Tile layer of protected, managed forest code 20 used in the Story Map of Forest Management in Canada, 2017. Tile layer of protected, managed forest code 20 used in the Story Map of Forest Management in Canada, 2017. Protected areas were identified using the Canadian Council on Ecological Areas CARTS geodatabase. All IUCN Category Ia through VI protected areas in Canada were classified as Protected (CCEA 2008) with only a few exceptions. Data provided by Alberta Agriculture and Forestry; British Columbia Ministry of Forests; Manitoba Sustainable Development; Natural Resources Canada; New Brunswick Department of Energy and Resource Development; Newfoundland & Labrador Department of Fisheries and Land Resources; Northwest Territories Department of Environment and Natural Resources; Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry; Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry; Prince Edward Island Department of Communities, Land & Environment; Québec Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs; Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment; and Yukon Energy, Mines and Resources.

This data set comprises all of the current feature classes in the Alberta Provincial Electoral Divisions profiles. This data is derived from the 2021 Census of Canada.

CHS offers 500-metre bathymetric gridded data for users interested in the topography of the seafloor. This data provides seafloor depth in metres and is accessible for download as predefined areas.

The Environmental Studies Research Fund (ESRF) Regions are legally described in Part I and Part II of the Schedule in the Environmental Studies Research Fund Regions Regulations in the Canada Petroleum Resources Act. This data collection is for illustrative purposes only and includes: • 1 dataset illustrating ESRF prescribed regions 1 to 31 as they are described in the ESRF Regions Regulations. • 1 dataset illustrating the areas where levies are no longer applied to ESRF prescribed regions. These areas include lands that are described in the ESRF Regions Regulations but have since been devolved to the Government of Yukon or the Government of Northwest Territories as part of the 2003 Yukon Devolution and 2014 Northwest Territories Devolution, respectively. Once the Yukon Act and Northwest Territories Act came into effect, lands subject to devolution were no longer considered frontier lands or Canada lands, and therefore no longer subject to ESRF levies under the Canada Petroleum Resources Act. The geospatial extents used in this dataset represent those identified in the Devolution Agreements. Future updates to Part II, section 3 of the Schedule in the ESRF Regions Regulations will reflect the Yukon and Northwest Territories Devolutions. • 3 maps (National, North, South). • 1 table compiling the historical levies for each ESRF prescribed region. Context: The Environmental Studies Research Fund (ESRF) is a research program which sponsors environmental and social studies designed to assist in the decision-making process related to oil and gas exploration and development on Canada's frontier lands. The ESRF is directed by a 12-member Management Board which includes representation from the federal government, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB), the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator (CNSOER), the oil and gas industry, and the public. The ESRF is administered by a secretariat which resides in the Offshore Management Division in Natural Resources Canada. Since 1987, the ESRF has received its legislative mandate through the Canada Petroleum Resources Act. The ESRF regions are described in the Environmental Studies Research Fund Regions Regulations. As well, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act and the Canada–Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation and Offshore Renewable Energy Management Act provide legislative direction in the southern ESRF regions. Funding for ESRF is collected annually through levies paid by lease-holding oil and gas companies active in a specific ESRF region. In accordance with the legislation, levies are recommended by the Management Board to the Ministers of Natural Resources and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs for approval. Levies in the southern regions in areas governed by an offshore Accord are subject to final approval by the respective offshore regulator (i.e., the C-NLOPB, or the CNSOER). Levies are calculated by multiplying the levy rate of a region by the number of hectares of land under lease. The ESRF has sponsored studies on biodiversity; environmental effects and monitoring; social and economic issues; ice, icebergs, and ice detection; oil spill research and countermeasures; sea bottom ice scour; sediment transport; Indigenous Knowledge; and waves.

The Integrated Resource Plan - Local dataset is comprised of all the polygons that represent the Local Integrated Resource Plans (IRP) in Alberta. A Local IRP provides land resource management direction for a relatively smaller geographic planning area. A Local Plan is developed to provide more detailed land and resource use parameters than may be available in a Sub-Regional Plan. An IRP is a plan which identifies the values and associated land and resource management goals for the planning area in consideration of the maintenance of social, economic, and ecological values. An IRP provides direction regarding the type of land and resource management activity that would facilitate meeting the stated objectives in the planning area (e.g. recreation, grazing, industrial and commercial activities). The public was often involved in contributing input to the development of an IRP. IRPs were endorsed by the Government of Alberta in various periods.

Parks Canada’s National Program for Ecological Corridors was initiated to strengthen the network of protected areas across Canada through the creation of ecological corridors. To achieve this goal, Parks Canada sought out to develop tools for a common approach on the scientific and governance aspects of corridor creation and management. The National Priority Areas for Ecological Corridors (NPAECs) were developed using a scientific framework for national-scale prioritization of where ecological corridors are most urgently needed. Improving or maintaining ecological connectivity in these areas will greatly benefit biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation. The NPAECs were identified based on a methodology that is multivariate, data driven, national in scale, and spatially explicit at a coarse resolution. The Criteria for Ecological Corridors in Canada provide a common approach to ensure ecological corridors are managed and stewarded to maintain or restore effective ecological connectivity, while upholding Indigenous stewardship values. They are derived from the internationally recognized International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Guidelines on Connectivity and adapted to the Canadian context. The NPAECs geographic data layer, the list of datasets used to identify them, the Criteria and their accompanying guidance can be found below. More details and context about both program elements are available on the Program’s webpage (https://parks.canada.ca/nature/science/conservation/corridors-ecologiques-ecological-corridors).