Environment committee  Reiterating what I said earlier, I think we need to make sure that it addresses large land and seascape scale approaches. It would take us from one-off projects to a larger landscape, more integrated approach. We need to make sure that we complete a network of core protected habitat areas in all of the regions.

Environment committee  Yes, thank you. CPAWS has an ongoing campaign to protect 12 marine protected area by 2012. We are making some progress on a number of those sites, which is great. We're continuing to work to encourage that to happen.

Environment committee  I can explain some of them. I'm sure I won't get the full suite, and I'm sure Mr. Wareham will be able to fill in the details, because he's our marine expert at the table today. There was an original commitment to complete networks of protected areas by 2012. We're obviously not going to get there.

Environment committee  So far we are at 1%.

Environment committee  I think there are some interesting examples. Again, Mr. Wareham can fill in more details, I'm sure. Australia has done some interesting things. One of the challenges we face is that we tend to establish protected areas on land and in the oceans one at a time, and it takes a very long time.

Environment committee  I think there's fairly clear evidence, both internationally and in Canada, that in order to conserve those important ecological processes, and the parts.... In order to protect healthy ecosystems we have to keep all the parts and the processes intact. In order to do that, I think there's pretty clear evidence that we need to both have these core areas of protected habitat, and also have them connected together and nested within a sustainable landscape.

Environment committee  Are changed landscapes always degraded landscapes? If they have lost species, they are degraded. If they have lost integrity, then they are degraded at some level. Obviously there's a full spectrum of degradation. Depending on what you mean by changed, if they have lost integrity, then they're degraded in some way.

Environment committee  Thank you. I think the goal of the national conservation plan should be about protecting wildlife or biodiversity and healthy ecosystems to sustain the values we all share and our human communities.

Environment committee  There is growing scientific evidence that there is a great deal of biological carbon that's actually stored in intact ecosystems. For example, the boreal forest is one of the largest storehouses of biological carbon in the world. The wonderful thing is that when you conserve these ecosystems in their healthy state, you are also helping to ensure that biological carbon stays stored and is maintained in that state.

Environment committee  CPAWS shares the challenges we're all facing in terms of the nature deficit disorder, as it's often called, and people being less connected with nature. CPAWS has a number of programs to try to deal with the challenge. We have education programs. For example, in our southern Alberta chapter where the mountain parks are not too far away from the city, we have in-classroom programs and take kids out into the parks.

Environment committee  Good afternoon, and thank you for this opportunity to share with the committee our recommendations for a national conservation plan. My name is Alison Woodley. I'm the national conservation director at CPAWS. My presentation today will focus primarily on the fundamental elements that we believe are essential for a national conservation plan to effectively advance conservation in Canada.