As part of Nature Canada’s annual Nature on the Hill event, the Grand River Environmental Network is one of the many nature groups advocating to protect the Greenbelt and make good on the need to protect 30 percent of Canadian land, waters, and ocean by 2030.

Our first Nature on the Hill meeting was on March 8, and it was fantastic to have federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault drop by and join with a huge thumbs-up for Nature Canada and biodiversity.

It is so important that elected officials hear first-hand from citizens on the need for better biodiversity and environmental protections — particularly in a rapidly warming world facing astonishing levels of extinction.

About Grand River Environmental Network

The Grand River Environmental Network (GREN) is a proactive voice for the environment in the Grand River Watershed. Our members are activists, watchdogs, guardians, stewards and concerned citizens who foster an environmental awareness and promote respect for our natural world. We work throughout our community and with all levels of government for the sustainable solutions we need.

GREN is advocating for an Action Plan that protects 30 percent of land and water by 2030 and fights climate change

Our work has focussed a lot on stewardship and land protection in recent years — be it the Ontario Greenbelt at the Provincial level, our Protected Countryside, our Countryside Line Concept, our Environmentally Sensitive Landscapes (ESLs), or our Source Water Protection Areas at the regional and municipal levels. All of these activities are integrated in these meetings at the federal level, where we are focussed on Global Biodiversity Framework and the need to ensure that 30% of Canada’s land and ocean is protected by 2030. We have advocated for the creation of many of these protections, supported them all, and folks from across all our communities have done everything they can to ensure long-term success.

Recently, we’ve been speaking up to save the Greenbelt and ensure a sustainable future for our communities and asking Doug Ford to Keep His Greenbelt Promise. Additionally, we have been defending our visionary Official Plans, and seeking to Repeal Bill 23 to protect our countryside and farmland from urban sprawl and while also protecting our groundwater.

This ties in strongly with the work of Nature Canada, particularly protecting biodiversity, conserving 30 percent of land and water by 2030 and fighting climate change..

You can help!

You can help Nature Canada and our Nature Network partners like Alberta Wilderness Association to halt and reverse nature loss at Nature on the Hill by sending a letter now to the Prime Minister demanding an Action Plan that:

• Protects 30 percent of land and water by 2030
• Establishes more Marine Protected Areas
• Supports Indigenous-led conservation
• Fights climate change by planting trees and protecting carbon-rich ecosystems

Speak up now!