Protected areas are a major safeguard for biodiversity conservation and the maintenance of sustainable local economies. Around the world, protected areas safeguard nature and cultural resources, improve livelihoods, and drive sustainable development. There are over 250,000 officially recognized protected areas across the globe, covering about 17% of the of the earth’s land surface and 8% of the world’s oceans.

Many of these vital biodiversity hotspots were protected in just the last few years, as nations participating in the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity agreed to collaboratively protect 30% of the planet by 2030. This commitment is referred to as Target 3 and is one of 4 goals and 23 targets to tackle the global nature crisis under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. With this target, CBD Parties, including Canada, committed to conserving nature through protected and conserved areas, including those that allow for the sustainable use of resources, recognizing Indigenous and traditional territories.

To meet this challenge, our provincial and federal governments have committed to protecting 20% and 30% of lands and waters, respectively, by 2030. In 2023, they signed the $28.5 million Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement to provide Nova Scotia with the capacity to achieve its 20% goal and help Canada get to 30% by this deadline. 

Though some progress has been made, there is much work left to do. Help us get more wilderness protected by learning about the protected areas system in Canada and Nova Scotia, fighting misinformation from industry lobby groups, and asking your representatives to take a stand for nature.

To help Canada reach this important goal and to deliver on the promises of our own Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act, the provincial government committed to increasing protected areas to 20% by 2030.

In 2023, the government of Nova Scotia reaffirmed this commitment by signing the $28.5 million Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement with the federal government, unlocking an amazing amount of funding for meaningful conservation efforts in a province that boasts both globally rare and important ecosystems and a multi-billion dollar tourism industry. The agreement specified that Nova Scotia could use the funds to add 82,500 hectares (203,862 acres) to its protected and conserved areas by an interim deadline of March 2026. This would “result in protection for close to 15% of the province’s land mass” and create “a pathway to [achieving] the provincial goal of 20% by 2030, by supporting and accelerating processes that enhance land use planning.” It also required the province to produce regular reports in plain language so that the public could track progress toward the 20% goal and see how funds are being spent.

In the years since, however, the Nova Scotia government has done little to move the needle forward and, given lacking strategy, the abundance of candidate areas still waiting for protection, how many of these areas are pending petroleum or mining rights discussions, and the province’s seeming unwillingness to work with Nova Scotians advocating for the protection of their local wilderness, Nova Scotia is at serious risk of failing to meet this important nature protection goal.

Help us Make Room For Nature by supporting our work trying to Update the Provincial Parks Act, advocating for Community-Nominated Protected Areas, and exposing the Houston government's attack on nature and our democratic processes.