The Government of Ontario…

The Government of Ontario has a responsibility to help protect and recover at-risk birds in the province. Hundreds of thousands of Ontarians enjoy birding as a past time and care about the future of birds and their habitats. Birds Canada’s experience over the 17 years the Endangered Species Act was in place was that the law, and the framework for protection and recovery that it set out, was an important driver of public stewardship actions to recover threatened and endangered birds. Indeed, the story for several of Ontario’s threatened and endangered birds is that recovery actions are working and populations are stabilizing or recovering. Birds Canada is deeply concerned that the significant move away from a provincial role in the protection and recovery of at-risk birds as indicated by the Species Conservation Act will mean losing the progress made over the past decade and a half and increasing the rate of decline for many of the birds Ontarians cherish.

The new Species Conservation Act (SCA) results in two major changes that affect at-risk birds and the potential to stabilize or recover their populations:

• The proposed legislative and regulatory amendments to enable the Species Conservation Act will result in the removal of all provincial protections for 35 birds and all future assessed bird species that are listed under the federal Species at Risk Act or assessed as special concern. The province sites reduced duplication of federal and provincial prohibitions as the rationale. While there were overlapping prohibitions on the killing of birds and the destruction of their nest or residence, there was no duplication of habitat protection provisions. Ontario had a law to protect the habitat of at-risk birds and other species at risk; however, under the SCA it no longer does. Perhaps more importantly, this change removes provincial authority and oversight on how birds are protected in Ontario, deferring entirely to the federal government. Birds Canada believes the province has an important and even lead role to play for at-risk birds and that rather than delisting and removing provincial protections, the province should have used other measures to reduce duplication by working with the federal government.

• Under the SCA, habitat protections for all species are limited to the dwelling place and immediate surroundings. The SCA habitat definition and protection provision appears to be equivalent to the federal Species at Risk Act residence definition and protection provision. As a result, the SCA does not protect the habitat birds require to survive and reproduce. Threatened and endangered birds that are not listed under the federal Species at Risk Act will be listed under the SCA. In most cases, the cause of their decline is habitat loss or alteration, however the SCA does not protect the habitat for birds beyond the nest and immediate surroundings. As a result, addressing the primary cause of decline will rely on voluntary measures however the SCA includes no provisions that require government actions to provide guidance, incentives, or funding for the voluntary actions needed to recover at-risk birds.

Under the Species Conservation Act, the protection and recovery of at-risk birds will rely on voluntary actions and federal laws. The primary provincial role will be to incentivise and fund the conservation of at-risk birds. The province has indicated that it will continue to fund COSSARO to conduct provincial status assessments of birds. The province has also indicated that it will continue to develop and provide guidance for activities that may impact birds and their habitats. These are both important actions and Birds Canada strongly supports their continuation. However, the hundreds of thousands of Ontarians that enjoy birds and the natural environments that support them expect more. Birds Canada strongly recommends that as the province enables and implements the Species Conservation Act that it makes significant investments in programs to recover Ontario’s at-risk birds. This should include continuing to develop or update recovery plans to guide conservation actions and prioritizing habitat conservation and restoration actions to reduce or end the loss of habitat.