To Whom it may concern, We…

To Whom it may concern,

We appreciate the opportunity to comment on your government’s decision to proceed with its proposed amendments to the Endangered Species Act, 2007, which are intended specifically to “streamline approvals and provide clarity to support economic development.”

As Christian farmers we are committed to our God-given responsibility to steward all resources. We therefore work daily to produce food and at the same time do our best to meet that responsibility. It is not conceivable for us to consider the sensibility of simply paying a fee, as you propose for developers, to make way for economic development at the cost of habitat loss. Furthermore, we are concerned about the apparent intention to speed decisions via Ministerial discretion, even without scientific evidence.

We cannot support the core intention of your changes to the Endangered Species Act, 2007, that prioritizes short-run economic development and developer profitability goals at the expense of long-run stewardship of our shared scarce resources, including species that are at risk or already endangered. This is short-sighted policy. We need more effort by government to more creatively design effective protections for species, and all resources, that also support economic growth. Our farmers work towards these joint goals daily and we ask that the government does so as well.