CPAWS Yukon

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Posts by Adil Darvesh:

December 23 2022

Where to begin?

Written by Paula Gomez Villalba
Updated December 2022

Every year there are many opportunities to connect with nature, but getting started isn’t always so easy. Our forests and lands are home to many plants, animals, and a long history of how Indigenous peoples cared for and used them. We’re all learning— whether it’s names of plants budding after a long winter, or a new exciting way to stay active in the mountains.

This list highlights a few resources and spaces around the Yukon that we’ve found helpful in fostering connections with our wild spaces.

Learn

The Boreal Herbal: Wild Food and Medicine Plants of the North
Written by Yukon resident Beverley Gray, this book is an amazing guide to identifying and using plants found in the North. It includes colour photos and profiles on specific plants, many recipes, and instructions on how to preserve plants. Many Yukon public libraries have copies available to borrow.

Government of Yukon Guide to Hunting & Guide to Trapping
These Government of Yukon guides dive into the rules and regulations of harvesting wildlife, how to get licenses, and how to be safe and responsible. They also highlight key education courses and workshops.

Culture

Kwanlin Dün First Nations Justice Department
The Justice Department “delivers cultural recreation, outreach and healing programs and services to youth (ages 12 to 29), their families and caregivers, and the whole community for the purposes of reducing risk factors, revitalizing cultural and traditions and improving quality of life.”

Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre
The Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre is the cultural home of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation in downtown Whitehorse. It is a gathering place that hosts events and workshops, including a hide tanning camp and sewing circle.

Council of Yukon First Nations
The Council of Yukon First Nations offers health, medical, culture and language, recreation, and social support. Their mandate is to serve as a political advocacy organization for Yukon First Nations holding traditional territories, to protect their rights, titles and interests.

Move

Yukon Aboriginal Sport Circle
The Yukon Aboriginal Sport Circle is a non-profit society dedicated to promoting Aboriginal sports and participation. They offer many different sports programs in Yukon communities, including Arctic Sports, Dene Games, and Archery.

Kwanlin Koyotes Ski Club
The Kwanlin Koyotes are a youth ski group based out of the Kwanlin Koyote Cabin in McIntyre Subdivision. Their mandate is to get kids out on the land, learning how to ski, and taking in the natural environment that surrounds us.

Photo by Malkolm Boothroyd.

December 15 2022

CPAWS Yukon welcomes landmark Canada-Yukon Nature Agreement, but more work is needed to protect nature

CPAWS Yukon News

Whitehorse, Yukon – The Yukon Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS Yukon) is encouraged by today’s joint announcement by the Government of Canada and Government of Yukon in the Canada-Yukon Nature Agreement. We called on the Government of Yukon to step up on protecting and conserving wild spaces and species, and their commitment to protecting 25% by 2025 is a step towards achieving that.

In 2021, Canada’s federal government confirmed its commitment to protecting 30% of its land and ocean by 2030 — necessary action towards addressing biodiversity loss and climate change. Although the Canada-Yukon Agreement is a critical first step, CPAWS Yukon is hopeful that the Government of Yukon will follow the agreement by implementing clear policies that support 30% protection by 2030 and supporting Indigenous-led conservation.

The news follows the release of CPAWS Yukon polling that says the majority of Yukoners support the government setting a big and important nature conservation goal, like protecting and conserving 30% of land and water in the Yukon by 2030. Nearly three quarters of Yukoners (73%) think the Government of Yukon should commit to protecting at least 30% of the territory.

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Canada-Yukon Nature Agreement Press Release

Canada-Yukon Nature Agreement

Contact

Adil Darvesh, CPAWS Yukon Communications Manager

867-393-8080 x 9 | adarvesh@cpawsyukon.org

December 13 2022

New poll confirms Yukoners support nature conservation in Canada, the Yukon, and the Dawson Region

CPAWS Yukon News

While it’s no surprise that Yukoners deeply value the territory’s lands, waters and wildlife, a new poll confirms that Yukoners support nature protection. The poll, conducted by Nanos Research and commissioned by CPAWS Yukon, shows that a strong majority of Yukoners (80%) support the federal government’s commitment to protect 30% of land in Canada. Nearly three quarters of Yukoners (73%) think the Government of Yukon should commit to protecting at least 30% of the territory.

