Canada’s minister of environment and climate change, Catherine McKenna, announced more than $4.3 million to support 49 new conservation projects across Canada, over the next three years.
These projects focus on protecting priority places, species, and sectors. They also focus on recovering multiple land-based species at risk and their ecosystems. Many of the projects will be led by Indigenous groups, using Indigenous traditional knowledge, in assessing the species that may be at risk, as well as in developing and implementing protection and recovery measures.
“Our nature is in crisis,” said Minister Catherine McKenna. “The abundance of insects, plants, and animals around the world is declining at an alarming rate, and Canada has a unique responsibility to the world to protect the species at risk within our borders. By investing in local conservation projects, and supporting the leadership of Indigenous communities working to protect nature, together we are making important progress toward protecting species at risk and the places they depend on.”
Minister McKenna highlighted three projects taking place on and around Vancouver Island. This includes over $108,000 to the District of Oak Bay to support the conservation and recovery of 14 at-risk plant species found in Uplands Park in Victoria, British Columbia. The plants include the Bearded Owl-clover, Kellogg’s Rush, Muhlenberg’s Centaury, Water-plantain Buttercup, and Tall Woolly-heads. The federal funding will also help the District of Oak Bay remove invasive plant species, install split-rail fencing around sensitive areas, and address the impacts of recreation in the park.
In addition to this, the federal investment will also help the Nature Conservancy of Canada undertake a project to support the recovery of endangered plants including Howell’s Triteleia and Yellow Montane Violet, within the Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve. Support to the Government of British Columbia will contribute toward habitat restoration and the recovery of the Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly, an at-risk butterfly species found on Denman and Hornby Islands.
