Winnipeg eyes signing Montreal Pledge

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This article was published 17/04/2023 (965 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg may soon explore a new commitment to biodiversity, which supporters say should serve as a stepping stone to actions that protect the environment.

“It announces to the public that (the city means) business about sustainability, about protecting biodiversity and addressing climate change,” said Erna Buffie, a member of advocacy group Trees Please Winnipeg.

On Monday, council’s water and waste committee voted to order a city staff report on signing the Montreal Pledge: Cities United in Action for Biodiversity, pending council approval.

If the city ultimately signs the pledge, it will commit to: restore and rehabilitate ecosystems; protect existing natural environments; conserve and recover vulnerable species; aim to reduce pesticide use; and ensure Indigenous participation in the process, among several other initiatives.

Buffie said the public pledge would support decisive, prompt action on Winnipeg’s upcoming municipal green space master plan and biodiversity policy.

“It ensures those policies get enacted. By signing something that’s national and international (since the pledge is related to a global biodiversity framework), the city has to act,” she said.

While some of the initiatives, such as environmental preservation, may require senior government approvals and support, Buffie believes federal grants could help pay for new projects.

Green investments also come with huge benefits, she added.

“It’s way cheaper than grey infrastructure and it actually has a high return on investment… If you look just at trees, (these offer) one of the cheapest natural solutions to a few things (including) absorbing carbon (and) mitigating the heat island effect.”

Coun. Brian Mayes, chairman of the water and waste committee, said he thinks the pledge makes sense after the city recently cast votes that will protect, rather than develop, some green spaces.

For example, Mayes noted city council recently received a consultant’s list of options to repurpose city-owned golf courses, which focused on maintaining them as green spaces. That ruled out a previous idea that could have converted some of that land into housing.

“I think council’s changed to put more emphasis on preserving (the) green space that we have. How exactly we do that… that’s to be debated,” said Mayes.

While he’s not yet sure what specific actions could come from signing the biodiversity pledge, Mayes said he, personally, hopes the city can one day buy the private land that contains the Sumka and Lemay forests to help preserve them.

“I look at whoever did the work to save Bois-des-Esprits (in southeast Winnipeg), that’s a wonderful forest (and it’s now) preserved for future generations. Hopefully, we’ll be able to do (more) of that.”

Council is expected to vote on the call to study the idea April 27.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga