[cseb national] FW: new Ontario Endangered Species Act

Please reply to Dr. Mart Gross directly with your name, affiliation, address
and email if you wish to be added to the list supporting this effort by 4
likeminded Conservation Biologists at 4 different universities! Please pass
along to your contacts as well.
 
Thank you on behalf of nature and nature-lovers everywhere!
 
Natalie Helferty
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Mart Gross [mailto:mart.gross@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: October 11, 2006 11:13 AM
To: nhelferty@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: new Ontario Endangered Species Act


October 11, 2006

 

Dear Natalie,

 

We contacted you earlier this year regarding the provincial government’s
ongoing initiative to update and strengthen Ontario’s endangered species
legislation. Thank you for your help at that time! The government is now in
the process of deciding what that new legislation will contain. Therefore,
we are writing to you again to ask whether you would be willing to support
the letter below regarding the key elements that we believe should be
included in the new Act.  These elements are: 1. a science-based definition
and listing of species at risk; 2. habitat protection; 3. consideration of
socio-economic factors; 4. recovery planning and implementation for all
threatened and endangered species; and 5. a precautionary approach to
protecting species at risk.    

This is not by any means an exhaustive list, but we feel that it captures
the elements that will be critical to the legislation’s success. We urge you
to consider supporting the letter below, as the legislation is now being
drafted and will have profound implications for Ontario’s wildlife.

If you agree to support this letter, please indicate your agreement by
return email (to HYPERLINK
"mailto:mart.gross@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"mart.gross@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) by October
18, 2006. Please include with your return email, your name, position and
affiliation as you would like them to appear on the final letter that we
will send to the Premier and Minister, as well as to interested members of
the media.

If you have any questions, please contact any of the four of us at our
addresses below.  The more support we have for this letter, the more
influence it may have. Therefore, please forward this email to colleagues
who may be interested and ask them to support this letter. We appreciate
your efforts on behalf on Ontario’s wildlife. The revision of Ontario's
endangered species legislation is an opportunity for our province to be one
of the best in protecting species at risk.   

 

Yours truly,

 

Dr. Patricia Chow-Fraser

Professor, Department of Biology

McMaster University  

HYPERLINK "mailto:chowfras@xxxxxxxxxxx"chowfras@xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Dr. Mart R. Gross
Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

University of Toronto
HYPERLINK "mailto:mgross@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"mgross@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Dr. Jeremy Kerr
Associate Professor, Department of Biology 

University of Ottawa
HYPERLINK "mailto:jkerr@xxxxxxxxxx"jkerr@xxxxxxxxxx

 

Dr. James Schaefer

Associate Professor and Director

Watershed Ecosystems Graduate Program

Trent University

HYPERLINK "mailto:jschaefer@xxxxxxxxx"jschaefer@xxxxxxxxx

 

________________

SCIENTISTS' LETTER 

 

Hon. Dalton McGuinty

Premier

Legislative Building

Rm. 281

Queen's Park

Toronto ON, M7A1A1

 

Hon. David Ramsay

Whitney Block
6th Floor, Rm. 6630
99 Wellesley St. W.
Toronto ON, M7A1W3

 

 

Dear Premier McGuinty and Minister Ramsay,

 


Re: Ontario’s new Endangered Species Act


 

As members of the scientific community, we are pleased to see that the
Province of Ontario is following through on its commitment to update the
Endangered Species Act.  This revision gives Ontario an opportunity to be
among the leaders in protecting endangered species.  Because the Species at
Risk Act of the federal government has relatively limited application in
Ontario, it is all the more important that Ontario’s legislation be updated
to fill in the numerous gaps in species conservation. As you contemplate
your options for the new provincial legislation, we urge you to implement
the following:

 

1)      Science-based definition and listing of species at risk: The new Act
should define 'species' to include geographically or genetically distinct
populations as in the federal Species at Risk Act. In addition, Ontario
should adopt an independent, science-based process for listing species at
risk, based on an objective assessment of the abundance and rate of decline
of species and populations. Ontario’s current Act lists only a fraction of
the province’s ‘endangered’ species and offers no assistance in the
protection or recovery of species that fall in the other categories of risk
(extirpated, threatened, special concern). The new Act should require that
Ontario’s official list be the science-based list that is already produced
and regularly updated by the Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in
Ontario (COSSARO). This will help to avoid confusion about what is and what
isn't at risk, as the status of species will be clearly based on their
biological likelihood of extinction.

 

2)      Habitat protection: Habitat loss is the major agent of species loss
and endangerment. To be on firm scientific ground, the new legislation
should require habitat protection, including the areas, conditions and
resources necessary for the survival, reproduction and recovery of a
species. For the recovery of many species, this will entail protecting not
only habitat that is currently occupied, but also that which can be
potentially occupied. 

 

3)      Socio-economic considerations:  Legislation that includes a
science-based listing process and habitat protection must also be able to
accommodate and respond to important socio-economic considerations. In other
words, there should be room for exceptions and tailored approaches to the
protection and recovery of individual species where this is warranted.
Ontario’s new Act should include an exceptions process to the general
protection regime that could be invoked by elected officials to deal with
pressing social, economic or ecological factors. However, decisions about
making exceptions to the protection regime should be subject to public
scrutiny and comment under Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights.

 

4)      Recovery planning and implementation: Ontario’s new Act should
require that recovery plans be produced and implemented for all endangered
and threatened species, and should include timeframes for planning and
implementation. During the recovery planning process, social and economic
considerations will have a role in determining what actions to take. The
legislation should also support the development of multi-species and/or
ecosystem-based recovery strategies, where appropriate. This would be
especially beneficial in protecting many undescribed or poorly monitored
species. 

 

5)      A preventive approach: Preventing endangerment is more effective,
more efficient and more likely to succeed than trying to recover species
once they are threatened with extinction. For this reason, it is imperative
that the legislation reflect a preventive approach and address special
concern species. They and their habitat should be protected through
appropriate prohibitions under the Act to ensure that they do not become
threatened. In addition, the legislation should require management plans and
ongoing monitoring for species of special concern.

 

In the past, the conservation of species at risk in Ontario has suffered
from a lack of government attention and support. This current legislative
initiative indicates your commitment to address this problem and to sustain
the rich natural legacy that is central to the cultural identity and the
long-term health and prosperity of the people of Ontario. There are now
nearly 200 official species at risk in the province, and the list grows
yearly. We therefore urge you to move forward with effective new endangered
species legislation as soon as possible.

 

Sincerely,

 

[list of supporters]


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