As the 10 year review of the…

As the 10 year review of the Endangered Species Act in Ontario approaches, it provides an opportunity to fill in any gaps that were missing or improve the current policies in place. Specifically, I will be focusing on Area of Focus 3: Species Recovery Policies and Habitat Regulations. In this area of focus, it outlines the duration of time allotted to come up with plans to protect species habitats and provide recovery strategies. The issue with this area of focus is that it lacks specificity in terms of what qualifies for a habitat to be protected and the species involved, the "general habitat" of a species can encompass many meanings and it allows greater chances for disputes to neglect important habitats, hotspots need to be defined for better protection. Another issue with this focus is the duration of time allowed to come up with a viable plan to protect a species habitat and the necessary steps for recovery. I believe that time should be extended from 9 months to a 1 year since that little bit of extra time allows for better planning and understanding of the task at hand for the species/habitat in focus. Lastly, there needs to be some sort of incentive or even consequence in place to have these plans be made up. During the Harper government, many species were not being listed at a timely manner and till this day, there is a backlog of all the species that need to be reviewed. It is unacceptable to wait YEARS to list species onto a list in order to protect them. Given the current political and environmental climate, it is clear that we are fighting against time to save species. Without incentives or consequences, it might be too late to protect these species at risk. The loss of many species is a loss for future generations and a massive loss to our biodiversity on this planet.