David Browne, Senior Vice-President, Conservation & Policy
Ontario has announced plans to eliminate its Endangered Species Act. This is a significant step backwards for bird conservation in the province. The change would end provincial legal habitat protection for endangered and threatened birds as the proposed new Species Conservation Act will only provide protection for the “dwelling place” or nest. Habitat conservation would only be achieved through voluntary measures or federal government intervention.
Let the Ontario government know you care deeply about the future of at-risk birds and want to see the forests, wetlands, and grasslands they depend on protected for future generations. You can add your voice for habitat protection by leaving a comment through the Environmental Registry of Ontario before May 17th.
Significance of the proposed changes to bird conservation:
- Ontario will no longer apply provincial protection to birds and their nests if they are listed under the federal Species at Risk Act. This means the province could step back from compliance, enforcement, and recovery.
- Ontario will no longer have regulatory tools to protect the habitat within which threatened and endangered birds nest and feed. Habitat protection will be voluntary on both private and provincial land.
- Ontario will not develop recovery strategies and actions for any endangered species including birds. Instead, the government would “focus the development of conservation guidance when and where it is needed and makes sense to do so.” As a result, the survival and recovery of endangered birds such as Piping Plover, Prothonotary Warbler and Red-headed Woodpecker will need to look to federal plans as the province appears to be stepping back from efforts to support their conservation.
Red-headed Woodpecker. Photo: Trisha Snider
Prothonotary Warbler. Photo: Katherine Waybrant
