Healthy Nature Healthy People: A Call to Put Nature Protection at the Heart of Canada’s COVID-19 Rec

Protected area networks also need to be designed and effectively managed based on science and Indigenous knowledge.29,30 Photo: photerrestrial Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society 11 HEALTHY NATURE HEALTHY PEOPLE: A CALL TO PUT NATURE PROTECTION AT THE HEART OF CANADA’S COVID-19 RECOVERY STRATEGIES COVID-19 AND CONSERVATION Destruction of nature is directly linked to the risk of pandemics The COV. [...] Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society 31 HEALTHY NATURE HEALTHY PEOPLE: A CALL TO PUT NATURE PROTECTION AT THE HEART OF CANADA’S COVID-19 RECOVERY STRATEGIES NORTHWEST TERRITORIES Indigenous Governments lead the way in establishing and stewarding protected and conserved areas In the Northwest Territories, Indigenous Governments are leading the way to establishing and stewarding Indigenous protecte. [...] Investments in COVID-19 recovery offers an opportunity to better recognize the value of protected nature to the province by investing in nature and culture-based job opportunities in research and monitoring, community engagement and training, and outdoor recreation and ecotourism, all related to the management of the province’s parks and protected areas. [...]  Along the northwest coast of the island, Parks Canada is working with the province Photo: Amanda Phung and the Mi’kmaq to assess the feasibility of protecting the Hog Island Sandhills — magnificent wild barrier islands that stretch 50 kilometres along the coast — as an expansion to the national park reserve. [...] Continued leadership and support from the provincial and federal governments, including investment in Indigenous-led conservation initiatives and land trusts, will be needed to deliver on this short term promise and move to the larger scale conservation action needed to protect and restore the island’s biodiversity in the long term.