Nature Conservancy of Canada

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is Canada's leading national land conservation organization. A private, non-profit organization, NCC partners with individuals, corporations, and other non-profit organizations and governments at all levels to protect Canada's most important natural treasures — the natural areas that sustain Canada’s plants and wildlife. Properties are secured through donation, purchase, conservation agreement and the relinquishment of other legal interests in land and managed for the long term.

Since 1962, NCC and its partners have helped protect 2.8 million acres (more than 1.1 million hectares) of ecologically significant land from coast to coast. ^[2]

Mission: The Nature Conservancy of Canada leads and inspires others to join us in creating a legacy for future generations by conserving important natural areas and biological diversity across all regions in Canada.

At the heart of NCC’s mission is a respect for nature and a belief that nature’s rich diversity benefits Canada and all Canadians.

NCC envisions a world in which Canadians conserve nature in all its diversity, and safeguard the lands and waters that sustain life.

The conservation process

The Nature Conservancy of Canada's work is led by a team of conservation professionals who use the best available science and information to identify the most critical conservation actions. Using the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation ensures that conservation actions are strategic and result in measureable conservation progress. NCC's conservation process is guided by the following steps, which happen at all scales, from ecoregions, to natural areas, to the properties we protect:

Identifying conservation priorities: First, NCC identifies the important places where we should work, and the species and habitats we need to protect. These are often referred to as “conservation targets” The current health of and the threats to these conservation targets are then determined.

Developing strategies: Next, NCC determines what we need to do to reduce the threats and improve the health of the conservation targets.

Taking action: NCC then works with partners, landowners and volunteers to implement these strategies Actions could include buying land, removing invasive weeds or mapping the location of rare species.

Measuring success: NCC then assesses how effective these actions are and whether they are improving the health of the species and habitats we want to protect and reducing the threats to them. This information is then used to help reassess priorities and actions.

Conservation and management activities

The Nature Conservancy of Canada engages in a wide range of conservation activities across Canada, including:

• Since 2000, NCC has completed ecoregional assessments across southern Canada to identify priority areas;

• The development of over 80 Natural Area Conservation Plans in priority areas;

• Preparing baseline inventories and property management plans on all lands owned and managed by NCC;

• Monitoring the habitat and populations of species at risk;

• Reintroduction of species at risk and rare species, including plains bison and western bluebird;

• Restoration of wetlands, forests, grasslands and coastal habitats.

Recently, NCC has started to develop nature atlases for northern ecoregions in Canada and is actively engaging universities and colleges in applied conservation research.

The Natural Areas Conservation Program

The Natural Areas Conservation Program (NACP) is a partnership to accelerate the rate of private land conservation and protect important natural habitat in communities across southern Canada.

NCC administers the program, securing ecologically significant lands — including forests, grasslands and wetlands — with the participation of Ducks Unlimited Canada and other land trusts. Habitat protected under the NACP connects or enhances corridors to existing protected areas, such as national parks, national wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries.

Since 2007, $277.5M has been invested in the NACP by Environment and Climate Change Canada. This investment has been matched with more than $500M in contributions of donated land and funding from provincial governments, the private sector and Canadians at large.

More than 1 million acres (418,000 hectares) has been conserved since the onset of the program. The NACP is on track to conserve $1B worth of ecologically significant land by 2020.

The program also protects habitat for many of Canada’s endangered and iconic species, such as grizzly bear, mountain caribou and plains bison. To date, habitat has been protected for more than 181 species at risk.

A Force for Nature Campaign

In 2007, the Nature Conservancy of Canada launched the Force for Nature campaign. The campaign goals were to raise $500 million for the conservation of 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) of habitat across the country.

In July 2013, NCC announced the completion the Force for Nature Campaign, which raised more than $500 million and protected 752,000 acres (300,000 hectares) of at-risk natural habitat across Canada, home to more than 145 species at risk.

References

External links

• Nature Conservancy of Canada website
• 2015-2016 Annual Report
• The conservation process
• History of the Nature Conservancy of Canada