How Canada “hamburger manufactured” its way to marine protected area success and a more effective and equitable way forward for the post-2020 conservation agenda

Abstract

In Canada, the establishment of various forms of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and the reclassification of fishery closures as “other effective area-based conservation measures” (OECMs) from 2017 to 2020 resulted in the largest and most rapid increase in declared protected “area” in the history of the country. In this paper, we critically assess Canada’s declared protected area from multiple perspectives and, in particular, in relation to the intent of the United Nations (UN) Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Aichi Biodiversity Targets. We reveal how a complex suite of exceptions implemented through management plans and unclear regulations, as well as redefining marine use classifications, has been used to increase the declared protected area estate and celebrate conservation success, with little to no meaningful gains in the effective, in situ conservation of biodiversity. We argue that Canada has potentially placed itself in a more difficult position to achieve the goals and objectives outlined in the Zero Draft of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, including achieving the call for at least 10% of protected areas and OECMs to be under “strict protection”, which Canada is currently nowhere near achieving. We propose several major transformations to MPA policy, planning, and management, including reducing regulatory complexity, modernizing legislation, legislating timeframes for the implementation of connected networks of protected areas, and more effectively enabling Indigenous Peoples to assume their rightful roles as leaders in marine conservation through the establishment of Indigenous Protected Areas, which if enacted will better position Canada to achieve the genuine intent of many aspects of the UN CBD.