Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the variability among all living organisms on Earth. It is reflected in the complexities of healthy, diverse ecosystems, and it helps to sustain us all.

Biodiversity is declining around the world, jeopardizing natural ecosystems and the survival of all species, including humans. The international community recognized the crisis several decades ago, with early efforts by the United Nations Environment Programme leading to the establishment of the global Convention on Biological Diversity in the early 1990s.

Canada is a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, and it has committed to working to halt and reverse biodiversity loss here at home while supporting global efforts to turn the tide. Within Canada, the federal government, provincial and territorial governments, and Indigenous governments across the country are working independently and in partnership to implement laws, policies, and programs that aim to protect natural ecosystems, prevent the loss of species at risk, and support the recovery of nature.

Environmental laws of various kinds support this work, including laws that establish protected areas on land and at sea, laws that protect individual species at risk, laws that target invasive species, and laws that require governments to conduct biodiversity monitoring, research, and education.

As part of our work, we advocate for improvements in the laws and legal systems that are designed to conserve and restore biodiversity in Canada, focusing on Atlantic Canada in particular. We also monitor government actions under those laws and look to see if governments are fulfilling their legal obligations to protect biodiversity and species at risk.

To learn more about our work in this area, search our Resource Library for research reports, blog posts, and submissions to government on biodiversity and species at risk.