10 environmental success stories and indicators

There were many signs of hope in 2017,

Nature conservation and current issues, from climate change to protecting North Atlantic right whales, can seem overwhelming. However, there were some positive areas in 2017.

1. Protected areas continue to grow

Many countries are edging closer to international targets to protect 17 per cent of lands and inland waters by 2020. Globally, the amount of protected area has just reached 15 per cent, and in Canada it has grown by eight per cent in the past five years, to 10.6 per cent. The Natural Areas Conservation Program, supported by Environment and Climate Change Canada and delivered by the Nature Conservancy of Canada has now protected more than one million acres.

2. Meeting commitments for marine areas While Canada’s protection of marine and coastal areas had flatlined for many years, there have been positive strides, resulting in Canada achieving its interim goal of protecting five per cent of our oceans and coasts by 2017 (with a goal of 10 per cent by 2020). In June, it was announced that the world is on track to meet the goal of protecting 10 per cent of marine areas and coasts.

3. Recovering endangered wildlife in Canada The peregrine falcon was a high-profile endangered species in Canada. Today, thanks to a DDT phase-out and captive breeding programs, the peregrine falcon subspecies that lives throughout most of Canada was found to be no longer at risk. This joins a growing list of recovered species.

4. Support for protected areas in Canada Nature conservation ultimately fails if it’s not supported by people. So it was positive to see a 2017 poll find that 89 per cent of those surveyed support protected areas. Seventy-nine per cent said they would support increased federal funding to create new parks and protected areas.

5. Evidence that nature is good for you Medical science is providing more evidence that people greatly benefit from spending time in nature, and this evidence is receiving increasing attention. The link between nature and human health is not only being advanced by conservation organizations, but also by groups such as the World Economic Forum.

6. Banning commercial fishing in the High Arctic Climate change is altering the Arctic faster than any other place on Earth. The loss of sea ice will create huge areas of open water, making Arctic fish susceptible to unsustainable commercial harvest. In 2017, nine countries agreed to a 16-year ban commercial fishing in three million square kilometres of offshore waters of the Arctic Ocean while scientists study the potential impacts on the marine ecosystem.

7. Sharing conservation information

In 2017, iNaturalist, an app used to share information about species you see, surpassed five million observations and introduced new image recognition software that helps identify species. Technology can certainly distract us from nature, but it can also be a catalyst for discovery and collaboration. Through iNaturalist, your findings can be part of the global record on biodiversity and help inform conservation decision-making.

8. Integrating business leaders and biodiversity There is increasing recognition that our economy and ecology go hand in hand. In 2017, TD Bank and Nature Conservancy of Canada issued a report on the natural capital values of conserved forests. It gives an annual dollar value on the services these forests provide Canadians, such as cleaning our air and storing carbon. Leaders from business and conservation also released a call to Stand up for Nature and increase investment in conservation.

9. Shrinking the ozone hole

In the early 1990s, Time magazine warned that “serious atmospheric ozone depletion has spread from the polar regions to temperate climes and is worse than anyone thought.” We’re not in the clear yet, but we have made significant progress. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was signed 30 years ago. As a result, the hole in the ozone layer is shrinking and scientists expect the Antarctic ozone hole to recover back to 1980 levels by around 2070.

10. Continued progress on climate change China, the world’s largest carbon emitter, announced a new carbon market, and Canada’s pricing on carbon pollution is moving ahead. New research in 2017 highlighted the importance of natural climate change solutions, such as reforestation, and protecting wetlands, grasslands and forests. Nature can help mitigate some of the impacts of climate change by holding flood waters and protecting coastal communities from storm surges.