The following amendments…

The following amendments will have negative impacts on conservation and need to be reconsidered.

1. Reducing the definition of “habitat” to immediate dwellings like dens, nesting sites or critical root zones, will have detrimental impacts to species. For species to thrive, they need large habitat areas.

2. The list of species at risk should not be discretionary. The species at risk list must be determined by an independent scientific body.

3. Species that overlap with federal jurisdiction must not be removed from the provincial list. This will not remove "duplication", it will allow for habitats to be destroyed by activities that occur at the provincial level. Having all species on the provincial list is further supported by the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk, which stipulates a need for provinces to develop complementary species conservation initiatives.

4. Eliminating recovery strategies will make it nearly impossible to effectively recover at-risk species. Clear conditions and binding requirements must be developed before allowing industry to proceed with activities. It is not appropriate to allow activities that could impact at-risk species to be simply registered.

Biodiversity lose is happening faster and threats to the survival of species is expanding. We need to strengthen our conservation efforts, not weaken them.