The Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario’s 2021 annual report on species assessments

The Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario

Ontario is committed to providing protections for species at risk under the Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA). The Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario (COSSARO) is an independent committee of experts, including members with expertise in scientific disciplines, community knowledge or Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge.

COSSARO is responsible for:

• assessing species at risk in Ontario
• providing classifications to the Minister of the Environment Conservation and Parks

In accordance with sections 6 and 7 of the ESA:

• COSSARO is required to submit an annual report to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks in January of each year listing species that have been assessed and classified since its previous annual report was submitted
• If the report submitted to the Minister classifies any species as extirpated, endangered, threatened or of special concern, O. Reg. 230/08 – Species at Risk in Ontario List must be amended within one year of receiving the report from COSSARO

On January 26, 2022, the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks received the required 2021 annual report from COSSARO along with corresponding species assessments and classifications. The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks will make and file any corresponding amendments to Ontario Regulation 230/08 by January 25, 2023.

The report to the Minister has been posted publicly, as required by Section 51 of the ESA.

Highlights of COSSARO’s annual report

COSSARO’s 2021 annual report includes:

• species assessments (brief description of species biology, threats, etc.) and classifications of 33 species/populations as determined by COSSARO
• a draft plan for species assessments for 2022

Species classifications resulting from the species assessments conducted by COSSARO in 2021 include:

New listings (species not currently on SARO List)

• 4 new Endangered species:
  • Red Knot (rufa Subspecies) –Tierra del Fuego / Patagonia wintering population
  • Red Knot (rufa Subspecies) – Southeastern USA / Gulf of Mexico / Caribbean wintering population
  • Suckley’s Cuckoo Bumble Bee
  • Striped Whitelip

• 4 new Threatened species:
  • Lesser Yellowlegs
  • Davis’s Shieldback
  • Reversed Haploa
  • Purple Wartyback

• 1 new Special Concern species:
  • American Bumble Bee

Up-listings of species currently on the SARO List

• 1 species previously listed as Special Concern up listed to Threatened:
  • Short-eared Owl
     
• 1 species previously listed as Threatened and up listed to Endangered:
  • Lake Chubsucker

Down-listings of species currently on the SARO List

• 2 species being removed from list:
  • Spring Salamander is currently Extirpated and is now Data Deficient
  • Aweme Borer Moth is currently Endangered and is now Data Deficient

• 1 species down listed from Endangered and is now Special Concern:
  • Red Knot (rufa Subspecies) – Northeastern South America wintering population

• 2 species down listed from Endangered and is now Threatened:
  • Rapids Clubtail
  • Western Silvery Aster

• 2 species down listed from Threatened and is now Special Concern:
  • Barn Swallow
  • Lakeside Daisy

Name Changes of species currently on SARO List:

• Algonquin Wolf was changed to Eastern Wolf