By Sydney Shepherd, Ontario Piping Plover Program Coordinator, and JulieAnn Prentice, Ontario Piping Plover Field Biologist
We’ve been getting lots of questions about the changes happening at Wasaga Beach, and how they will impact the Piping Plovers that nest there. Thank you for caring!
If this is the first you’re hearing of it, check out our blog to get caught up to speed.
For the rest of you who are seeking some clarification and more details, please dig in!
Piping Plover. Photo: Mark Peck
What is so important about Wasaga Beach?
Since 2008, Wasaga Beach has been the site of 59 Piping Plover nests, which produced a total of 87 fledglings—that’s nearly half of all Ontario fledglings. These young plovers go on to breed at other sites across Ontario. In fact, a third of Ontario’s breeding Piping Plover population came from Wasaga Beach.
Wasaga’s plovers fuel the population across the Great Lakes, nesting at Darlington and Presqu’ile Provincial Parks, and even establishing new and historic sites in Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York.
The last 18 years of success at Wasaga Beach have demonstrated that the nesting habitat is of high quality, and the human effort to support these birds – one that found a balance between beach tourism and conservation – is working.
High-quality habitat isn’t easy to come across anymore. Natural beaches with a mix of vegetation, dunes, and wrack materials – all necessary for shelter and food – are rare. Throughout Ontario these habitats have been lost to mechanical beach grooming, developments, and shoreline hardening. If Piping Plovers lose their home at Wasaga Beach, they have very few other places to go.
What’s going on with the habitat at Wasaga Beach?
The land where Piping Plovers nest in Wasaga Beach has been removed from the Provincial Park and is now being transferred to the Town of Wasaga Beach. This means that Ontario Parks legislation no longer protects these nesting locations. It will be up to the Town to voluntarily protect and manage plover habitat, which is expensive, time-consuming, and requires a high level of expertise and commitment.
Isn’t plover habitat still protected by provincial and federal laws?
The answer to this gets a little bit technical. The provincial Endangered Species Act, which has been in place since 2007, will soon be repealed and replaced by the Species Conservation Act. This new legislation will not provide any habitat protection for Piping Plovers or any other migratory bird species.
Unfortunately, there is also a gap in the federal legislation. Habitat protection under the Species at Risk Act doesn’t apply at Wasaga Beach, because the land is not federally owned, and the Migratory Birds Convention Act only protects the nest itself. This means that the habitat Piping Plover need for nesting and raising their families will soon have almost zero legal protection at Wasaga Beach.
Without legal protections, fragile environments can quickly disappear. Imagine trying to raise a family, but not having access to grocery stores, schools, or any community support. That’s the new reality for Wasaga Beach’s plovers. They can try hatching and raising chicks, but the habitat that the family needs for shelter and food—the habitat they need to survive—will no longer be protected.
What is being done? And how is Birds Canada helping?
Bear with us, this is also pretty technical, but it’s an important development.
Ontario Nature, Environmental Defense, and Ecojustice have filed a petition for an Emergency Order under Section 80 of the Species at Risk Act. This is a rare step that can be taken when a species faces an imminent threat to its survival and recovery. It’s essentially a formal request, backed by evidence, for the federal government to step in to protect Piping Plovers and their habitat at Wasaga Beach.
To support the request, Birds Canada provided a detailed scientific report on the status of Piping Plovers in Wasaga Beach and Ontario. This included a risk assessment of management activities like mechanical beach raking, which both removes natural debris and vegetation that provide food and shelter for Piping Plover, and flattens and compacts sand so it becomes unsuitable for nesting. Birds Canada coordinates the Piping Plover conservation effort across Ontario. In this role, we have the unique ability to pull together long-term scientific data from Wasaga Beach and all other nesting beaches in Ontario, plus we access knowledge from partner groups in the United States. This long-term scientific data, collected by staff, partners, and dedicated volunteers over the past 19 years, clearly shows that Wasaga Beach is essential to the continued survival and recovery of Piping Plover in Ontario.
In addition to providing important data and expert advice for this petition, Birds Canada has repeatedly offered to provide the same support and science-based recommendations to the municipality, consultants, community members, or any others involved in future plans for plover habitat in Wasaga Beach. We see this as a critical responsibility in our role as we continue to lead the Ontario Piping Plover Conservation Program.
What are the next steps? And how can I help?
We are currently waiting on the outcome of the Emergency Order request. We hope that the Federal Government understands the scale of the threat and takes appropriate steps to support Piping Plovers at Wasaga Beach. We are ready if the municipality or other stakeholders involved in managing the beach decide to engage with us for science-based recommendations or advice.
Birds Canada is hard at work preparing for the upcoming nesting season. In less than 10 weeks Piping Plovers will return to the shorelines of Wasaga Beach. They will be the most affected by the decisions made over the coming months, yet are completely unaware and unable to act.
Together, we are Canada’s voice for birds. If you’re looking for a way to help, please share this story and receive updates by following @Birds.Canada and @Ontarioplovers on social media.
Volunteers make a meaningful impact for Piping Plovers—in fact, volunteer data played a big role in the Emergency Order Request. If you live near Wasaga Beach and want to be involved this summer, please sign-up here.