May 16 is Endangered …

May 16 is Endangered Species Day.According to the Muskoka Watershed Council, in Muskoka there are 12 species listed as Endangered and 14 listed as Threatened and 22 of Special Concern. The very narrow definition of "habitat" proposed by the Species Conservation Act will Not consider their areas needed for gathering food, hibernating, and effectively reproducing - only the area immediately around their dwelling place or nest. The best advice is to protect/ preserve rather than have to try to restore their needed space- if in fact the proposed legislation priorizes restoration efforts after development has disturbed species existence. Designation on a project by project basis ignores the cumulative effects of fragmentation of supportive habitat required for the biodiversity essential to entire watersheds- all the streams, rivers, lakes and forests and their interconnected web.
I understand the political pressure and felt urgency in the current trade war, but we must not risk the abundant natural heritage connected to the economic life-blood of places like Muskoka. We are still learning about the relationships of species to each other and consequences of loss to our human communities. Extinct means gone forever.