Currently 19.1% of the Yukon and 13.5% of Canada is protected. “Protected areas are an effective way to prevent habitat loss and fragmentation, two of the major causes of wildlife declines in Canada and around the world,” explained Randi Newton, Conservation Manager of CPAWS Yukon. “Indigenous-led conservation and land use planning offer clear pathways for protecting the lands and waters that make the Yukon so special.”

The poll is a strong indication that Yukoners are expecting more action from their governments to protect nature. The results are timely, as people from across the world are gathering at COP15, the United Nations’ biodiversity conference in Montreal, to set conservation goals to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity.

The territorial government has not committed to conservation targets, despite the federal government pledging to protect 30% of land in Canada. However, the majority of Yukoners (66%) say they would be more likely to support a territorial government if it set a big and important nature conservation goal, like protecting and conserving 30% of land and water in the Yukon by 2030. Nearly two thirds (63%) say they would be more likely to support a Yukon political party if it proposed to increase territorial funding to create new protected areas. Only 16% were less likely to support a territorial party that made a commitment to do so (19% said it would have no impact).

“Commiting to nature conservation would help ensure the Yukon doesn’t sleepwalk into the same habitat and wildlife declines facing the rest of the country,” said Randi Newton. “Clear policy direction from governments would help support existing initiatives and Indigenous-led conservation efforts. Protecting at least 30% of the territory by 2030 is a very achievable goal if we simply follow the lead of land use planning and conservation initiatives from First Nations and the Inuvialuit.”

Yukoners also support conservation in the Dawson Region, where land use planning is ongoing. The Recommended Dawson Region Land Use Plan identifies nearly 40% of the region for protection, including the existing Tombstone Territorial Park. Nearly half (47%) of poll respondents favoured at least 40% protection, compared to 28% who favoured less than 20% protection.

“For many, Dawson is synonymous with mining and the Klondike Gold Rush, but this poll demonstrates that Yukoners also value Dawson for its superb wildlife habitat, beautiful rivers and mountains, and the cultural connections that run deeply with the land,” said Randi Newton.

Nanos Research conducted the poll through phone interviews with 410 Yukoners between November 4th and 14th, 2022. The results of the poll are accurate plus or minus 4.8%, 19 times out of 20.

Find a copy of the report here.

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Contact

Adil Darvesh, CPAWS Yukon Communications Manager
867-393-8080 | adarvesh@cpawsyukon.org

November 28 2022

Colouring Contest

CPAWS Yukon Uncategorized

Looking for a way to bring a bit more colour into summer? Join our colouring contest and submit your completed page to win!

The contest runs until September 7th and is open to kids of all ages. We have three prizes available, including a $50 Mac’s Fireweed Books gift card.

Download your colouring page and enter the contest by emailing a photo of your finished piece to info@cpawsyukon.org with your name and age. You can also drop off your completed colouring page at our booth at the Fireweed Community Market on Thursdays 3-7pm.

CPAWS Colouring Book (InDesign FINAL) (1)

These colouring pages are samples from Hutch’s Yukon Trip: A Colouring Book Journey by Ainslie Spence, CPAWS Yukon’s 2022 intern. Join Hutch the husky on an adventure across the Yukon to some of the places CPAWS Yukon has been working to conserve now and for future generations. The book features colouring pages, activity sheets, fun facts, and Hutch’s wild tips!

We’ll be selling the books ($5) at the Fireweed Community Market on Thursdays, 3 – 7 pm in Shipyards Park in Whitehorse.

The fine print:
All entries must be emailed to info@cpawsyukon.org or given to us in person. By submitting your entry you are giving CPAWS Yukon permission to share it on social media (you may remain anonymous if you want – just let us know!).

November 25 2022

Peat beneath our feet

CPAWS Yukon Blog, BlogDawsonRegion mining

Written by Paula Gomez Villalba, Communications Coordinator

There is peat beneath our feet in wetlands that are thousands of years old. Soil so rich in carbon and history that it’s home to a plethora of plants, animals, and values. Peat forms when a shortage of oxygen in wet soils slows down the breakdown of mosses and other plants. Over thousands of years, layers of organic material build on top of each other, forming peat. We call places with these special soils peatlands.

