© Emily Vandermeer digging in a watershed

Nature and Climate Grant Program

By improving and increasing viable habitat for biodiversity and carbon, we can help wildlife thrive and fight climate change at the same time.



Fighting biodiversity loss and climate change

Canada is facing the dual crises of biodiversity loss and climate breakdown. The decline of at-risk species is driven largely by habitat loss, which is also driving climate change: One-third of climate-change-causing greenhouse gas emissions result from the destruction of trees, ground cover, peatlands, and coastal plants and ecosystems. Nature-based climate solutions use the unique powers of nature to both capture and store carbon, which helps mitigate climate change, and safeguard species. WWF-Canada’s Nature and Climate Grant Program helps communities and Indigenous organizations restore degraded lands and shorelines in order to improve habitats and capture carbon.

Aviva Canada is the presenting partner of the Nature and Climate Grant Program.

 

We are now accepting Expressions of Interest for the next round of the Nature and Climate Grant Program. Due January 14, 2022.

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The 2021-2022 Nature and Climate Grant Program projects

© Catherine Paquette / WWF-Canada Credit Valley Conservation field

ALUS is an innovative community-developed and farmer-delivered program that restores, enhances, and maintains ecosystem services on agricultural lands. ALUS works collaboratively with farmers and community partners to create, enhance, conserve and manage on-the-ground habitat projects. These projects improve ecosystems while sequestering carbon in Ontario and Quebec through the ALUS Chatham-Kent and ALUS Outaouais programs. 

© Justin Kielly / WWF-Canada Credit Valley Conservation field

Credit Valley Conservation’s Hungry Hollow Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan (SNAP) is a comprehensive approach to urban renewal and climate action at the neighbourhood scale in collaboration with residents, community groups and leaders. This project involves plantings and habitat restoration and the installation of community or public gardens in parks. These actions increase habitat size and connectivity in the ravine, increase urban forest canopy cover, add communal and educational space, demonstrate sustainable practices and build neighbourhood character. 

© Terry Kelly / WWF-Canada St John River Summit landscape

Ducks Unlimited Canada is evaluating how salt marshes play a role in carbon sequestration. The project is also enhancing and stabilizing wetland productivity and biodiversity at two projects in the Lower Saint John River Valley. DUC is improving the area’s resilience to climate change by increasing the function of water storage and delay.  

© WWF-Canada / Kirsten Stanley Hammond River Angling Association

The Hammond River Angling Association is planting native shrubs within the riparian zone of Palmer Brook. This project will engage the surrounding local community to look beyond only using trees as the sole nature-based solution to climate change and carbon storage, and to incorporate shrubs as a crucial, innovative, and resilient species for carbon storage and riparian restoration. 

© Emily Vandermeer / WWF-Canada people in a field

This Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority project restores natural infrastructure, improving habitat for biodiversity and enhancing ecosystem’s ability to sequester carbon. It also aims to reduce flooding by increasing infiltration rate, creating floodplain capacity and protecting and increasing wetlands. Activities include wetland, grassland and riparian habitat restoration, and tree planting to increase forest area.  

© Caitlin Pierzchalski/Comox Valley Project Watershed Society Comox Valley Project Watershed - bridge (c) Caitlin Pierzchalski Comox Valley Project Watershed

Comox Valley Project Watershed Society is restoring soils and re-establishing vegetative communities on a former sawmill site. The naturalization of the shoreline and planted vegetation will also help protect the shoreline from erosion as sea levels rise. Constructed features such as salt marsh islands and tidal channels will create beneficial habitat for wildlife, and the revegetated site will provide storm protection, and help maintain local fish stocks. 

© WWF-Canada / Tyler Cave Productions woman looking at an app on a boat

SeaChange Society is increasing critical habitat connectivity and carbon storage capacity by restoring natural habitats at Roberts Bay for a wide diversity of marine and shore life. The project team is also planning to begin restoration of the salt marsh with the goal of eventually developing a citizen science monitoring program.  

WWF-Canada @ GLOBE Series’ Destination Net Zero Events

Speakers from WWF-Canada, Aviva Canada, ALUS and Project Watershed discuss the Nature and Climate Grant Program as well as nature-based climate solutions that range from on-the-ground projects to corporate investments in nature.

© Shutterstock Atlantic Puffin

The Living Planet Report Canada 2020

WWF-Canada’s flagship report offers a window into the nation’s ecological health and provides solutions for protecting and conserving wildlife.

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© Shutterstock Europe at night viewed from space with city lights showing human activity in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and other countries. 3d rendering of planet Earth, elements from NASA.

No Cop Out: Why We Must Escalate our Fight Against the Climate and Biodiversity Crises

The first Earth Day in 1970 was not a celebration. It was a demonstration. Time to ramp up the political pressure once again.

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© WWF-US / Elisabeth Kruger Sunrise over icy landscape in Churchill

Megan Leslie on Turning ‘Possibilities Into Realities’ in 2021

In last January’s Fieldnotes, we interviewed WWF-Canada president and CEO Megan Leslie about the year to come.

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© Shutterstock Mountain lake inlet

A Tale of Three Watersheds: What We Know — and Don’t Know — About the Health of Canada’s Freshwater

Canada is famously home to 20 percent of the world’s freshwater — but how well are we stewarding this supply?

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