Achieving the 30 by 30 Biodiversity Target in Canada Through Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas by Recognizing Indigenous Rights

Canada’s commitment to the United Nations Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)’s target three is protecting 30% of land and waters by 2030. In 2024, only 13.7% of terrestrial and 14.7% of marine areas are protected and conserved areas (PCAs), necessitating an additional 1.6 million square kilometers (sq km) of land and 0.8 million sq km of ocean. Our GIS-based research indicates Indigenous protected and conserved areas (IPCAs) hold significant potential to bridge this gap. Currently, four Indigenous-governed IPCAs protect only 0.05% of land in Canada. These IPCAs are on modern treaty lands. Canada’s vast peatlands are excluded from PCAs, despite the peatlands’ ecological integrity, abundance of Indigenous food sources, and importance for climate change, due to mining interests on greenstone belts. This requires Indigenous-led governance of IPCAs, independent of the Crown's control, to qualify for the GBF target, advance reconciliation, and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). By recognizing Indigenous self-determination and self-government, protecting half of all peatlands alongside all proposed IPCAs would enable Canada to achieve its 30 by 30 GBF target and safeguard critical habitats.