Biodiversity

CREATING COMMUNITIES FULL OF LIFE

When we consider all the benefits that urban biodiversity provides our day-to-day lives, it becomes very clear that nature plays a fundamental role in supporting all elements of a sustainable city; fresh air to breathe, clean water to drink, healthy food to eat and materials for shelter. Communities are joining the growing movement to bringing nature back into cities and reintegrating natural systems and services into the urban landscape, through urban planning, transportation, energy production, recreation, waste management, health and wellbeing, and so on.

Awareness raising

We work to raise the level of understanding and importance of biodiversity as an element of a sustainable community, through intergovernmental and multi stakeholder collaboration and consultation, applied research and the sharing of best practices, both nationally and internationally.

Tools and resources

Capacity building is at the core of our biodiversity work to empower the local level with the knowledge, tools and resources they need to integrate biodiversity management into their sustainability planning. We develop and share best practices through frameworks, case studies, webinars, presentations, and informational packages.

Applied research projects

Through our research we’ve learned that 31% of Canadian municipalities have a biodiversity policy or strategy in place. Canada Target 1 aims to protect and conserve at least 17% of terrestrial areas and inland waters, and 10% of coastal and marine areas, by 2020 to help stem the loss of biodiversity. Reaching Canada Target 1 will take a pan-Canadian effort, involving many government departments, Indigenous groups, communities and organizations across Canada. Learn about this research and more in Canada’s 6th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity.