Recommended Investment:
$300 million over five years to support a comprehensive audit to catalog, update, and develop national geospatial inventories to support evidence-informed decision making regarding environmental protection, rehabilitation, and enhancement. [ECCC, StatCan, DFO, NRCan, AAFC]
Key Actions:
- In collaboration with subnational governments, Indigenous communities, non-governmental organizations, and other federal departments, conduct and complete comprehensive audits of existing datasets to assess the quality, accuracy, and completeness of current geospatial datasets.
- Develop, update, and complete national geospatial inventories such as the Canadian National Wetland Inventory, the National Grasslands Inventory, Terrestrial and Aquatic Species at Risk Inventories, National Forest Inventory, and National Invasive Species Inventory.
Rationale:
- Environmental impact
- Supports evidence-informed decision-making.
- Protects, rehabilitates, enhances, and sustains ecosystems.
- Facilitates accurate valuation, conservation, and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
- Economic benefit
- Informs nature-based climate solutions, potentially reducing climate related costs.
- Improves data leading to more efficient use of resources and funding in conservation efforts.
- Improves land use planning and decision-making.
- Drives innovation and job creation in the technology and environmental sectors, contributing to economic growth and resilience.
- Social and community impact
- Enhances collaboration with Indigenous communities, promotes cultural and ecological benefits.
- Supports community planning and resilience efforts.