Yesterday the federal government announced that they would be providing the Nature Conservancy of Canada with $100 million.

The funding which will be providing over four years to safeguard important habitats for species at risk through the Natural Heritage Conservation Program. The funding will support privately protected areas and ecologically sensitive landscapes across the country including those in Saskatchewan.

Jennifer McKillop, the acting regional vice-president for Nature Conservancy of Canada's Saskatchewan region, said they're most interested in grasslands when it comes to Saskatchewan.

"The particular landscapes in Saskatchewan that we're interested are primary grasslands which are one of the most at-risk ecosystems in the world," she said. "In Canada, more than 70 per cent of our prairie grassland have already been lost. We work with donors and with ranchers and with local communities across Saskatchewan to conserve native grasslands and the rare and endangered species that rely on them."

McKillop said that there are many different areas in the southwest they will look to conserve.

"We are focusing our work in a number of areas across the province in the southwest," she said. "Particularly with Cypress Uplands, the Milk River Basin, as well as the Missouri Coteau, and the Old Man on His Back Ranch."

She said that they will decide on how much money to put towards Saskatchewan by working with partners across the country.

"We are a science-based organization, and we work to prioritize how our funding is spent," she said. "It's a $100 million investment, and we will be working with partners across the country, and we will be prioritizing where those projects will be."

She added that the NCC does have to match the $100 million.

"For every dollar from the federal government, it has to be matched by two dollars that the NCC works to raise either in cash donations or donations of land."

Catherine McKenna, Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change, made the announcement in Toronto.