To whom it may concern,…

To whom it may concern,

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Endangered Species Act review discussion paper. As an Ontario sheep farmer, I appreciate the importance of preserving biodiversity on my farm and the complexity of doing so.

Given my experience with species at risk I propose the following recommendations:
Recovery strategies should be developed through a holistic lens that includes the impact on other species in the area and an economic impact analysis before (not after).
I would submit that the timeline allowed to develop a recovery strategy be flexible to allow for enough scientific review of the information available and evidenced-based strategy development.
The entire process from identifying animals as endangered right through to the strategy development process should also be more inclusive bringing in ecologist, farmers. I believe this would lead to better outcomes and help create a collaborative environment with more sustainable outcomes.
The process of identifying species at risk should be more transparent. I would recommend that a list of animals be published that indicates where they are in terms of population numbers (as is currently done with birds). This could help us be more proactive and potentially proactively implement habitat protection strategies before they are determined to be species at risk.
Thank you again for the opportunity to comment.

Regards,