TORONTO – Following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s announcement today outlining Canada’s new Nature Plans, Greenpeace Canada welcomes the launch of a national nature strategy and sees openings to strengthen protections for lands, waters, and communities. At the same time, we call for greater ambition, and stronger accountability and targeted investments to ensure ecosystem restoration, reverse biodiversity loss, support Indigenous-led stewardship and advance equitable access — and belonging — in nature for all.
Today’s announcement unveiled a $3.8 billion nature strategy, built on three pillars: protecting nature, building Canada well and valuing and mobilizing capital for nature. The plan includes measures such as funding for new national parks and marine protected and conserved areas, the reinforcement of Indigenous-led conservation work, catalyzing sustained private sector investments and implementing comprehensive data collection for key biodiversity areas.
Greenpeace Canada welcomes elements of the plan that signal Canada is moving toward its goal of protecting 30% of lands and waters by 2030. However, the announcement falls short of the level of ambition needed to ensure Canada meets its goals. Without stronger and more coordinated policy changes, Canada risks remaining off-track on its commitment to protect 30% of lands and oceans by 2030.
Closing the gaps will require reintroducing a strong federal nature legislation, modelled on Bill C-73, the Nature Accountability Act, with amendments proposed by Greenpeace and partner organizations. With Canada set to join world leaders at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP17) in October 2026, there is a clear opportunity and responsibility for Canada to lead on nature protection.
Following the prorogation of Parliament in January 2025, the legislative process to advance Bill C-73 was halted before completion. As Canada continues to fall short of its biodiversity targets, reintroducing this legislation is both urgent and necessary. Strong federal nature legislation in Canada can help address the systemic drivers of biodiversity loss across lands, waters and oceans, while also dismantling equity barriers that have limited access and a sense of belonging in nature for historically marginalized communities.
In January 2026, Greenpeace Canada released its landmark report, Belonging in Nature: Exploring Barriers, Impacts and Pathways to Nature for All across Canada, highlighting how racism, colonialism and exclusion shape access to nature in Canada. The findings show that Canada’s current colonial conservation model is failing both nature and historically marginalized communities, and points to belonging-first approaches grounded in Indigenous leadership, equity and care. These approaches reimagine systems built on exclusion to better address long-standing equity challenges faced by Indigenous Peoples, Black and racialized communities, newcomers, low-income households, and people living with disabilities.
To date, more than 118,000 people across Canada have signed a Greenpeace Canada petition demanding a strong federal nature law that protects Canada’s rich ecosystems, respects Indigenous sovereignty, ensures public accountability, and establishes clear, achievable targets for nature protection.
Salomé Sané, Nature & Biodiversity Campaigner at Greenpeace Canada, said:
“We welcome this long-awaited announcement by the Canadian government on nature protection. Prime Minister Carney acknowledged there’s work to do to close the nature protection gap, yet today’s announcement fell short of Canada’s ambition. More parks won’t restore the grasslands, forests and waters threatened by climate change, pollution and resource exploitation as long as Canada continues its “extraction first, nature and people last” approach. The federal government is still holding onto a colonial conservation model that is based on the dispossession of Indigenous Peoples from their lands and waters, and the exclusion of marginalized communities from nature. We need ambitious investment in Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, ecosystem restoration, and the phase-out of harmful subsidies, with an equity-focused lens to ensure nature belongs to everyone — all of which must be codified within a strong nature law. We are joining the more than 100,000 people in Canada who are demanding a strong nature law that safeguards ecosystems and Indigenous stewardship and makes sure Canada is held accountable to its commitments to protect nature. It’s time for Carney to be Canada Strong and be a force for nature and push beyond vague goals and ambition to real implementation.”
ENDS
Note to editors:
The report, Belonging in Nature by Greenpeace Canada, is available here.
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Micho, Communications Campaigner, Greenpeace Canada [email protected], +1 647 428 0603
