Manitoba Conservation and Climate

The department is overseen by the Minister of Environment and Climate, who is currently Mike Moyes, as of January 2025.

The department previously also held the responsibility for identifying, establishing, and managing Manitoba's system of provincial parks, ecological reserves, and protected areas, but this has since been moved to the Department of Natural Resources and Northern Development.

Department overview

Responsibilities of the department include ensuring the sustainability of natural resources for Manitobans, upholding and ensuring the continuance of Treaty and Indigenous rights, and providing for basic resource needs for subsistence users. The department also protects people, property, and resource values from wildfires as well as the adverse effects of other natural and human-caused events.

In terms of economic development and well-being, the Department of Conservation and Climate manages commercial use of natural resources by providing land-, water-, and resource-based opportunities and by supporting community initiatives through grant funding programs.

Divisions and responsibilities

• Climate, Environment, and Biodiversity: works on reducing and managing the impact that people have on the environment, as well as conserving Manitoba's rich diversity of plants and animals. This division's initiative's priorities, programs, legislation, and actions, focus on the following areas:
  • Air quality management
  • Climate change
  • Pollution prevention
  • Pesticide use
  • Management of protected areas
  • Protection of at risk species
  • Biodiversity conservation
  • Management of invasive species
  • Ecological reserve programs
  • Storage and handling of hazardous products like petroleum
• Finance and Crown Lands: provides executive management of programs and management services, including financial, information services, administrative support, planning, and policy development; management of Crown land and related programs; facilitation of the engagement of Indigenous people in the department's activities; and stewardship of Manitoba's shared geospatial technology and information assets.
• Environmental Stewardship: ensures the development, implementation, and coordination of government-wide climate change programs; ensures the development and coordination of strategic policy initiatives for the department; ensures the management and implementation of the environmental policy, program, and enforcement functions for the department; ensures that environmental impacts of developments are evaluated; and ensures the delivery of emergency-response programming related to environmental emergencies.
• Water Stewardship & Biodiversity: develops, administers, and implements policies, programs, legislation and regulations in order to:
  • ensure that the Crown-owned forest land is managed to provide sustainable resource base and quality seedings for existing and future harvest operations and an adequate forest cover for conservation and land resources
  • ensure that wildlife and its habitat are protected and managed sustainably
  • protect, maintain and, where necessary, rehabilitate the quality of Manitoba's ecosystems habitat
  • manage resources in such a way that: ensures that viable population stocks are maintained and that allocation for resource harvesting is fair; resolves or minimizes conflict between competing uses; and optimizes the long-term economic and social benefits to Manitobans
  • ensure the continued safety of drinking water provided to Manitobans
  • implement regulatory programs to control and manage land drainage and water retention projects while protecting wetlands and downstream properties;
  • sustainably allocate the use of water for such purposes as municipal drinking water, industrial purposes, irrigation, etc., and for the generation of hydroelectricity
  • take on scientific studies, short and long-term monitoring programs, and various data-collection activities that ensure the sound, sustainable, and scientifically based management of Manitoba's water, wildlife, fisheries, and forestry resources
  • develop and implement a system for integrated watershed management planning on watershed basis in Manitoba
• Waste Management: ensures that waste is "handled in a responsible manner" that preserves Manitoba's environment and protects its natural resources.