SPECIES AT RISK

	- Woodland Caribou   Photo by Bruce Petersen

Throughout Canada and around the world, numerous species of both plants and animals are disappearing at unprecedented rates. The reasons for these losses are numerous. The biggest cause behind the loss of more than 80% of all listed 'species at risk' in Canada is habitat loss or destruction.

Historically within Canada, species living in the southern areas of our country suffered the most due to human settlement. Over time, people changed or destroyed habitats by plowing lands, polluting waters,diverting rivers, setting up large industries and cities, and so on. Still today, these practices harm remaining species.

It is not just the cutting of a forest or developing an oil well that degrades the environment and contributes to species loss. It is the roads built to cut that forest and to dig that well. It is the pollution caused by the machinery and the erosion to a landscape. It is the demand for more that requires a pipeline to be laid or power lines to be built. Just as all the components of the environment are intricately connected, so too are the components of industry. One action never stands alone.

In a world ever-increasing in population and technologies, the struggle between development and environment grows. Often the owl's need for a nest is forgotten as the demand for resources increases. Forestry, mining, commercial fishing, farming, and oil and gas exploration, to name some, singularly and cumulatively play a part in the destruction of habitats around the world.

COSEWIC

In 1977 the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) was formed to address the issue of species at risk in Canada. COSEWIC provides Canadians and their governments with advice regarding the status of wild species that are nationally at risk of extinction or extirpation. Extinction refers to a wildlife species that no longer exists. Extirpation refers to a wildlife species no longer existing in the wild in Canada, but occurring elsewhere.

COSEWIC is made up of members from each provincial and territorial government wildlife agency, four federal agencies, three non-government members, the co-chairs of the Species Specialist Subcommittees and the Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge Subcommittee. The Species Specialist Subcommittees as of May 2004 are as follows:

• Amphibians and Reptiles
• Arthropods
• Birds
• Freshwater Fishes
• Marine Fishes
• Marine Mammals
• Molluscs
• Plants and Lichens
• Terrestrial Mammals

COSEWIC puts out a list of species every year that they have reviewed and established to be extinct, extirpated, endangered, threatened, special concern, not at risk, or data deficient. Definitions of these categories may be found on the COSEWIC website.

A full listing of species currently designated as 'at risk' in Canada may be found in COSEWIC's annual report. Details on specific species in specific locations in Canada may be found on COSEWIC's species database.

COSEWIC also identifies candidate species. Candidate species are species not yet assessed by COSEWIC but that have been identified by COSEWIC as potentially being at risk. As such, they are candidates for detailed status assessments. Species on the candidate list are ranked into three priority groups by the Species Specialist Subcommittees of COSEWIC, to reflect the relative urgency with which each species should receive a COSEWIC assessment.

As of May 2004, 456 species were classified by COSEWIC as endangered, threatened, or of special concern. Of these 456 species, 45 had a range of occurrence within Saskatchewan. These numbers seem large. In reality, it is estimated by scientists that the number of species at risk is much greater.

Laws Pertaining to Species at Risk

Canada and Saskatchewan have several legislations pertaining to wildlife and species at risk. These include: Species at Risk Act, Canada Wildlife Act, Migratory Bird Convention Act, Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Inter-provincial Trade Act, Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, Fisheries Act, National Parks Act, Saskatchewan's Wildlife Act .

The federal Species at Risk Act and Saskatchewan's Wildlife Act deal most-directly with species at risk in the country.

The Federal Species at Risk Act (SARA)
While COSEWIC has existed as a committee since the late 1970s, there was no law in place to do anything about their listings until the Species At Risk Act (SARA) was passed in Parliament in 2002.

This Act supports a body known as the Canadian Endangered Species Conservation Council (CESC). The CESC consists of federal, provincial and territorial ministers. At the federal level, these ministers include, the Minister of the Environment, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Provincially and Territorially, members include those ministers within each province or territory who are responsible for the conservation and management of the flora and fauna belong to the Council.

	- Whooping Crane   Photo by Brian Johns

The role of the Council is to "provide direction on the activities of COSEWIC, the preparation of recovery strategies, the preparation and implementation of action plans, and to coordinate the activities of the various governments represented on the Council relating to the protection of species at risk." The COSEWIC list of 'species at risk' is made public and is also forwarded to CESCC along with a rationale for each designation on the list. The CESCC (i.e. politicians) determine and coordinate the most effective response actions.

Recovery strategies are currently under the direction of program called RENEW, Recovery of Nationally Endangered Wildlife. "As part of an Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk, RENEW brings together 16 federal, provincial and territorial departments, and more than a hundred recovery teams made up of governmental and non-governmental members. As of June 2003, the web page for RENEW listed 10 recovery plans for species at risk in Saskatchewan including: swift fox, wood bison, burrowing owl, ferruginous hawk, greater prairie chicken, loggerhead shrike, peregrine falcon, piping plover, Baird's sparrow and whooping crane. CPAWS is currently contributing to the development of a recovery plan for the woodland caribou in Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan's Wildlife Act
Within Saskatchewan, species at risk fall under the jurisdiction of the Wildlife Act: an act respecting the protection of wildlife and wild species at risk and making consequential amendments to other Acts.

This Act disallows people to sell, export, kill or otherwise harm wild species at risk. In addition it allows for the designation of species as extirpated, endangered, threatened, or vulnerable and allows for the preparation and implementation of recovery plans for those species that receive one of the above designations.

- Burrowing Owl   Photo by Troy Wellicome

Status determinations are based on a review of status reports containing biological information. Saskatchewan's listing process uses the same risk categories and definitions as COSEWIC and uses the ranking scheme of The Nature Conservancy and the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre database in the selection and priority-setting of candidate species for status assessment.

A Scientific Working Group (SWG) provides a science-based approach in status assessments. Public involvement is through the participation of 12 stakeholder groups on the Endangered Species Advisory Committee (ESAC). The ESAC reviews status assessments and advises government on conservation and protection actions in the designation and recovery of wild species at risk in Saskatchewan.

For the last number of years, many provincial species have been recommended for an 'endangered species' designation in Saskatchewan. Unfortunately, action has not been taken to list these species.

Summary
It appears that the Canadian and Saskatchewan governments have a vested interest in species at risk through legal measures. A further look into what is being accomplished however, reveals that many species are in trouble and should be listed, but are not. This is particularly true in Saskatchewan.

LEARN MORE:

Valuing Wilderness Why wilderness is important for the variety of life.

The Variety of Life Human activities influence our natural environment.

Biodiversity Planet Earth is undergoing a rapid loss of species.

Birds in the Boreal Songbird species are declining in the boreal forest

Woodland Caribou Woodland caribou populations are declining in Saskatchewan's boreal forest

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