NCC - Government of Canada Natural Areas Conservation Program Eight Annual Progress Report Inception to Date: April 1, 2007 to May 31, 2015 NCC - Government of Canada Natural Areas Conservation Program Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................... 1 SECTION A - The Natural Areas Conservation Fund ...................................................................................................... 3 1. The Financial Statements of the Natural Areas Conservation Fund (the “Fund”) ............................................ 4 1.1 Statement of Financial Position as at May 31, 2015 Year-end ...................................................................... 4 1.2 Statement of Operations and Changes in Restricted Fund for the 2014-2015 Year ................................. 5 1.3 Statement of the Investment Portfolio for the 2014-2015 Year ................................................................... 5 2. NCC Investment Policies, Standards and Procedures with Respect to the Fund .............................................. 5 3. Statement of Expenditures under the Maximum Operating Expenses ................................................................ 6 Table 1: Summary of Co-ordination (2007-2015) ..................................................................................................... 6 4. Compensation Remuneration ..................................................................................................................................... 7 4.1. Officers and Directors ........................................................................................................................................ 7 4.2. Employees whose remuneration exceeds $100,000 per annum ................................................................... 7 5. Funding Expensed within NCC Priority Sites and DUC NAWMP Priority Areas Detailed by Expenditure Type ................................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Table 2: Summary of Direct Program Delivery Expenditure Type Financed by the Fund (2007-2015) ........ 9 SECTION B - The Natural Areas Conservation Program ............................................................................................. 10 Table 3: Cumulative Summary of Securement Achievements against Objectives (2007-2015) ...................... 11 6. Conservation Planning .............................................................................................................................................. 12 7. Criteria Applied to Select NCC Priority Sites and DUC NAWMP Priority Areas .......................................... 12 8. Conservation Accomplishments ............................................................................................................................. 13 8.1 Land Securement Results at Priority Sites / Priority Natural Areas and NAWMP Priority Areas ....... 13 Table 4: Summary of Land Securement by Acquisition Type (2007-2015) ...................................................... 13 8.2 Highlighted Land Securement Projects ......................................................................................................... 13 8.3 Property-Level Conservation Planning .......................................................................................................... 14 Table 5: Cumulative Change in sightings of COSEWIC-Assessed Species at Risk by Species Type (2007- 2015) on NCC properties secured under the Program ......................................................................................... 15 8.4 Stewardship Implementation Activities ......................................................................................................... 16 8.5 Transparent and Accountable Data Management ........................................................................................ 16 8.6 Long-term Stewardship Endowment ............................................................................................................. 17 9. Matching Contributions............................................................................................................................................ 17 10. Communications Activities ...................................................................................................................................... 18 10.1 NCC Media Coverage ..................................................................................................................................... 19 Table 6: Summary of NCC Natural Areas Conservation Program - Property/Program Media Hits (2007-2015)20 10.2 OQO and DUC Media Coverage ................................................................................................................. 20 Table 7: Summary of DUC/OQO Natural Areas Conservation Program - Property Media Hits (2007- 2015) ............................................................................................................................................................................. 21 11. Lands Transferred to Provinces (2007-2015) ........................................................................................................ 21 Table 8: Cumulative Summary of Ha. transferred to provincial governments (2007-2015) ........................... 22 12. Funding to Other Qualified Organizations (excluding DUC) ............................................................................ 22 12.1 OQO Funding Dispersed (excluding DUC) ............................................................................................... 22 Table 9: Cumulative Summary of OQO Projects and Amount of Funds Expensed (2007-2015) ................ 22 13. Performance Evaluation of the Natural Areas Conservation Program ............................................................. 22 14. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................. 23 NCC - Government of Canada Natural Areas Conservation Program Eighth Annual Progress Report Introduction The Natural Areas Conservation Program (the “Program”) is a $245 million federally funded program that commenced on April 1, 2007 with a $225 million commitment to the Nature Conservancy of Canada (“NCC”) from the Government of Canada (“Canada”). NCC is responsible for delivery of conservation results under this Program, which was formalized through the signing of a funding agreement (the “Agreement”) between NCC and Canada on March 30, 2007. On December 12, 2013, the Program was expanded with an additional $20 million to further advance the goals of the Program and an amendment to the Agreement (the “Amended Agreement”) was made. The purpose of this public-private partnership between NCC and Canada is to significantly increase the amount of land conservation, as well as the rate at which results are achieved across the country. Through the ongoing efforts of NCC and its various Canadian partner organizations, this unique program continues to successfully leverage the federal government’s significant financial investment by delivering cost-effective, focused and successful conservation results. The original goal of this national program was to conserve approximately 200,000 ha. (ha.) (500,000 acres (ac.) of ecologically significant lands across Canada, with particular focus by NCC on those areas deemed to be most at risk and which are located primarily in the southern portion of the country. The goal under the Amended Agreement was to conserve an additional 18,000 ha. (45,000 ac.), bringing the total to 218,000 ha. (approximately 545,000 ac.); implement NCC management actions (“Priority Conservation Actions”) and DUC management activities necessary to ensure the maintenance or improvement of the biodiversity on an estimated 30,000 ha. (74,000 ac.); and monitor both DUC and NCC Conservation Agreements (which include covenants, easements and servitudes) on an estimated 25,000 ha. (62,000 ac.) of lands secured under the Program. NCC is pleased to present the Eighth Annual Progress Report for the Program. This is the final report under the Agreement and Amended Agreement, and it focuses on results achieved since the Program’s inception, covering the period from April 1, 2007 through May 31, 2015, with specific references made to the accomplishments achieved in the 2014-2015 period against the Eighth Annual work plan. As of May 31, 2015, NCC and its partners - Other Qualified Organizations (OQOs) including Ducks Unlimited Canada - have conserved over 393,2001 ha. (971,600 ac.). Furthermore, NCC and DUC have implemented Priority Conservation Actions and Management Activities on more than 132,800 ha. of land secured under the Program, and completed compliance monitoring on more than 36,100 ha. of Conservation Agreements secured under the Program. NCC’s conserved areas provide habitat for 194 identified COSEWIC-assessed species at risk, which represents a 13.9% increase over the seventh year’s reported total of 167 COSEWIC-assessed ‘species at risk'2 observed. The details of this Annual Progress Report are divided into two main 1 All figures ($ or ac./ha.) within this report have been rounded to the nearest whole number. 2 ‘Species at risk’ includes assessed species, subspecies