The Manitoba Government has marked Earth Day 2021 by announcing the creation of a fund that will provide perpetual financial support for provincial park programming and enhancements.
Premier Brian Pallister and Climate Minister Sarah Guillamard made the announcement this (THURS) morning, at Beaudry Provincial Park.
“We are announcing a 20-million dollar Manitoba Provincial Parks Endowment Fund. This fund is designed to preserve and enhance and modernize our provincial parks for the future, and that endowment fund is going to focus on the sustainability and long-term viabililty of our provincial park system while enhancing the visitor experience.” Pallister said.
Pallister says the fund, that will support a wide variety of projects, also encourages private and philanthropic donations, using a matching formula that will see the province provide one dollar for every two that are donated.
“The Provincial Parks Endowment Fund will be managed by the Winnipeg Foundation, and it’s expected to generate as much as about 1-million dollars annually in ongoing funds. The Funds will be dispersed through a process that involves Manitobans – the users of our parks, and it’ll involve stakeholder engagement as well to determine project priority on an annual basis.” Pallister added.
Meanwhile, the Government of Saskatchewan is pleased to release its online State of the Environment report today (THURS), in honour of Earth Day – celebrated each year on April 22.
The report uses key indicators to measure provincial greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, waste reduction and recycling, protected and conserved areas, impacted sites, water consumption and several characteristics on the health of Saskatchewan forests
Highlights from the report include:
- Air quality in Saskatchewan is typically low risk and pollution levels are improving for most pollutants.
- As of December 31, 2020, 59 historical discoveries of environmentally impacted sites were entered into the ministry’s registry. With each new discovery, the ministry obtains valuable information and acquires a better understanding of impacts to the province.
- In 2019, nearly 19 million litres of waste liquid and 88,727 tonnes of solid waste were diverted from landfills through provincially regulated waste stewardship programs.
- Currently, no mountain pine beetles have been detected in the boreal monitoring area.
- Forest product sales exceed $1 billion annually, and the forestry sector supports nearly 8,000 direct and indirect jobs.
- Protected areas are added to the provincial Representative Areas Network each year. To date, 6,354,385 hectares or 9.76 per cent of Saskatchewan is contained within the network.
The Minister responsible for the Environment and Melvile-Saltcoats M-L-A Warren Kaeding, said in the release that Saskatchewan’s environment is “healthy and resilient”.
