Government Announcement A Great Start to Protecting Canada’s Waters

“This is an important step for Canada,” said Joshua Laughren, WWF-Canada’s Director of Marine Conservation. “With the longest coastline of any nation on earth, and less than 1% of our waters protected, Canada urgently needs a comprehensive system of marine protected areas. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in September, Canada committed to finishing a network of marine protected areas by 2012. If we keep this pace up, we can do it. Now let’s get on with the others, starting with The Gully, off the coast of Nova Scotia.”

“The leadership shown today by the government makes us hopeful that the long-awaited protection of The Gully in Nova Scotia may finally be announced,” said Robert Rangeley, Director, Atlantic Region, WWF-Canada. “While we wait, industrial leases are increasingly surrounding The Gully, our grand canyon of the sea with thousand-year-old corals and bottlenose whales.”

“The Endeavour marine protected area announcement is an encouraging start to preserving important marine ecosystems in British Columbia,” said Linda Coady, Vice President, Pacific Region, WWF-Canada.