Photo by Malkolm Boothroyd

Wetlands with peat come in many forms, like fens, bogs, and swamps.

The organic material that peatlands store is rich in carbon. Around the world, peatlands hold more carbon than all the carbon humans have burned since the Industrial Revolution.

Beyond carbon, these ecosystems also hold important ecological and cultural values. They are home to moose, beavers and waterfowl, and a breadbasket for many First Nations citizens. Many people visit wetlands to hunt, fish and feel connected with the natural world.

Will we defeat the peat?

Peatlands are vulnerable to disturbances driven by climate change and industrial development. When disturbed, the carbon they store gets transformed and released as CO2, adding more fuel to the climate crisis.

In the Yukon, placer mining is one form of development that threatens peatlands because gold settles at the bottom of water courses in rivers, creeks and wetlands. When peatlands are excavated, they are all but impossible to restore and never have the same carbon storing potential as intact peatlands.

Industrial development is steadily consuming wetlands, like placer mining in the Indian River watershed. Base satellite image: Apple Maps. Inset photos: Malkolm Boothroyd.

How much peat is at risk? The short answer is, we don’t fully know. National peatland maps don’t provide a fine scale picture of peatlands in the Yukon, and local mapping of peat has only happened in a few pockets of the territory. Without this information, we don’t know how much of the carbon held by peatlands is vulnerable to all kinds of development.

This makes emissions from peatland disturbance invisible – they don’t appear on the ledgers we use to track carbon emissions and aren’t part of our carbon cutting plans.

Wanting to shed light on these emissions, our team at CPAWS Yukon set out to understand the magnitude of carbon release from industrial development in the territory. Our investigation took us to the Indian River watershed, one of the few places in the Yukon with detailed wetland maps for this type of analysis.

The case of the Indian River watershed

The Indian River watershed lies within the territories of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and the First Nation of Na-cho Nyäk Dun, about fifty kilometres south of Dawson City. The Indian River meanders through a wide valley dominated by fens and swamps.

Peat began forming in the watershed around six thousand years ago—at a time when woolly mammoths still roamed on Siberian islands, and fish had only recently returned to the lakes and rivers around Whitehorse following millennia of glaciation.

We estimate these peatlands store 1,837 kilotonnes of soil carbon—equivalent to over 6,700 kilotonnes of CO2.

The future of the Indian River watershed and its peatlands will be shaped by the outcomes of the Dawson Regional Land Use Plan. The good news is that the Recommended Plan prevents development in bog peatlands, but bogs only make up around 3% of all the peatlands found in the Indian River watershed.

Even with other modest limits on wetland and surface disturbance, the Recommended Plan would allow for significant amounts of new development in most of the Indian River watershed. These disturbances could release 575 kilotonnes of carbon over the next century—about as much carbon as flying a fully loaded jet the circumference of the earth 400 times.

Map of Nän Dhòhdäl/Upper Indian River Wetlands LMU. The bottoms of valleys are where peatlands (left) and disturbances (right) are clustered. Graphic by Malkolm Boothroyd.

A lot is lost when peatlands are developed. Carbon is released into the atmosphere, habitats are destroyed, and harvesting grounds used for millennia disappear.

While many of the Indian River’s wetlands have been lost forever, it’s not too late to protect those that remain. Join us in speaking up for these ancient wetlands. Public engagement on the Recommended Plan is open until Tuesday December 20.

Send a Letter

What this means for the climate

The hundreds of kilotons we estimated could get released from peatlands in the Indian River watershed are from a single industry, in a watershed that makes up only 0.3% of the Yukon.

Peatlands covering three times the area of those in the Indian River overlap with placer claims in other parts of the Dawson Region. Peat is also found patchily across the Yukon: from the Old Crow and the coastal plain in the north, to MacMillan Pass in the east, to the Kluane Plateau and the Southern Lakes. There is a lot of carbon at risk.

But the Yukon’s climate change targets don’t account for carbon emissions from peatland disturbance, even though they are a major source of greenhouse gasses. This problem is not unique to the Yukon, and few countries currently report these kinds of emissions. In the recently released Global Peatland Assessment, the UN Environment Programme called on peat rich countries like Canada to report carbon from peatland disturbance and take urgent action to protect remaining peatlands.

