Reporting Protected and Conserved Areas
Reporting protected and conserved areas for inclusion in CPCAD
As action to meet national and international area-based conservation targets continues to grow, so too does the need to track, highlight, and proliferate the conservation solutions of all partners across Canada. With new partners across the country reporting their protected and conserved areas, this information is intended to support a common understanding of the process, roles and responsibilities for reporting areas for inclusion in the Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD).
CPCAD contains the most up to date spatial and attribute data on marine and terrestrial protected areas (PAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs). It is used by a wide range of organizations, including governments, environmental non-government organizations (ENGOs), academia, land managers, industry, and the public. The primary purpose of this database is to track protected and conserved areas across Canada. CPCAD is a collaborative tool, managed by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and supported by data providers across the country.
Desired outcomes for CPCAD reporting
- Canada has a comprehensive inventory of protected and conserved areas that includes all governance types.
- Reported protected and conserved areas are consistent with the Pan-Canadian definitions and guidance for protected areas and OECMs.
- Data for inclusion in CPCAD are reported, updated, and made publicly available annually.
- The CPCAD reporting process is clear, transparent and inclusive.
- CPCAD data are high quality and follow the CPCAD data schema.
Why is it important that PAs and OECMs are reported and that confidence in CPCAD data remains high?
In December 2022, the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Canada, resulted in a landmark agreement to guide global action on nature through to 2030. As part of this Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, 196 countries, including Canada, committed to conserve 30% of lands and waters globally by 2030, under Target 3[1]. These areas should be of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, effectively conserved and managed, ecologically representative, well-connected, equitably governed, and recognize and respect the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities. The government of Canada further committed to this “30 by 30” target nationally. CPCAD is the authoritative tool for tracking and reporting on progress toward this national and international target.
Federal, provincial, and territorial governments; Indigenous governments, communities, organizations, and Indigenous Peoples; businesses; local governments; environmental organizations; and private citizens, are all helping to protect and conserve areas, and report these areas to mark collaborative progress toward Target 3. Ensuring that CPCAD data are comprehensive and include areas that demonstrate action from all partners highlights the value of their conservation action. It also supports decision-makers to better understand where conservation is happening and where conservation efforts may require additional support. Although CPCAD is primarily a quantitative database, it supports both quantitative and qualitative analyses of protected and conserved areas across Canada.
Who can report an area for inclusion in CPCAD?
A governing authority of lands and inland waters that meet the pan-Canadian standard[2],[3] for protected areas and OECMs can report their areas for inclusion in CPCAD.
Crown lands can be reported by the federal, provincial or territorial governments that govern them or by a partner organization with the agreement of the Crown government. Non-Crown lands (e.g. privately owned lands, Indigenous owned lands, local government owned lands) can either be reported via a Crown government, an organization that is aggregating the data of others with their permission (e.g. an environmental non-government organization that aggregates and reports local land trust data) or reported directly by the governing authority to ECCC who administers CPCAD.
Consent of all landowners (and where appropriate, co-management partners) is required to report, and data sharing agreements must be respected where applicable.
All efforts should be made to uphold the integrity of areas in CPCAD. If unforeseen circumstances change the status of an area that was a protected area or OECM, then the governing authority can request the removal of an area from CPCAD. If a site was reported through another party (e.g. a Crown government or an organization that aggregates and reports data), the request for removal should be made through them.
What is the role of the federal government with respect to CPCAD and CPCAD data?
ECCC houses and manages CPCAD. This means that ECCC takes the data provided by partners, known as data providers, and collates them to create a publicly available, national data layer. ECCC then uses this data layer to report on progress towards national and international targets.
When a governing authority and potential data provider may be less familiar with the pan-Canadian tools, ECCC may request to collaborate in the early stages of site assessment and data submission to assist them in understanding the pan-Canadian definitions, guidance, and tools as well as the information required to submit an area for inclusion in CPCAD. This may not be the case for those who have provided data in the past. However, if capacity is an issue, support for site assessment and data development is available upon request. In both cases, the governing authority remains the decision maker for their own lands.
Federal government departments and agencies other than ECCC can and do report federal protected areas and OECMs to CPCAD. These departments and agencies are responsible for assessing their own candidate protected areas or OECMs for inclusion in CPCAD, however they may also request assistance or collaboration. In some cases, particularly when there may be shared responsibilities for a specific site, a province or territory may also report lands under federal control with agreement from the relevant federal governing authority.
What is the role of provincial and territorial governments with respect to CPCAD and CPCAD data?
Provincial and territorial governments are both governing authorities and data providers that, on request, provide data annually to ECCC for inclusion in CPCAD. This supports ECCC’s annual reporting on progress towards achieving national and international area-based conservation targets.
Provincial and territorial governments work with pan-Canadian definitions and tools to support assessment as to what qualifies as a protected area or OECM and what should be reported for inclusion in CPCAD in their jurisdiction[3]. These governments may also assist others within their province or territory in assessing their lands, developing the necessary data for inclusion in CPCAD, and reporting non-Crown protected areas and OECMs. More information on whom to contact can be found at https://canadaconservation.ca/home/evaluate-your-site. When a governing authority may be less familiar with protected areas and OECMs, the province or territory may request to collaborate in the early stages of site assessment and data submission to assist them in ensuring that they understand the pan-Canadian definitions, guidance, and tools as well as the information required to submit an area for inclusion in CPCAD. However, it is ultimately the responsibility of the governing authority to determine if their area meets the pan-Canadian definition of a protected area or OECM and decide whether to have it included in CPCAD.
