TABUSINTAC, N.B. --
March 12, 2012 -- Tilly O’Neil Gordon, Member
of Parliament for Miramichi, on behalf of
Canada’s Minister of the Environment, the
Honourable Peter Kent, today announced the
Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC) successful
acquisition of three separate properties
totalling 28 hectares of land in Tabusintac,
New Brunswick, 50 kilometres north of Miramichi.
This project was secured in part with funding
from Environment Canada's Natural Areas
Conservation Program.
“The Government of Canada
is committed to the long-term conservation
of biological diversity and to working with
partners, such as the Nature Conservancy
of Canada, to protect Canada’s natural treasures,”
said Mrs. O’Neil Gordon. “These properties
represent an ecologically significant area
that is home to many iconic species including
the endangered Piping Plover.”
“These acquisitions
mark another achievement under our government's
Natural Areas Conservation Program,” said
Minister Kent. “With this investment, we
are taking real action to protect and conserve
our country’s ecosystems and sensitive species
for present and future generations.”
The first property is
10 hectares and consists of forested habitat,
salt marshes and sandy beaches. Shore birds
feed and rest on the beach and in the property's
marsh pools.
The second property
obtained is eight hectares and consists
of a small salt marsh and beach, and within
the waters of Tabusintac Bay. It features
salt marsh and sand dunes, which provide
ideal nesting habitat for the nationally
endangered Piping Plover.
The third property is
10 hectares and consists of forests, salt
marsh and sandy beach with eelgrass beds
just offshore. Large flocks of waterfowl
congregate offshore, while Bald Eagles and
Osprey cruise the open wetlands.
“The NCC wishes to thank
the Government of Canada for making a difference
in helping us protect this critical safe
haven for the wide variety of migrating
waterfowl and shorebirds, including the
nationally endangered Piping Plover,” said
Linda Stephenson, NCC Atlantic Region Vice-President.
“Tabusintac is one of only two Ramsar Wetlands
of International Importance in New Brunswick.
These properties expand NCC nature preserves
where we have been working since 1993.”
The Government of Canada's
$225-million Natural Areas Conservation
Program is an important on-the-ground initiative
that takes real action to preserve Canada’s
environment and conserve its precious natural
heritage for present and future generations.
It is through the ongoing contribution from
all donors that we can ensure the protection
of natural areas in Canada. As of December
2011, the Natural Areas Conservation Program
has protected 327,757 hectares of habitat,
which includes habitat for 117species at
risk.
+More
Canada and Nova Scotia
Working Together to Reduce Greenhouse Gas
Emissions
HALIFAX, N.S. -- March
19, 2012 -- Canada’s Environment Minister,
the Honourable Peter Kent, and Nova Scotia
Minister of the Environment, the Honourable
Sterling Belliveau, announced today that
they are working towards an equivalency
agreement on coal-fired electricity greenhouse
gas regulations.
Both governments wish
to avoid duplication of effort to control
greenhouse gas emissions, and are working
together to ensure that industry does not
face two sets of regulations. An equivalency
agreement would see the federal regulations
stand down in favour of a provincial regulation,
as long as the provincial regulation achieves
an equivalent environmental outcome.
“More than two years
ago, our governments signed an Agreement
in Principle on efforts to address climate
change,” said Minister Kent. “We remain
focused on our mutual goal of reducing green
house gas emissions, but we believe in ensuring
the Province of Nova Scotia has the flexibility
to choose an approach that best suits them
.”
“We're very pleased
to be developing this agreement with Environment
Canada,” said Minister Belliveau. “An equivalency
agreement makes sense for Nova Scotia. Our
regulations were developed after significant
research and input from Nova Scotians, and
they will achieve the same greenhouse gas
reductions as the federal approach while
recognizing what's best for our province.”
Nova Scotia is the first
province to put in place hard caps on greenhouse
gas emissions for electricity providers.
This regulation requires a reduction of
25 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions
in the electricity sector by 2020. The agreement
will also require the province to create
new targets which will extend to 2030 to
match reductions that will be achieved under
the proposed federal regulations.
In August 2011, the
federal government proposed new regulations
for the electricity sector that will apply
a stringent performance standard to new
coal-fired electricity generation units
and those coal-fired units that have reached
the end of their economic life. Final regulations
are expected to be published in the first
part of 2012, after which the equivalency
agreement can be finalized.
Canada stands firm on
the commitment it made when it signed the
Copenhagen Accord in 2009, to reduce its
greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent
below 2005 levels, by 2020.
