Opinion - Canada needs better protection for its ocean-protected areas, says new report

Using a new scientific assessment Marine Protected process, the report looked at 18 Areas have weak or MPAs that cover 8.3 per cent of Canada’s ocean, and found that ineffective safeguards just seven of the sites, occupying less than seven per cent of the against the total area examined, could be considered “strongly protected.” ecological impacts The remaining 11 sites, includ- ing many of the la. [...] The level of protection within A new report by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) When Canada declared the assessed MPAs varied suggests Canada is compromising the quality of our ocean protection 14 per cent of its ocean widely across regions, too. [...] seven years to progress from activities, such as bottom trawl- along with almost 200 other sig- In the Pacific region, however, “proposed” to “designated” and ing, oil and gas development, natories to the UN Convention only 38 per cent of the area eval- another four years for the devel- mining and dumping. [...] the world’s ocean is officially ensure Canadian MPAs provide surpass its target and raising the The report’s findings came considered protected, the Marine biologically meaningful safe- country’s profile as an interna- barely a week after Canada and Conservation Institute estimates guards for the conservation of tional conservation leader. [...] ocean within MPAs that are protect quantifiably larger areas a new plan to stem the tide Canada, with the planet’s strongly protected is essential of our ocean, are we compromis- of vanishing species over the longest coastline skirting three for saving the ocean life that hu- ing the quality of that protec- next decade.