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FOLLOW THE TOP 10 THINGS YOU CAN DO FOR SPECIES AT RISK Become an Advocate for Nature. Sign up on our website to receive action alerts and information on species at risk issues. www.ontarionature.org/act/advocates_for_nature.php Send a letter to Premier McGuinty urging him to keep his promise to protect Ontario’s northern boreal forest. Here is the address: Premier Dalton McGuinty Take part in Ontario Nature’s Reptile and Amphibian Atlas. Let us know if you’ve spotted a turtle, snake, lizard or salamander in your area to help us track the health of their populations. Visit www.ontarionature.org/protect/species/atlas_FAQ.php for more information. Join your local naturalist club. Get outside with local experts in your community who can help you learn more about the natural world. Links to clubs across the province can be found at: http://www.ontarionature.org/discover/member_groups/member_groups.php Plant a native garden. Putting in the foliage and flowers that attract native species like butterflies, dragonflies and other wildlife can increase their habitat in your area. Get started by going to http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?cid=4&id=234 Buy sustainable products. Products that are certified against environmental standards, such as the Forest Stewardship council (FSC) for paper and wood and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) for fish and the GreenPalm ecolabel, indicate that those products have been harvested in a sustainable way. http://www.fauna-flora.org/2010_5things.php Put on a workshop for Biodiversity. If you are a member of a club, school or just know a lot of people interested in Ontario’s rich web of life, consider using the following factsheets, notes and materials to put on a workshop about biodiversity. Biodiversity Workshop materials Biodiversity Workshop factsheets HABITAT FOR BLANDINGS TURTLE, AMERICAN GINSENG AND BUTTERNUT SLATED TO BE PAVED OVER Sensitive wetland habitat for a number of provincially and federally listed species is slated to be paved over as the City of Ottawa seeks to extend the Terry Fox Drive in Kanata. The wetland is home to Blandings turtles, American ginseng and butternut trees and provides critical habitat for many other species in an area where rampant development has fragmented much of the natural heritage system. Permits to destroy this habitat are currently being considered for approval by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). Click here to learn more. NINE HABITAT REGULATIONS ARE NOW POSTED This has been a milestone year for Ontario’s new Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA). The law came into force a year ago, and since then the government has been putting measures into place to achieve the ESA’s ambitious goal of protecting and recovering Ontario’s endangered species. A critical first step is the development of recovery strategies and habitat regulations for ten “fast-track” species. The recovery strategies are developed by expert recovery teams – one for each species – who conduct a thorough scientific review of the species’ needs and present recommendations to government. The habitat regulations then follow. They are developed by government – again, one for each species. Each habitat regulation identifies the area covered as habitat for a particular species under the ESA. Habitat loss is the number one threat to most endangered species in Ontario. Thus the habitat regulations represent one of the most important tools under the ESA. Without strong, scientifically defensible identification and protection of all aspects of a species’ habitat, that species will decline further. Using Ontario’s public school report card as a template, Save Ontario’s Species (SOS) has evaluated the first year of ESA implementation, with a focus on the first ten draft habitat regulations to come out under the Act. The results suggest that in many respects the government has yet to grasp the basic ABCs of habitat protection. However, since these are draft regulations, the government still has time to improve its grades. June 2009 marks the first anniversary of the Act coming into force. In moving forward, it is critical that the first habitat regulations set a strong precedent for all those to follow. These habitat regulations are a litmus test for how well the new ESA is going to work. Ontario’s endangered species cannot afford a failing grade, or even a bare pass. To improve the long term prospects for these species, the government should be aiming for an A+. It is time to assess progress and to urge the government to make the grade.Click here to see the SOS press release. View the SOS report card. To read comments submitted by the SOS Coalition on the nine habitat regulations, click here.
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Fowler's Toad - Photo taken by Joe Crowley