Audubon Applauds Canada’s Commitment to Protect Nature

On March 31, 2026, the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, announced the launching of A Force of Nature: Canada’s Strategy to Protect Nature, which outlines a plan for how the Government of Canada delivers on its international commitment to conserve 30% of lands and waters by the year 2030. It includes a significant investment of CAD$3.8 billion in new funds to protect critical habitats, align industrial strategies with biodiversity conservation, and mobilize private capital for nature. Strategy funds will work to establish 14 new marine protected and conserved areas, 10 new national parks, 15 new national urban parks, four National Wildlife Areas, and restore and rebuild Pacific and Atlantic salmon habitat. It invests CAD$90 million over five years in the Wood Buffalo National Park World Heritage Site, a place that protects the nesting area of the last wild migratory flock of Whooping Cranes left in the world. These investments will be crucial in protecting and increasing bird populations that nest in Canada and migrate to the U.S., across the hemisphere, and beyond.

Audubon celebrates both the substance and long-term financing of Canada’s new nature strategy. In particular, Audubon applauds Canada’s clear financial commitment to advance the Seal River Watershed Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area and National Park Reserve in Manitoba and the Wiinipaakw Indigenous Protected Area and National Marine Conservation Area in Eastern James Bay—two Indigenous-led initiatives that Audubon has been actively supporting. The Seal River Watershed in Manitoba, one of the world’s largest remaining intact watersheds, and the eastern coast of James Bay in Quebec contain rich habitat and biodiversity that supports millions of migratory birds of hundreds of species. The announcement of a new investment of CAD$266.7 million over 11 years to advance the establishment of these two new protected areas is a win of global significance.

The plan also provides significant investments in Indigenous-led conservation work across Canada including support to expand Indigenous Guardians Programs—Indigenous initiatives that employ land stewards to protect, maintain, and manage traditional lands. The expansion would include the establishment of a new Arctic Indigenous Guardians Program, and Audubon’s Canada program is excited to collaborate and support Inuit organizations and Canada in this new venture.

Among other important global leadership contributions in the Nature Strategy, is the much-needed commitment to launch an Expert Taskforce on Natural Capital Accounting and Nature Financing in spring 2026, which will develop recommendations to close the gap in global biodiversity financing including mobilizing private capital for nature positive outcomes.

Canada’s new strategy to protect nature is not only immensely important for Canada but truly for the entire world. As the planet’s second largest country in size, protecting 30% of its lands and waters equates to conserving hundreds of millions of acres of biologically diverse and vital Boreal, Arctic, and marine habitat that support hundreds of millions of birds that migrate south across the U.S., Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Audubon stands with Canada as it seeks to deliver on its international commitments to protecting nature with this new strategy. Audubon is looking forward to continuing to invest and collaborate with Canada, with Canadian provinces and territories, and with Indigenous governments and organizations in the months and years ahead.