spaces are typically both highly fragmented and privately owned—not to mention extremely expensive. But “it is less about the size of the parcel of land and more about the land’s ecological function within a bigger ecosystem,” the authors explain.

A key place to start is the protection of wildlife corridors which still thread through cities, connecting the remaining patches of inner city wilderness to larger spaces outside the concrete jungle. “By protecting these ecological corridors, we will conserve the pathways used by migrating species of plants and animals, allowing whole ecosystems to adapt and become more resilient to climate change,” they write.

Central to preserving and protecting that patchwork will be a “well-resourced strategy that supports private landowners in undertaking voluntary stewardship and protection measures,” and that is richly informed by (well-funded) Indigenous knowledge. 

As COVID-19 drives more and more North Americans to the suburbs, climate solutions specialists say those sprawling regions mustbe made more climate friendly through densification, CBC News writes. 

“We’re not going to turn suburbs into cities, and suburban development is going to continue,” said Hannah Teicher, a researcher at the University of Victoria’s Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. “The question is how can you redevelop existing suburbs to some extent and how can you make new suburbs better.”



in Biodiversity & Habitat, Canada, Cities & Communities, Climate & Society, Climate Impacts & Adaptation, COP Conferences, Demand & Distribution, Ending Emissions, First Peoples, Jurisdictions, Legal & Regulatory, Severe Storms & Flooding, Soil & Natural Sequestration, Sub-National Governments

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

sunrise windmill
International Agencies & Studies

Renewables ‘Set to Soar’ with 440 GW of New Installations in 2023: IEA

June 5, 2023
147
Pixabay
Solar

Greek Industrial Giant Announces 1.4-GW Alberta Solar Farm, Canada’s Biggest

June 4, 2023
130
Oregon Department of Transportation/flickr
Cities & Communities

Shift to Remote Work Cuts Commutes, Frees Downtown Space for Affordable Housing

June 5, 2023
86

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

/MaxPixels

‘Substantial Damage’, No Injuries as Freight Train Hits Wind Turbine Blade

May 25, 2022
14.6k
sunrise windmill

Renewables ‘Set to Soar’ with 440 GW of New Installations in 2023: IEA

June 5, 2023
147
Natural Resources Canada

2.7M Hectares Lost, Nova Scotia at Ground Zero in ‘Unprecedented’ Early Wildfire Season

June 4, 2023
170
Pixabay

Greek Industrial Giant Announces 1.4-GW Alberta Solar Farm, Canada’s Biggest

June 4, 2023
130
debannja/Pixabay

Austin, Texas Council Committee Backs Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty

June 4, 2023
92
Oregon Department of Transportation/flickr

Shift to Remote Work Cuts Commutes, Frees Downtown Space for Affordable Housing

June 5, 2023
86

Recent Posts

Clairewych/Pixabay

Demand Surges for Giant Heat Pumps as Europe Turns to District Heating

June 4, 2023
87
nicolasdebraypointcom/pixabay

Factor Gender into Transportation Planning, IISD Analyst Urges Policy-Makers

June 4, 2023
39
moerschy / Pixabay

Federal Climate Plans Must Embrace Community-Driven Resilience

June 4, 2023
55
Equinor

Is Equinor’s Bay du Nord ‘Delay’ a Cancellation in Slow Motion?

June 1, 2023
879
Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-op/Facebook

‘Hinge Moment’ for Humanity Demands ‘YIMBY’ Mentality: McKibben

June 1, 2023
79
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Notley

Notley Would Have Backed Carbon Capture Subsidies, Smith Less Certain: Ex-Pipeline Exec

June 1, 2023
100
Next Post
ILO Asia-Pacific/flickr

Start Keeping Promises on Climate Finance, Developing Countries Urge G7, G20

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}