PS 9-79 - Safety Net Ontario: Ontario’s outsized role in the “Global Safety Net” for climate and biodiversity

Background/Question/Methods

The Global Safety Net (GSN) is a spatially-explicit global framework proposed by Dinerstein et al. (2020) for identifying protected areas needed to reverse catastrophic biodiversity losses and stabilize climate. The GSN framework subscribes to the “half-Earth” concept, initially developed by E.O. Wilson. Building on the existing network of global protected areas, the GSN specifies additional lands required to protect 50% of Earth’s land surface using a series of biodiversity criteria and estimates of ecoregion-scale carbon stocks. The Province of Ontario (Canada) stands out in the GSN framework as a critical jurisdiction for meeting those goals, both because of the large extent of roadless lands, as well as high carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we review the data used in the GSN to identify target areas for protection in Ontario, and we evaluate the applicability of this global framework to regional-scale conservation planning in Ontario.

Results/Conclusions

“Intactness” is the biodiversity criterion driving the largest land areas specified for protection under the GSN globally and this is mirrored in our analysis for Ontario. The majority of the land area in the northern two-thirds of the province, an area extending over > 540,000 km², is identified as target land for protection. The James and Hudson Bay Lowlands also meet criteria for protection because of critical habitat for threatened mammal species including polar bear and caribou. We show significant overlap between these regions highlighted for biodiversity criteria and areas with high carbon stocks, particularly in areas where forested and open peatlands are extensive. The GSN also emphasizes the important overlap between areas highly valued for biodiversity and climate stabilization, and Indigenous lands globally. The officially recognized extent of Indigenous lands in Ontario, however, vastly underestimates the role of First Nations in conservation in Ontario. Our analysis of GSN data shows that Ontario plays an outsized role in terms of its potential to impact the trajectories both of biodiversity and climate globally, however more region-specific criteria are required to identify specific areas for formal protection, and Indigenous-directed management should be prioritized to ethically support Ontario’s essential contributions to the GSN.