On Thursday, June 13, 2024, Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change (ECCC), announced a new comprehensive Natural Strategy for 2030, with satellite data playing an integral role.
Along with the announcement of the Nature Strategy 2030 was the introduction of Nature Responsibility LawBill C-73, described as “An Act that respects transparency and accountability in relation to certain commitments that Canada has made under the Convention on Biological Diversity.”
According to the government, the strategy “sets out how Canada will implement the ambitious nature protection goals under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework that were agreed at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal in December 2022. This strategy defines clear areas of action and identifies what more is needed to harness the range of existing initiatives. underway across Canada.”
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) along with many other government departments and agencies will work in cooperation with the Department of Environment and Climate Change. The Nature 2030 Strategy outlines several areas of action that will include the use of satellite data.
The Nature 2030 Strategy includes 23 objectives and implementation plans. Of these, six objectives include the need for satellite data. They include.
Goal 1: Spatial planning and effective management
- Action Area: Collect, report and develop environmental data and information.
DFO (Fisheries and Oceans Canada), NRCan (Natural Resources Canada), ECCC, AAFC (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) and CSA collect and/or report environmental data to measure land and sea use change and support biodiversity. inclusive decision-making and reporting. Examples include the State of Canada's Oceans and State of Forests report, Canada's Marine Planning Atlas, the Canadian Water Extreme Adaptation Tool, land use mapping and land use change. land, satellite monitoring of land cover, Canadian Terrestrial Ecological Framework, inventories of grasslands and forests, the National Deforestation Monitoring System and the RADARSAT Constellation Mission.
Goal 4: Species recovery
- Action Area: Offer human-wildlife coexistence programs
The CSA, with the support of industry, academic and government partners, will continue to use satellite data to protect wildlife, through its smartEarth program (e.g. the smartWhales initiative).
Goal 7: Pollution and Biodiversity
- Action Area: chemicals
The Integrated Satellite Pollution Monitoring Program (ISTOP), operated by ECCC together with TC (Transport Canada), uses data from the RADARSAT Constellation Mission to detect and report oil pollution in Canadian waters. This is part of an ongoing effort to minimize or eliminate coastal water pollution, which negatively impacts seabirds, mammals and their ecosystems.
Goal 8: Climate change and biodiversity
- Action Area: Advancement of science and knowledge
The CSA, ECCC and NRCan are working together to launch the WildFireSat mission in 2029, which will monitor all active wildfires in Canada from space in real time. This new information will increase Canada's ability to manage wildfires across the country, helping to reduce habitat destruction and minimize damage to biodiversity.
Goal 14: Integration of biodiversity values
- Action Area: Work with others to promote biodiversity awareness, integration and mainstreaming
CSA, PSPC and the Port of Montreal Authority are collaborating on the smartHarbour initiative, which aims to develop solutions using Earth observation to mitigate the potential environmental impacts of the future Port of Montreal expansion project. The solutions seek to take advantage of satellite data to monitor variables of key relevance to biodiversity, such as water quality, the state of aquatic grasses, wetlands and terrestrial vegetation.
Goal 21: Knowledge exchange
- Action Area: Collect and publish data and information.
CSA, ECCC, NRCan and other federal partners continue to advance Canada's satellite Earth observation (SEO) strategy, recognizing the contributions of SEO data to national priorities such as biodiversity conservation.
The Nature 2030 Strategy
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