On April 20th, 2021, a group of over 100 individual youth and 17 youth organizations signed onto the letter to the Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, voicing youth support for Canada to take bold action to protect 25% of land and ocean by 2025, and 30% by 2030.

Read the full letter below or by visiting: https://view.publitas.com/on-nature/canadian-youth-support-land-and-ocean-protection-targets/page/1

If you are a young person in Canada, sign this petition to add your name to the letter below:

Dear Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson,

Ahead of Earth Day and the U.S. Leaders Summit on Climate, youth are pleased to hear from the federal budget announcement that the Government of Canada will be investing in climate action and nature conservation. Youth anticipate the follow-through action to meet and exceed these commitments and we trust that federal investment in nature and climate action will extend beyond 2025. 

We are a group of Canadian youth representing over 100 individual youth adding voices to 17 youth organizations from across Canada. We express our support for bold action for Canada to meet its commitment to protect 25% of land and ocean by 2025, and 30% by 2030, in order to protect biodiversity and mitigate climate change. 

We collectively call on the Government of Canada to take purposeful, engaging, and innovative action to meet its conservation commitment as part of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People. This commitment is therefore important at local and international levels, and as youth, this is crucial to us because we recognize the intrinsic value of nature to all living beings. We are the generation who will be most impacted by exacerbating climate change and biodiversity loss, and we believe that we need to start building an equitable, carbon-neutral, nature-positive future now.

Purposeful Protection, Conservation, and Restoration of Lands and Waters

In order to help meet global climate and biodiversity targets, we call on the Government of Canada to protect our lands and waters through purposeful selection of protected areas. Purposeful protection for a nature-positive and carbon-neutral future entails strategic placement of new protected areas in locations known to be biodiversity hotspots, connective corridors, and areas that have high natural carbon storage. We also want to see more protected and conserved areas established near urban and peri-urban areas in southern Canada where biodiversity is most at-risk and to make these spaces accessible to urban populations, as many protected areas are currently concentrated in northern and remote areas. We further believe that the Government must ensure there are mechanisms to equitably and effectively implement Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas and Marine Protected Areas across Canada.

Provincial, Territorial and Local Engagement in Establishing Protected Areas

We call on the Government of Canada to facilitate inter-ministerial conservation dialogues in order to work collaboratively with provinces, territories, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and youth with the goal to better communicate, coordinate, and collaborate towards protected area development. 

Further, local communities should be at the core of action towards designing, establishing and maintaining protected areas. This should involve seeking out community knowledge and learning from community-centered solutions. We hope that consultations and collaborations with local communities towards protected area establishment will be made more accessible by involving people through various forms of communication (radio, internet, in-person etc.). Engagement should also include stronger consultation processes, improved relationship building techniques and new creative strategies for holistic community involvement. Furthermore, we emphasize that when designing the consultation process, equity be considered to assure that those most vulnerable are indeed listened to.

Moreover, protected areas should prioritize Indigenous rights while exploring opportunities for co-development with Indigenous Peoples and local communities so that new protected areas are equitably implemented. Governments must put Indigenous Peoples at the forefront of decision making by facilitating Indigenous-led conservation and incorporating Indigenous Knowledge and worldviews into decision making processes.

Innovative Approaches to Conservation

We call on the Government of Canada to utilize innovative approaches when deciding how and where protected areas will be placed. Having access to science and data that is public, accessible, transparent, current, and coordinated is crucial for evidence-based decision-making. Further, we passionately encourage the Government of Canada to include youth in the growing green economy. Through bolstering environmental education, training, paid internships, and other opportunities created for youth in conservation sectors, young professionals can contribute new and innovative ideas to help Canada meet its biodiversity commitments and work towards carbon neutrality. This must involve paid and long-term opportunities being offered with strong and equitable outreach.

In conclusion, as youth and environmental youth organizations, we support purposeful, engaging, and innovative approaches for Canada to meet its commitment to protect 25% of land and ocean by 2025, and 30% by 2030. Notably, this commitment can be achieved by facilitating inter-ministerial conservation dialogues to better coordinate protected area establishment. In doing so, Canada can contribute to building an equitable, carbon-neutral, nature-positive future.