This year, the McCall MacBain Foundation is so proud to have placed a CAD $10M gift for large-scale conservation and nature-based climate solutions with The Nature Conservancy and its Canadian affiliate, Nature United.
Dis’ju, Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada.
Nature United works in partnership to support Indigenous-led conservation in British Columbia, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories, while also bringing deep science and policy expertise to “nature-based solutions” – solutions that conserve biodiversity, reduce and sequester greenhouse gas emissions, and support livelihoods and ways of life on land and water.
We believe that solutions have to work for people as well as nature to succeed. Over more than seven years of partnership, we have seen Nature United’s deep understanding of the Canadian context, and its ability to develop solutions that can sustain livelihoods and the resources they rely on well into the future.
Our gift supports the following aspects of their work, which in turn are key pillars of our own strategy on nature-based climate solutions:
1. Support Indigenous-led conservation: Nature United has supported Indigenous communities for more than a decade in advancing land use visions that are economically and environmentally sustainable. Last December, the Government of Canada committed $800M to four large-scale Indigenous-led conservation initiatives in Canada, including one of the most comprehensive marine management plans in Great Bear Sea, where Nature United has worked with First Nations for more than a decade. We are excited to help Nature United expand the support it offers to Nations, particularly in British Columbia, to advance conservation that serves people and planet.
2. Advance nature-based solutions in Canada: In 2021, Nature United launched a comprehensive science study showing that nature-based climate solutions in Canada could reduce emissions equivalent to 11% of the country’s current carbon emissions by 2030. The study also showed that the most significant short-term solutions come from changes to land management practices in agriculture. The study helped inform the Government of Canada’s $4 billion investment in nature-based climate solutions. The study informed our own thinking on nature-based climate solutions and prompted us to open a dedicated area of work on agriculture. We are delighted Nature United is using part of our gift to grow their capacity to work on sustainable agriculture in Canada, where an approach that centers both people and nature can help ensure sustainable livelihoods and resources use for farmers and ranchers for generations to come.
3. Strengthen Nature United for the benefit of all: Nature United is a leading voice in Canada for nature-based solutions. We believe that an investment in the organization – in its science, policy, and deep place-based capacity – is an investment in a sustainable future for Canada and the world.
In this decisive decade for climate and biodiversity, we are so pleased to work with Nature United and all our other partners in this area to invest deeply for large-scale results.
