Yukon gov't commits to conserving land, in line with federal targets

Roughly a third of Yukon lands could secure environmental protection by the end of the decade, according to territorial and federal ministers who say a new agreement will help solidify the work.

"The Canada-Yukon nature agreement will advance our efforts to address climate change and biodiversity loss in the Yukon," said Nils Clarke, Yukon's environment minister, on Wednesday.

"It will support Yukon's conservation priorities, including protecting our biodiversity, habitat and species at risk, while contributing to Canada's goal of increasing protecting areas across the country."

Clarke and Steven Guilbeault, minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada, announced the move at COP15, the biodiversity conference in Montreal. 

Guilbeault called the agreement "historic."

Last year, Ottawa pledged to conserve 25 per cent of national lands by 2025, and 30 per cent by 2030. 

Much of the new agreement appears to focus efforts to protect 25 per cent of Yukon territorial lands (roughly 19 per cent of land and water in the territory are already protected). Meeting the 30 per cent target seems less clear.

According to the agreement, "Yukon has not yet established percentage-based protected areas targets and Yukon continues to support Canada in reaching its goals."

A Yukon cabinet spokesperson told CBC News in an email governments are "well-positioned" to meet the 25 per target by the middle of the decade.

"We are also intent on conserving 30 per cent of the territory by 2030 and are now determining how to make meaningful contributions toward this additional goal," Renee Francoeur said.

"Protected areas that will further contribute to the target goals will be determined in partnership with Yukon First Nations governments, the Inuvialuit, communities and stakeholders."

Land use planning key to meeting targets

The agreement proposes roughly $20.6 million in federal funds over three years to protect nature. 

The money will go toward things like land use planning, working with Indigenous communities and developing, for the first time, species at risk legislation, the agreement says. Barren-ground and boreal caribou, along with wood bison are at-risk species the agreement says will be prioritized.

Clarke told CBC News the funding will accelerate land use planning, something long called for by environmentalists and First Nations. He said completing the Dawson Regional Land Use Plan and confirming protections in the Peel watershed — for instance, completing efforts to relinquish mineral claims in certain areas — will get the territorial government close to 25 per cent of land.

Asked how the government plans to protect an additional five per cent by 2030, he cited creating land plans in central Yukon, home to self-governing Northern Tutchone nations, which have vast tracts of traditional territories.

The agreement states conservation planning with Indigenous communities "is unknown and will be determined through future planning processes.

"The foundational investments in Indigenous conservation planning are expected to allow enhanced Indigenous leadership and participation in those processes," it says.

"By March 2026, there may be a clearer path to 30 per cent by 2030 through this investment."

The agreement also raises the prospect of creating new parks and entering into negotiations with First Nations to look into Indigenous protected areas, a concept gaining momentum across the country where First Nations are primarily tasked with land management.

CPAWS Yukon applauds move

Earlier this week, the Yukon chapter of Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) released survey results that suggest, among other things, most Yukoners support land conservation targets set by the federal government. Roughly three-quarters of respondents believe the Yukon government should follow them, the survey states. 

CPAWS' survey was carried out by Nanos and was completed on the basis of random-digit dialling telephone interviews among 410 residents. The margin of error for a random survey of this size is roughly 4.8 percentage points.

Randi Newton, conservation manager at CPAWS, told CBC News the new agreement between Yukon and the federal government is something that should be heralded as a serious move in the right direction.

"We released a press release on Tuesday calling on the Yukon government to step up its conservation commitments, and showing that there's strong public support for doing so, and, today, by pure happy coincidence of timing, they announced that they are largely stepping up," she said on Wednesday.