“If we’re serious about acting on climate change, we must get serious about the protection, restoration, and sustainable management of peatlands. Wherever peatlands are allowed to be damaged or drained, harmful emissions will continue to be released for decades,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

It’s time for the Yukon to take action to protect peatland ecosystems and the carbon they hold. Protecting these wetlands is critical to climate action.

This blog post is a summary of our CPAWS Yukon peatland report – The Yukon’s Climate Blind Spot. You can find the full report at cpawsyukon.org/publications

Infographic by Malkolm Boothroyd

November 18 2022

Developing wetlands would be a major source of carbon emissions, CPAWS Yukon report shows.

CPAWS Yukon News

November 15, 2022

Industrial developments in the Yukon’s wetlands could lead to substantial releases of carbon, at a time when the Government of Yukon has pledged steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Future placer mining developments in the Indian River Watershed alone could release 575 kilotonnes of CO2—as much carbon as the yearly emissions from 125,000 cars, or running Whitehorse’s liquified natural gas plant around the clock, every day, for a decade. These are key findings from The Yukon’s climate blind spot, a report released today by the CPAWS Yukon. The report shows that wetland conservation needs to be a key piece of the Yukon’s response to the climate change emergency.

CPAWS Yukon’s report focused on the impacts of developments in fens, bogs and swamps: wetlands that contain carbon-rich peat. Peat slowly accumulates carbon over millennia, but disturbing peatlands can transform them from carbon stores to carbon emitters. CPAWS Yukon worked with wetland maps and scientific literature to estimate the amount of carbon stored in peatlands in the Indian River Watershed, south of Dawson City. The report then projected how much carbon could be released, based on the amount of placer mining that the Dawson Land Use Plan could allow in the future.

The report comes as Egypt hosts the COP 27 climate change summit, and a year after countries around the world pledged to limit global warming to 1.5°C. The Yukon has pledged to cut its emissions 45% by 2030, but emissions from peatland development aren’t part of this target, and are not counted at all. “Preventing the worst impacts of climate change depends on keeping carbon in the ground, but the Government of Yukon keeps approving new mining developments in wetlands. That only adds more fuel to the fire,” said Malkolm Boothroyd, CPAWS Yukon’s Campaigns Coordinator and the report’s lead author.

CPAWS Yukon’s report focused on the impacts to peatlands from one industry in a small part of the Yukon, but these risks are not confined to the Indian River. Developments like open-pit mining and road construction can impact the health of peatlands too.“Wetlands are more than reservoirs of carbon,” Boothroyd said. “Wetland ecosystems are rich in wildlife, and are places where many people go to hunt, fish and feel connected with the natural world. The Yukon should rise to the urgency of the moment, and take leadership to conserve these peatland ecosystems.”

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The Yukon’s Climate Blind Spot:

https://cpawsyukon.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/The-Yukons-climate-blind-spot.pdf

Images of wetlands and placer mining available for media use at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Eq3TxFSlzU7tvCWVhBsDxJisd_KnyrXL?usp=sharing

Media contact:

Adil Darvesh, Communications Manager

adarvesh@cpawsyukon.org

867-393-8080 x 9

September 23 2022

On the water with land guardians

CPAWS Yukon Blog

Written by Candace Dow

The Ross River Land Guardian canoe training was a long-awaited trip for all of us. Like so many plans from the last year, it was halted and redirected to 2022 to keep everyone safe during the pandemic.

Over 70 communities across Canada have Land Guardian programs. Guardians are the “moccasins and mukluks” on the ground in their communities. They manage protected areas, restore wildlife and plant populations, carry out water quality control, and monitor development sites. What they do is key to responsible land stewardship and brings jurisdictional authority back to Indigenous Nations.

Photo by Adil Darvesh.

The Ross River Dena Council in southeast Yukon is working to expand the role of Land Guardians. They have completed planning and are en route to establishing an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA). Current Guardians steward their land and water, ensuring what happens on the land aligns with their values and practices.

We partnered with Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) to bring canoe training to Ross River (Tū Łī́dlini in Kaska). Y2Y works to promote healthy landscapes from Yellowstone to Yukon, including healthy communities, connectivity, and knowledge sharing.

This summer the training was met with a few challenges, but any good adventure usually is! We had such a huge snowpack last winter, bringing high water well into the summer months. And since this was also the first summer without Covid restrictions, both the instructors and participants had many things on the go!

