Overview
- Environment and Climate Change Canada announced a $20 million contribution from the Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund, building on a prior $7 million through the Old Growth Nature Fund.
- The conservation secures 45,000 hectares in southeastern British Columbia’s Kootenay Forest Lands, including rare high‑elevation grasslands, old‑growth forests and about 930 kilometres of streams that feed the Elk River.
- The area forms part of a transboundary Rocky Mountain network extending into Montana and supports at‑risk species such as grizzly bear, badger, whitebark pine, bull trout and bighorn sheep.
- The partnership involves the federal and B.C. governments, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ktunaxa Nation leaders and private partners including Glencore subsidiary Elk Valley Resources.
- Officials framed the shift from industrial forestry to conservation‑focused management as a nature‑based climate solution that boosts carbon storage, reduces emissions and advances Canada’s 30‑by‑30 conservation goal.