Submission on Canada’s 2030 Biodiversity Strategy

Pulse Canada has been actively engaged in Canada’s biodiversity commitments. We were present at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal and hosted an event within the Canadian Pavillion to bring the voice of Canadian grain farmers to the conference and show how they lead the sustainable management of agriculture. We are pleased to further this engagement with comment on the discussion document and help shapes Canada’s 2030 National Biodiversity Strategy.

Pulse Canada is the national association representing growers, traders and processors of Canadian pulses (dry peas, lentils, dry beans, faba beans and chickpeas). Our mission is to lead a profitable and sustainable Canadian pulse industry through innovation, efficiencies, and increased value. Canadian pulse growers are a fundamental component of sustainable agriculture systems in Canada, as the nitrogen fixation capacity of pulses provides a key environmental benefit to Canadian cropping systems. Adding pulses to crop rotations is a proven method to immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Canadian cropping systems while being agronomically beneficial without the need to test and adopt new technologies. In fact, the 3.5 million hectares of pulse crops grown in 2021 reduced greenhouse gas emissions from Canadian agriculture by approximately 3.6 million tonnes (CO2 eq).