BILL NO. 184
(as introduced)
1st Session, 65th General Assembly
Nova Scotia
4 Charles III, 2025
Private Member's Public Bill
Protecting Nature Act
Lisa Lachance
Halifax Citadel–Sable Island
First Reading: October 3, 2025
Second Reading:
Third Reading:
An Act to Protect Additional Nature
Areas in Nova Scotia
WHEREAS Nova Scotia has committed, through the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act and the Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement, to protecting 15 per cent of its land and water by March 31, 2026 and 20 per cent of its land and water by 2030;
AND WHEREAS as of October 3, 2025, only 13.7 per cent of Nova Scotia's land and water is protected;
AND WHEREAS at the current pace of progress, Nova Scotia will likely miss its protected areas target;
THEREFORE be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:
1 This Act may be cited as the Protecting Nature Act.
2 This Act is binding on the Crown in right of the Province.
3 (1) The Government shall, no later than March 31, 2026, designate and conserve a minimum number of hectares of additional land and water equivalent to not less than 15 per cent of the Province's land and water when combined with existing protected areas.
(2) The Minister shall publish by January 1, 2026, a list of candidate areas under consideration for designation to meet the interim target established in subsection (1).
(3) The Minister shall publish by March 31, 2027, a list of candidate areas under consideration for designation to meet the 20 per cent by 2030 target established by the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act.
(4) The list under subsection (3) must identify sufficient candidate areas, in combination with existing protected areas, to comprise no less than 20 per cent of the Province's total land and water.
(5) The areas identified under subsections (2) and (3) must include consideration of natural areas that contribute to wildfire resilience and the protection of biodiversity, including
(a) wetlands of high ecological value;
(b) forests with mixed forest species composition;
(c) lands necessary to ensure ecological connectivity between existing protected areas; and
(d) areas where species at risk are present.
4 Where the Minister determines that the Province has failed to meet the March 31, 2026, interim target of protecting 15 per cent of land and water established under the Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement,
(a) the Minister shall, within 30 days, provide written notice to the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, stating that the Province has failed to meet its interim conservation target under the Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement;
(b) the Minister shall outline in the notice why this target was not achieved and what was done with the $28,515,932 in federal contributions provided in the Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement;
(c) the Minister shall table a copy of the notice in the House of Assembly; and
(d) the Minister shall cause the notice to be distributed to all accredited members of the Legislative Press Gallery.
5 This Act has effect on and after December 31, 2025.
This page and its contents published by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly, and © 2025 Crown in right of Nova Scotia. Created October 3, 2025. Send comments to legc.office@novascotia.ca.