Between the Guardians and some brave youth, 7 participants went out on Whiskers Lake for the first day of training. It is always nice to see so many youths interested and taking part in connecting back to the land and gaining some water safety skills.

Photo by Adil Darvesh.

We are hopeful for a final training day this fall. The goal for the final day will be to experience the river just as the Guardians would on an actual patrol. Navigating rivers can be a challenge, but with real-time training, Guardians can learn about exact locations they need to be aware of when out on patrol and safely steward their lands and waters. We are grateful to everyone that made this happen.

To the Land Guardians, thank you for doing such important work! Happy Paddlin’

September 16 2022

Every ending is really just a new beginning

CPAWS Yukon Blog

Written by Chris Rider, Executive Director

Dear Supporters,

I am writing this letter to share that November 4th will be my last day as the Executive Director of CPAWS Yukon.

I am so thankful for all the opportunities and experiences I have had with this organization since I started in 2016. I am especially thankful for the relationships I’ve been able to form, and the trust that has been put into myself and our team by First Nations citizens and leaders across the Territory. I will never forget it, and I will never take that trust for granted.

Chris Rider being awarded as one of Canada’s Clean50 for 2020 for our work on the Peel Watershed.

Earlier this summer, I had the privilege of doing a paddling trip in the Peel Watershed with Nahanni River Adventures. It was my first time paddling on the Wind River, and I felt an incredible sense of gratitude for the opportunity to be out there. One evening, I stood on a ledge looking out at the river and the mountains. The beauty of this special place washed over me, as I reflected on how lucky I am to have been part of protecting a place that is special to so many people.

On the Wind River with Bobbi Rose Koe (right) and Hannah Boomer (left) our awesome guides. Photo by Chris Rider

Although I am sad to move on, I am also excited to see what comes next for CPAWS Yukon. I have so much confidence in our team of smart, talented and wise people. I know that they will continue to do incredible things.

My next step is to start a new role within the CPAWS family. I will be joining the team at CPAWS national in Ottawa, as their National Director for Conservation. I am excited for the challenges and opportunities that this will bring, and happy I will have the chance to remain connected with the work here in the Yukon.

Nitainlaii Territorial Park near the Peel River. Photo by Cathie Archbould

If you are reading this and thinking you might be a great fit for the next Executive Director of CPAWS Yukon, I encourage you to apply. You don’t need a background in conservation or ecology, but we are looking for a strong, compassionate leader to lead this special team. I hope that will be you! You can find the full job listing here, on our website.

I will close by saying thank you to my Board of Directors – past and present – for your unwavering support over the years. I am lucky to have worked with every one of you.

Onwards and upwards,

Chris Rider

View the Executive Director Job Posting

August 30 2022

CPAWS Yukon supports Minister Guilbeault’s call for the Yukon to protect 30% of land and water by 2030

CPAWS Yukon News

Whitehorse, Yukon – Today the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, issued a statement calling for provinces and territories to match federal conservation targets of 30% protection by 2030. CPAWS Yukon strongly encourages the Yukon Government to continue being conservation leaders and adopt a target of protecting at least 30% of land and water by 2030.

The Yukon, currently sitting at 19.1%, has yet to formally adopt conservation targets of any kind. As the country grapples with the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, the Yukon has an opportunity to be a role model for the rest of the nation.

The path to protect 30% by 2030 is one that will require meaningful work with First Nations and non-First Nation Yukoners, through the land use planning process and Indigenous-led conservation efforts. With the Recommended Land Use Plan for the Dawson Region slated to be released in the near future, and First Nations across the Territory calling for their lands to be protected, protecting at least 30% of the Territory by 2030 is a very achievable goal if we simply follow their lead.

A 2021 poll commissioned by CPAWS Yukon and the Yukon Conservation Society and carried out by DataPath Systems made it clear that Yukoners strongly support bold conservation targets. 78.3% of polled Yukoners want to see the Yukon match or exceed the federal conservation targets.

“Commiting to at least 30% protection by 2030 will show that the Yukon Government is prioritizing our cultural and ecological needs. It may seem tempting to think we don’t have to worry here because we have an abundance of nature right on our doorstep, but we can’t risk sleepwalking into similar environmental emergencies that the rest of the country faces. The Yukon Government has funding opportunities, public will, and pathways through land use planning to achieve bold conservation targets. Let’s get ‘er done.”

Chris Rider, Executive Director of CPAWS Yukon

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Minister Guilbeault’s Statement on 30% by 2030

Government of Canada’s announcement on Indigenous Guardians funding

DataPath polling results

Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database

Contact

Adil Darvesh, CPAWS Yukon Communications Manager,

adarvesh@cpawsyukon.org | 867-393-8080 x9

August 28 2022

Op-Ed: In the Yukon, nature is thriving. We can keep it that way

CPAWS Yukon Blog, NewsArticles

Written by Chris Rider | Aug 28, 2022
Photo by Malkolm Boothroyd, front ranges in Kluane.

Read the full editorial as published in the Yukon News on August 28th, 2022.

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Op-Ed: In the Yukon, nature is thriving. We can keep it that way

Nature surrounds us in the Yukon. It is what makes living here so special. There are endless possibilities for outdoor adventures, and when you’re out on the land, it’s common to go days without seeing another human.

Yukoners – both First Nations and non-First Nations – are able to fill their freezers with caribou, bison, moose and sheep. Although we maintain sensible restrictions on harvest numbers in many areas, it’s still straightforward for anyone living here to get a tag. This is an opportunity that has largely been lost to people living in the provinces, where they often have to wait years for a chance to hunt anything other than deer.

The fact that the Yukon still has healthy ecosystems is something we can all celebrate. It means we aren’t facing the same crisis as much of Canada and the world. Large-scale protection in the Peel Watershed and northern Yukon helps ensure that in parts of the Territory this will remain the case.

My fear is that despite these meaningful wins for nature, we still risk sleepwalking our way into the same crisis that’s facing the rest of the country. By setting meaningful conservation goals, Yukon can protect the cultural (traditional hunting areas, sacred places, etc.) and ecological values we hold so dear.

What could a large decline in the health of wildlife populations mean for the Yukon? First, it would result in a loss of culture. This is particularly the case for the First Nations people who have subsisted off the land for millenia, but it would impact the lives of every person who hunts, traps, fishes or gathers. It would also impact our tourism industry and economy in significant ways.

We can get a glimpse of the future by looking Outside. Globally, plants, animals and insects are disappearing at a rate faster than at any time since the extinction of the dinosaurs. It is a crisis caused by humans – we have destroyed huge swathes of habitat, over-fished and hunted, polluted the air and water with chemicals and plastics, and are causing the climate to warm.

Canada is not immune to this biodiversity crisis. According to researchers, 20% of all wildlife species in Canada are imperiled to some degree, and a recent study by WWF found that of nearly 1000 species of animal that could be tracked, over half had declined since the 1970s. This is why in the provinces, people are talking about the urgent need to take action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.

It’s tempting to think that we don’t have to worry here, especially because everywhere we look, there are miles of undeveloped land. Unfortunately, what sometimes seems like a small amount of development can add up and have a big impact. Roads can increase hunting access and create a spiderweb of new developments. Mines can also have an oversized impact when they’re located in key wildlife habitat, or contaminate water. This risk is particularly high in the Yukon, where our harsher climate means wildlife needs comparatively large intact areas to get the nutrition they need to survive. This is why we tend to see fewer animals when we’re out and about than you might in warmer climates.

The good news is that it’s not too late for the Yukon. First Nations are working hard to protect their lands and waters – we simply need to follow their leadership. Tools like the Chapter 11 land use planning process and Indigenous Protected & Conserved Areas (IPCAs) can provide a path to expanded conservation across the Territory. We can use these tools to protect large, connected areas that will preserve the ecological and cultural values that make this such a special place to live.

In 2021, CPAWS Yukon and the Yukon Conservation Society commissioned DataPath to run independent polling to learn more about Yukoners’ perspectives about the environment. They found that 78% of Yukoners believe that we should aim to protect at least 30% of our land and water by 2030. There are few issues that more of us agree on.

Canada’s environment ministers will meet in Whitehorse on the last two days of August to discuss the state of the environment and many other issues. Yukon has the opportunity to show that we are leaders by formally committing to strong conservation targets for the Territory. I encourage our Government to do this before it’s too late.