I am concerned about the…

I am concerned about the changes to Ontario’s Endangered Species Act. We are the most densely populated province with the highest concentration of endangered species. If there is any province that needs evidence-based decision making it would be Ontario. Development and conservation are not mutually exclusive. We just need to be smarter about how and where we develop and how we plan to restore or mitigate this impact. I am concerned about the short-sightedness of some of the changes being made to this Act.

1) I am concerned about the development of a land trust instead of the requirement to do protection activities. Recovery and conservation need to be priorities, and this should be focus on the habitat that was disturbed. Many of these species having a fidelity to their habitat, and so offsetting habitat elsewhere will not produce an equivalent benefit. I am also concerned about the loose language that funds are “reasonably likely to support the protection and recovery of these species”. This allows for too vague of an interpretation of what actions need to be taken.

2) I am concerned about abandoning the “edge of range” species. With climate change the genetic diversity of these northern populations will become more important with the northern migration of species.

3) I am concerned about changes that limit protections, veto protections, bypass ESA requirements and bypass consultations. Critical habitat ought to be critical habitat regardless of who or what is being proposed.

4) I am concerned about the delays in the listing and changing of status of SAR that is proposed to occur. We ought to be adapting to the problem on a time scale that is representative of the problem and not delay listings by up to 5 years