Canada Announces Commitment to Support International Forest Restoration and the Next Generation of Forest Leaders

MONTREAL, Dec. 12, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - As Canada welcomes the world to the COP 15 (Conference of the Parties) biodiversity conference in Montreal, we continue to work with domestic and international partners to safeguard nature and build a sustainable future for generations to come. Climate resilience, environmental landscape restoration and biodiversity are always top of mind in Canada's inclusive global economic development.

Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, announced an investment of $18.7 million in support of Scaling-up Nature-Based Leadership Platforms. Through the proven partnerships of the International Model Forest Network in official development assistance (ODA)?eligible countries, this investment will support efforts to scale up forest and landscape restoration, enable inclusive landscape governance and equip the next generation of forest leaders to address the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. 

The investment represents an allocation of Canada's five-year $5.3-billion climate finance commitment made in 2021 and toward Canada's commitment that 20 percent of these funds go toward nature-based climate solutions and projects that contribute biodiversity co-benefits.

This investment  in the International Model Forest Network will not only help support developing countries in their transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient, nature-positive and inclusive sustainable development but also contribute in part to delivering on Canada's commitments under the Global Forest Finance Pledge and the Forests and Leaders' Partnership.

There is no solution to climate change and terrestrial biodiversity loss that does not involve healthy forest ecosystems. Forest ecosystems and how we sustainably manage forests are a key, nature-based solution to many issues, including climate mitigation, biodiversity loss and increased efforts in conservation.

With forests housing 80 percent of all terrestrial biodiversity, forest and landscape restoration is an important nature-based solution. Canada will continue to take significant steps forward in addressing the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Canada's climate finance program's aim is to continue to support developing countries' transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient, nature-positive and inclusive sustainable development.

"The concerns that inspired the International Model Forest Network 30 years ago have become increasingly relevant in 2022. Inclusive best practices and shared governance approaches to natural resource management are an important part of a collaborative, international effort to fight climate change and biodiversity and habitat loss. Through this investment, we are advancing our commitment to international climate finance, restoring important lands and forests and helping to support the next generation of forest leaders."

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Natural Resources

"Protecting, conserving and restoring nature delivers both climate and biodiversity benefits. That is why Canada's climate finance commitment includes more support for initiatives, like this one, that leverage nature-based climate solutions to help halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030."

The Honourable Melanie Joly
Minister of Foreign Affairs

"Trees are a critical part of our plan to combat climate change and curb biodiversity loss. Forests, trees and their stewards will help Canada and the world transition to a net-zero economy, protect and conserve our ecosystems, secure urban resilience to extreme weather events, improve public health and build a nature-positive future."

The Honourable Steven Guilbeault
Minister of Environment and Climate Change

"Developing countries face the harshest impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss. Working together to restore and manage forests and to invest in the next generation of forest leaders helps build sustainable solutions that will deliver local and global climate and biodiversity results, benefiting local communities and all of us."

The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan
Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada 

• International Model Forest Network
• UN Conference on Biodiversity: COP15 in Montreal
• Canada and the International Model Forest Network
• Canada's International Climate Finance
• Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy

• In 2021, as the global community called for increased climate ambition, Canada stepped up and announced a doubling of its international climate finance, from $2.65 billion (2015?2021) to $5.3 billion (2021?2026).
• To further strengthen its ability to help developing countries transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient, nature-positive and inclusive sustainable development, Canada also announced that it will:
• allocate a minimum of 20 percent of funding to projects that leverage nature-based climate solutions and projects that contribute biodiversity co-benefits.
• continue to support women's leadership and decision-making in climate action and ensure that at least 80 percent of climate projects integrate gender equality, in line with Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy.
• The 30th anniversary of the International Model Forest Network (IMFN) was marked on June 12, 2022. The Government of Canada announced the development of an International Model Forest Network at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, alongside the birth of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity itself.
• Canada is the seat of both the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, based in Montreal, and the Secretariat of the International Model Forest Network, based in Ottawa.
• The International Model Forest Network (IMFN) is a voluntary global community of practice whose members and supporters work toward the sustainable management of forest?based landscapes and natural resources through the Model Forest approach.
• Over 30 years, the IMFN has grown to more than 60 Model Forests in more than 30 countries on five continents.

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SOURCE Natural Resources Canada