The Green Budget Coalition recommends that the federal government invest in a new and scaled-up Habitat Restoration Fund managed by ECCC in collaboration with AAFC and DFO that focuses on net habitat and biodiversity gains with enhanced protected area hectares outcomes in wetlands, native grasslands, meadows, riparian areas, critical fish habitat, and coastal ecosystems. Additionally, using the Canadian restoration principles — effective, efficient, engaging, and equitable — this fund would support representative model projects that inspire and share good practices. Collaboration is foundational to achieving success, so this fund should be carried out in collaboration with AAFC and DFO as well as provincial and territorial governments, and non-governmental organisations.
To move from unsustainable habitat loss towards net habitat gains, we must take decisive actions to restore our lost and degraded habitats in the short- and medium-terms (particularly in highly impacted or fragile ecosystems), and protect those restored habitats and their ecological functions over the long-term. Further, we must simultaneously protect the residual base of natural habitat across the Canadian landscape (see Delivering on Canada’s land and ocean protection commitments, earlier in this document). Both protection and management actions are essential to maximize the return on restoration investments and ensure that the associated climate and biodiversity benefits are additive and long-term.
Recommended Investment:
$500 million over seven years, match funded 1:1 [ECCC, AAFC, DFO]