We welcome the invitation to…

We welcome the invitation to provide comments on developing the new Species Conservation Act. First of all, we object to the replacement of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) with the far weaker Species Conservation Act. One of the large changes with the withdrawal of the ESA is the removal of broad habitat protection for threatened and endangered species.
The proposed Species Conservation Act defines habitat in 2(1),
“(a) in respect of an animal species,
(i) a dwelling place, such as a den, nest or other similar place, that is occupied or habitually occupied by one or more members of a species for the purposes of breeding, rearing, staging, wintering or hibernating, and
(ii) the area immediately around a dwelling place described in subclause (i) that is essential for the purposes set out in that subclause”.
Draft technical guidance on what constitutes a “dwelling place” has now been circulated by the ministry. For the Blanding’s Turtle, the dwelling place will only be no more than a single wetland, and if that wetland is large, no more than 30 hectares of aquatic habitat will be protected. Given that a single Blanding’s Turtle can make use of several wetlands over the course of the active season, protecting only part of one wetland is not adequately protecting the habitat.
Protecting less than an entire wetland is not in keeping with the statement on the ERO that the new Species Conservation Act “will continue to provide important protection for species at risk and their core habitats.” The “core habitat” of a Blanding’s Turtle includes multiple wetlands and anything less than that jeopardizes the survival of the population.
We recommend that at a minimum, the guidance for turtle species, is to protect the entire wetland occupied by the species. For species with larger movements, such as the Blanding’s Turtle, it should also include the two or three adjacent wetlands.