Canada - Overview

Remark:

Please note that this country profile has been prepared by the Secretariat on the basis of information provided in the NBSAP and national reports, but has not been reviewed by the Party concerned.

Status and Trends of Biodiversity

Overview

Canada is one of the largest countries on the planet and is the steward of almost 20% of the world’s wilderness, 20% of its freshwater, 24% of its wetlands and 10% of its forests. Canada boasts a wide variety of ecosystems, including arctic ecosystems that cover one quarter of the country’s landmass, and great species diversity, with over 70,000 described species... More »

National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan

Major features of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan

The Canadian Biodiversity Strategy (CBS) is comprehensive in its coverage, creating the need for priority setting both within jurisdictions and at the national level. However, the CBS stops short of identifying measurable targets against which Canada can report progress. Although it calls for strengthened linkages at the ministerial level to oversee implementation and regular progress reports, it does not provide a formal mechanism or timetable for doing so... More »

Implementation of the Convention

Measures Taken to Achieve the 2010 Target

Measures have been taken on several fronts in order to achieve the 2010 biodiversity target in Canada. These include the federal Species at Risk Act, proclaimed in 2003, and a number of other provincial legislations protecting endangered species and their habitat. Of the 314 endangered, threatened and extirpated species on the November 2004 COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) list, 180 recovery plans or strategies have been initiated... More »

Initiatives in Protected Areas

Canada has several systems of protected areas developed and managed by various levels of government. The status and completion of the various protected area systems varies amongst the different jurisdictions. The Québec government, for example, has set a target of designating 8% of its area under protected status by 2008... More »

Initiatives for Article 8(j)

Initiatives concerning the conservation and use of traditional knowledge include the Northwest Territories’ Policy on Traditional Knowledge, the Nunavut Inuit Land Use and Ecological Knowledge Database, and the Inuit Knowledge of Bowhead Study. Among other things, traditional knowledge is used to assist in land claims negotiations, to understand and develop conservation measures for species of significance to the aboriginal population (ex... More »

National Contacts

Full details of national contacts »

Convention on Biological Diversity

Ms. Nancy S. Hamzawi	CBD Primary NFP
Ms. Diane Cameron	CBD Secondary NFP
Dr. Desmond Mahon	Access and Benefit Sharing NFP
Ms. Krista Blackborow	CHM NFP, CHM Informal Advisory Committee
Dr. Ole Hendrickson	SBSTTA NFP
Dr. Mark Graham	Global Taxonomy Initiative NFP
David Galbraith	GSPC NFP

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

Dr. Desmond Mahon

Cartagena Protocol Primary NFP, BCH NFP