What is the role of non-federal, provincial, or territorial data providers with respect to CPCAD and CPCAD data?
A governing authority of lands and inland waters that meet the pan-Canadian standard for protected areas and OECMs[2],[3] can report their areas for inclusion in CPCAD.
This means that Indigenous governments, organizations, communities, individuals or other Indigenous partners; land trusts; local governments; private landowners (organizations or individuals); etc., can have lands and waters recognized as part of the pan-Canadian network of protected and conserved areas through inclusion in CPCAD if they are the governing authority or have the governing authority’s permission to report.
Governing authorities can report their lands via a Crown government, an organization that is aggregating the data of others with their permission (e.g. an environmental non-government organization that aggregates and reports local land trust data), or directly to ECCC who administers CPCAD. Submission support is available from ECCC and relevant provincial and territorial partners.
Consent of all landowners and, where appropriate, co-management partners is required to report, and data sharing agreements must be respected where applicable.
What is required to report an area to CPCAD?
In order to be reported to CPCAD, an area must be a PA, OECM, interim PA, or interim OECM. Information on the pan-Canadian definitions[4] and criteria can be found in the pan-Canadian Decision Support Tool (DST) – For Assessing Areas Against Pan-Canadian Standards for Protected Areas and Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMS) for Terrestrial and Inland Waters.
A data-provider must provide the following for an area to be added to CPCAD:
- the geospatial polygons that delineate the boundaries of the area. Support to develop this is available if required.
- a completed geospatial schema for each of the polygons (minimum: all mandatory fields are filled), using the CPCAD user manual for field descriptions and criteria
When can a data provider report their data?
Data providers can provide data at any time of the year. For sites to appear in the annual CPCAD update for a particular year, data must be submitted to ECCC by the annual November 30 deadline. If data are provided to ECCC after the deadline, they will appear in the next database update – likely in the next calendar year.
For first-time data providers, it is a good idea to open lines of communication with either ECCC, the relevant provincial or territorial government, or the organization that will be submitting the data on their behalf early enough to ensure that the new data provider has all of the information required for submission and to find out if there may be additional, internal deadlines for receiving data.
Every year, ECCC sends out an official request for new or updated data to those who have previously submitted data to CPCAD. This request is sent out 4 to 8 weeks before the data submission deadline. Updated CPCAD data are made publicly available prior to the end of March in the following year.
Where can CPCAD be publicly accessed?
CPCAD and associated products are publicly available on the Government of Canada’s website:
- Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD) – Official webpage for CPCAD, offering centralized CPCAD information, and basic statistics.
- CPCAD Data Catalogue – Open data site that hosts geospatial files, statistics, and manuals for CPCAD.
- Open Maps Data Viewer – Interactive web map of CPCAD
How is it determined whether an area is a protected area or OECM and thus eligible to be included in CPCAD?
It is the responsibility of the governing authority to determine if an area is a protected area or an OECM and thus eligible to be included in CPCAD. In 2019, federal, provincial and territorial governments[3][5] endorsed the pan-Canadian definitions for protected areas and OECMs in One with Nature – A Renewed Approach to Land and Freshwater Conservation in Canada, followed shortly by the pan-Canadian Decision Support Tool (DST) For Assessing Areas Against Pan-Canadian Standards for Protected Areas and Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMS) for Terrestrial and Inland Waters and the associated DST template. These pan-Canadian definitions and associated tools provide guidance to Governing Authorities when determining whether or not sites qualify as protected areas or OECMs (including interim areas).
Support for understanding and using the DST and associated template is available through provincial and territorial governments and ECCC (ERcataloguePW@ec.gc.ca).
Additional support as well as checks and balances for continuing to ensure that the areas in CPCAD meet the pan-Canadian definitions of protected areas and OECMs are in development.
Submitting new protected or conserved areas for consideration
| Jurisdiction | Contact information |
| Alberta | barbara.bahnmann@gov.ab.ca |
| Manitoba | pai@gov.mb.ca |
| New Brunswick | maryse.bourgeois@gnb.ca |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | emilythompson@gov.nl.ca |
| Nova Scotia | David.MacKinnon2@novascotia.ca |
| Northwest Territories | Danielle_Thompson@gov.nt.ca |
| Ontario | laura.bjorgan@ontario.ca PA.OECM.Reporting@Ontario.ca |
| Prince Edward Island | ggregory@gov.pe.ca |
| Yukon | jessica.elliott@yukon.ca |
1. Target 3 – Conserve 30% of Land, Waters and Seas
2. Decision Support Tool – For Assessing Areas Against Pan-Canadian Standards for Protected Areas and Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMS) for Terrestrial and Inland Waters.
3. Québec develops its own instruments to implement the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and to contribute to the achievement of the Kunming-Montreal Targets. Québec sets its own conservation priorities and timelines on its territory, and collaborates with the federal government and the provinces and territories when deemed necessary. Québec contributes to the pan-Canadian effort and reports to CPCAD.
4. One with Nature – A Renewed Approach to Land and Freshwater Conservation in Canada; Accounting for Protected and Other Conserved Areas – Pathway to Canada Target 1
5. Following the passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act in November 2019, British Columbia is developing its own instruments to assess the reporting eligibility of OECMs to CPCAD to account for the provincial land use and reconciliation context.
