Toronto, June 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Ontario government’s just-passed More Homes, More Choice Act threatens the province’s at-risk wildlife and their habitats by gutting protections in the interest of urban expansion, industrial development and resource extraction.
Bill 108 amends 2007’s Endangered Species Act (ESA), weakening protections for the province’s more than 200 at-risk species of plants and animals, and enabling their continued decline at a moment when they clearly need further protection.
It does this by allowing a fee to be paid for development in areas that previously would have been off-limits due to threats to protected species. It also removes requirements for developers to consult with scientific experts and makes it much harder to get species listed as at-risk. If these species exist outside of Ontario, it even allows the province to shirk its responsibility to protect them here.
Southern Ontario is already home to the largest number of at-risk species in Canada and, as the climate changes and animals ranges continue to shift, Ontario will become increasingly important as a species refuge. These amendments put wildlife at even more risk in a warming world.
There is no alternative to protecting threatened or endangered species and their habitats.
Megan Leslie, president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund Canada, says:
“The amendments allow operators to pay into a fund instead of fulfilling Endangered Species Act regulations, making it easier for harmful activities to proceed. But that money can’t bring species back from extinction or restore their destroyed habitats.”
Emily Giles, senior specialist, species conservation for WWF-Canada, says:
“The ESA should put the needs of species at risk first, not those of development. Our actions to protect species to date have not been enough, and governments play a critical role in the fight against biodiversity loss.”
James Snider, vice president of science, research and innovation for WWF-Canada, says:
“The Ontario government is essentially delisting our endangered species. Plus, listing species in the future will be more challenging and, for those few that are listed as ‘at-risk,’ the requirements to actually do something will be negligible.”
About World Wildlife Fund Canada
WWF-Canada creates solutions to the environmental challenges that matter most for Canadians. We work in places that are unique and ecologically important, so that nature, wildlife and people thrive together. Because we are all wildlife. For more information, visit wwf.ca.