We are in the middle of the…

We are in the middle of the sixth mass extinction and cannot afford to lose more of our Species at Risk. There is limited natural cover left, specifically in southern ontario. Every development project that may impact SAR needs to have a net benefit for SAR if we are ever going to recover these species and get them off the list. I thought that was the goal here? This plan allows developers to chip away at habitat with each project and say that it wont have an impact, but not require the project to provide any restoration for what is lost. You just get to pay into a fund and call it a day and we are left to hope that the fund alone will recover these species? how?

for butternut, you are implying that health trees that are retainable dont matter, that they are replaceable elsewhere... somewhere ..at some point ..with nothing holding the agency accountable to replace those exact trees.

for blandings turtle.. are you just going to magically make some wetland somewhere else? its main threat is HABITAT LOSS. this has been scientifically proven. its well known. so how does paying into the fund help this species? ontario cannot afford to lose anymore wetland area in general.

for barn swallow, you are implying that barns can be removed for a project and then nothing else is required? we know that replacing barns with kiosks does not work well, but there are better designs out there the ESA should be pushing for projects. barn swallows need an immediate, local replacement for nesting.. not some potential help from the fund somewhere else in ontario sometime in the future.

This agency, if passed need to be FULLY science based without any outside interests like COSSARO.

All in all, this plan does not provide much hope for our species at risk. you list the species that would be eligible for exemptions, but do not provide any insight as to how these species will be recovered through the fund. It is shortsighted to cut the red tape and pay to slay. How will this fund quantify all the habitat that is damaged in the process of proving these exemptions? Ontario's species at risk need a net benefit from every project AS WELL AS larger scale funded projects. We are running out of time and natural cover....