Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has committed $2.19 million to help protect scarce Spring salamanders in the Northern Green Mountains area of southern Quebec..In a news release, Environment Canada said the grant nearly doubles the $2.4 million already spent since 2019 to restore habitat for a range of 26 species considered at risk, including Bicknell’s thrush, the Wood turtle, the Monarch butterfly and the butternut tree. .The Government of Canada — and Guilbeault in particular — said it is “strongly committed” to meeting global biodiversity targets set at the Kunming‑Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework, which he chaired last December. .“Our country is working to preserve nature on a global scale, to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, and to put natural environments on a path to recovery by 2050,” he said. "As we face the triple crisis of rapid biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution, Canadians are stepping up and working together to ensure that the places they love are protected.”.Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, who represents the riding, said it’s ”just the beginning” of the Liberal’s climate change efforts. "Our intentions on climate change have always been very clear: we need to do more, and we need to act now.”.But it’s not just Quebec. The federal government aims to spend $40 million by 2026 to restore 19 million hectares in 18 locations across the country. That’s in addition to 11 priority places previously identified by federal, provincial, and territorial governments under the Pan‑Canadian Approach to Transforming Species at Risk Conservation in Canada..In Alberta, those include Waterton Lakes and the CFB Suffield National Wildlife Area. It’s home to about 80% of Alberta’s endangered species including the Great Plains toad and thee Burrowing owl.
