Abstract
British Columbia has the greatest biological diversity of any province or territory in Canada. Yet increasing numbers of species in British Columbia are threatened with extinction. The current patchwork of provincial laws and regulations has not effectively prevented species declines. Recently, the Provincial Government has committed to enacting an endangered species law. Drawing upon our scientific and legal expertise, we offer recommendations for key features of endangered species legislation that build upon strengths and avoid weaknesses observed elsewhere. We recommend striking an independent Oversight Committee to provide recommendations about listing species, organize Recovery Teams, and monitor the efficacy of actions taken. Recovery Teams would evaluate and prioritize potential actions for individual species or groups of species that face common threats or live in a common area, based on best available evidence (including natural and social science and Indigenous Knowledge). Our recommendations focus on implementing an adaptive approach, with ongoing and transparent monitoring and reporting, to reduce delays between determining when a species is at risk and taking effective actions to save it. We urge lawmakers to include this strong evidentiary basis for species recovery as they tackle the scientific and socioeconomic challenges of building an effective species at risk Act.
Highlights
British Columbia (B.C.) has the most biodiversity of any Canadian province (Cannings et al 2005; Austin et al 2008) and the most species assessed to be at risk
To speed up species recovery, we propose that the BCSARPRA combine the two steps of Recovery Strategy and Action Plan into a single process, Recovery Action Prioritization (RAP)
The Act should formally recognize the public as a partner in the recovery and protection of species at risk in B.C. by providing legislated processes to enable public participation. These legislated processes should include mechanisms by which the public can request that a species be considered for assessment, the ability to comment on RAPs, the ability to comment on reporting on the Act by the Oversight Committee, the ability to comment on all Ministerial statements, and the legal opportunity to seek judicial remedies for contraventions of the Act, including failure to adhere to legislated timelines or to prioritized actions deemed essential for recovery
Summary
British Columbia (B.C.) has the most biodiversity of any Canadian province (Cannings et al 2005; Austin et al 2008) and the most species assessed to be at risk. Like several other Canadian provinces and territories (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, Yukon, and Nunavut), B.C. has never had dedicated species at risk legislation and instead has been relying on an inadequate patchwork of legislation and resulting policy decisions to manage species at risk (e.g., the Wildlife Act (1996), the Forest & Range Practices Act (2002), and the Oil and Gas Activities Act (2008)) These legislative and policy frameworks were not intended to protect species at risk; the province has repeatedly been criticized for prioritizing resource development over the needs of species (Sierra Legal and Environmental Law Centre 2007; British Columbia Task Force on Species At Risk 2011; BCMECCS 2018). Specifying objective and practical targets for recovery can incentivize conservation actions to move species onto a “green list” of success (Akçakaya et al 2018)
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