Actions to protect and promote Manitoba’s varied natural landscapes
Centrally located in North America, Manitoba is home to a diversity of ecosystems – from the prairies in the South to the Boreal and arctic coastlines in the North. These ecosystems provide benefits that are indispensable to the health and well-being of Manitoban’s and our communities. It is our responsibility to protect them for future generations.
Our Made-in-Manitoba Plan proposes the following actions to preserve nature, while also mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change:
Protect and promote Manitoba’s Provincial Parks system
Natural spaces can positively contribute to the well-being of people who enjoy them, and play a critical role in conserving Manitoba’s biodiversity. Our Made-in-Manitoba Plan proposes the following actions to protect and promote Manitoba’s natural spaces:
- Expand and improve our parks system to better serve Manitoban’s and to attract new visitors.
- Continue to support the development and promotion of a system of recreational trails across the province.
- Enhance the network of protected areas to ensure an adequate level of protection is achieved for the long-term viability of species and habitat.
- Build strong emotional connections between Manitoban’s and the land which supports them, by expanding ecotourism, hunting and outfitting and other activities.
Protect Manitoba’s wild species and habitat
Manitoba’s wild plants and animals, and the habitats on which they depend, face significant challenges from climate change, disease, invasive species and human activities. To protect Manitoba’s wild species and habitat our Plan proposes:
- Providing additional resources to ensure that wildlife is protected and managed in a sustainable manner.
- Supporting sustainable fisheries for subsistence users, recreational anglers and commercial fishers.
- Developing a credible strategy to secure Eco certification of Manitoba’s commercial fisheries to meet demands for sustainably harvested fish internationally.
- Working collaboratively with landowners, conservation organizations, Indigenous peoples, and governments to assess, monitor and recover species at risk.
- Continuing the fight to keep new invasive species from establishing in Manitoba, and to keep those that are already here from spreading.
Protect Manitoba’s forests and natural areas
About half of Manitoba’s land base is covered by forests and natural areas. Providing habitat for biodiversity and supporting thousands of Manitoban’s who make a living from the land and resources, our forests and natural areas are integral to the health of our Province. Our Plan proposes the following actions to carefully balance the economic and environmental interests in Manitoba’s forests and natural areas:
- Complete Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments of Manitoba’s forests to identify vulnerabilities and potential solutions to ensure our forests stay resilient to a changing climate.
- Invest in shelterbelt and afforestation programming to increase the planting of trees as shelterbelts in rural Manitoba and adjacent to major transportation corridors.
- Enhance the Manitoba Wildfire Program to better prevent and prepare for extreme fires, expected to increase in frequency and severity as our climate changes.
- Manage Manitoba’s varied landscapes with consideration of the potential and value for carbon sequestration.
Conserve our environment and create economic prosperity
Conserving our environment and creating economic prosperity is at the heart of Environment, Climate and Parks. Our Plan proposes the following actions to balance the conservation of our lands in perpetuity, and the use of natural resources to create jobs and prosperity:
- Develop a boreal wetlands conservation policy to protect one of Manitoba’s most valuable ecosystems.
- Develop best management practices (BMPs) for sustainable resource development in Manitoba’s boreal zone.
- Fund projects, through the independently managed Conservation Trust, that support the goals and objectives outlined in the Climate and Green Plan.
