The British Columbia government created a major conservation area that it bills as one of the most significant new protected areas in a decade. To meet its lofty environmental goals, it will need to create the equivalent of 175 more over the next seven years. Canada needs B.C. to succeed to meet its own promises at the COP15. Despite the strong political alignment between the two governments, a nature agreement that would fast-track conservation has proved elusive. The federal government has committed to reach 30 per cent protected areas by the year 2030. …British Columbia, with one-10th of the country’s land base and an outsized share of Canada’s biodiversity, has protected a greater share of its lands than any other province or territory. But it still needs to add another 10 million hectares of protected areas to hit its own 30-by-30 target. [Access to this full article requires a subscription to the Globe and Mail]