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NEWS RELEASE
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For Immediate Release June 10, 2010 |
Ministry of Environment
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SPECIES AT RISK TASK FORCE BEGINS WORK
VICTORIA – Environment Minister Barry Penner announced today the members of a task force that will provide recommendations for the continued protection and recovery of species at risk in British Columbia.
“We are seeking advice on whether changes to the existing regulatory framework in B.C. are required to meet ecological and socio-economic objectives," said Penner. “Our government has protected habitat for various species by establishing 65 new Class A provincial parks, 144 conservancies, two ecological reserves and nine protected areas since 2001. In 2008, we also more than doubled penalties under the Wildlife Act for killing endangered species, with maximum fines of up to $500,000 and jail sentences of up to 3 years.”
The provincial government committed in the August 2009 speech from the throne to form a Species at Risk Task Force to provide recommendations to the Government on defining a new vision with an overarching measurable outcome that British Columbians can work together to achieve within the next decade, including:
· Defining Vision, Principles and Outcomes: Where should our conservation efforts be focused, what principles should guide future development of a species at risk program in B.C., and what are the measurable outcomes that best address the fundamental threats to biodiversity in B.C. and help us achieve our vision?
· Environmental Management: In light of climate change and multiple development demands, what management methods need to be advanced to meet our conservation targets?
· Private Land Stewardship: How do we advance private land stewardship and conserve species and ecosystems at risk on private land in B.C. while respecting the interests of taxpayers?
The 10 members of the task force were selected to reflect a range of regions, backgrounds and sectors. They will be led by Bruce Fraser, past chair of the B.C. Forest Practices Board.
“Our job as a task force is to formulate advice on how to advance our provincial effectiveness in dealing with species at risk,” said Fraser. “There is hardly a more complex environmental task than to weave our human economy into the ecosystems of the province without damaging our biodiversity or increasing the toll on our rich species endowment. I hope the work of the group will provide some practical ideas for consideration by government.”
The task force will make recommendations to the Cabinet Committee on Environment and Land Use by the end of December 2010.
The task force will build upon some successful conservation programs already in place in British Columbia. For example, the B.C. Conservation Data Centre assesses the status of the province’s species and ecosystems using internationally accepted and endorsed methodologies.
The B.C. Conservation Framework, developed by the Ministry of Environment in collaboration with scientists, conservation organizations, industry and government, assigns priorities to these species and ecosystems to direct the focus of conservation actions. The ministry has completed recovery strategies for 73 species at risk, and recovery planning for an additional 48 species is underway for a total of 121 species.
Today, a total of 14.27 per cent (or more than 13.5 million hectares) of British Columbia is protected – more than any other province in Canada. It is an area equal to the size of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I. combined.
Information on the status and natural history of species and ecosystems at risk in B.C. is available on the following ministry websites: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/atrisk/ and http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/conservationframework/.
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Two backgrounders follow.
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Media Contact:
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Suntanu Dalal Media Relations Ministry of Environment 250 387-9745
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.
BACKGROUNDER 1
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For Immediate Release June 10, 2010 |
Ministry of Environment
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TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR SPECIES AT RISK TASK FORCE
Purpose
The Species at Risk Task Force will provide recommendations to the B.C. government to help it update its vision for the conservation of species and ecosystems at risk and ensure British Columbia remains a leader in environmental sustainability.
The task force will build on the provincial government’s Conservation Framework and Conservation Data Centre, and provide fiscally responsible and economically viable recommendations on the following topics:
· Defining Vision, Principles and Outcomes: Where should our conservation efforts be focused, what principles should guide future development of a species at risk program in B.C., and what are the measurable outcomes that best address the fundamental threats to biodiversity in B.C. and help us achieve our vision?
· Environmental Management: In light of climate change and multiple development demands, what management methods need to be advanced to meet our conservation targets?
· Regulatory Framework: What changes are required to the existing regulatory framework to ensure we balance ecological and socio-economic considerations and best achieve our conservation targets?
· Private Land Stewardship: How do we advance private land stewardship and conserve species and ecosystems at risk on private land in B.C. while respecting the interests of taxpayers?
· Effective First Nation and Stakeholder Communications and Engagement: What are the key elements of a communications and engagement strategy to ensure communities, First Nations, private landowners, and all other stakeholders who operate on the province’s land and water base understand and value the benefits of species at risk conservation.
Secretariat Support
The Ministry of Environment will provide secretariat support to the task force and will coordinate research, analysis and documentation prepared by staff in other ministries and agencies or under contract.
Reporting
The task force will make recommendations to the Cabinet Committee on Environment and Land Use. The report will be in the form of a short paper (15-25 pages in length) providing analysis and advice on the topics identified and any other pertinent matters. The advice may be the opinion of all members or one or more of the members. The task force is not a decision-making body, but rather an advisory body making recommendations to government. As such the recommendations are not public, but Cabinet intends to make the recommendations public in some form.
Membership
The task force will consist of a small but balanced group of well-respected, credible individuals from a range of sectors, who understand the biological, socio-economic and socio-political complexities associated with this topic and who are prepared to work with others to find solutions to the issues. Members were selected for their skills and attributes and their ability to operate at the policy, regulatory and strategic level and not their technical expertise. Members are expected to contribute their individual perspectives, knowledge and intellect, and are specifically requested not to represent their affiliation or the interests of any specific group or stakeholder interest.
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Media Contact:
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Suntanu Dalal Media Relations Ministry of Environment 250 387-9745 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.
BACKGROUNDER 2
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For Immediate Release June 10, 2010 |
Ministry of Environment
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MEMBERS OF THE SPECIES AT RISK TASK FORCE
· Bruce Fraser (chair) holds a PhD in plant ecology from the University of British Columbia. He has recently served six years as chair of the Forest Practices Board where issues of species at risk were periodically raised. He acted as president of both Selkirk College in the Kootenays and Malaspina College on Vancouver Island. In his 17 years of consulting work in British Columbia he was engaged with over 30 rural communities in land use planning, community economic development and environmental conflict resolution. International consulting has taken him to Africa, the Caribbean, China and Southeast Asia working on forestry, environmental and human resource development planning.
· Mel Arnold has been on the B.C. Wildlife Federation (BCWF) board of directors for seven years, just completing a two-year term as president and is currently on the executive as immediate past president. He continues to sit as the Shuswap regional representative on the BCWF provincial wildlife committee and as a member of the South Thompson Wildlife Stewardship committee.
· Pierre Gratton is president and CEO of the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC). The MABC is the predominant voice of mining in the province, representing mineral producers, coal producers and companies involved in exploration, development and smelting of minerals. In 2005-06 he was honoured as a distinguished lecturer for the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum.
· Judith Guichon is the owner/operator of Gerard Guichon Ranch Limited in the Nicola Valley in the Interior. She currently serves on the Water Use Management Planning Team for the Nicola Watershed Community Round Table and as a member of the Ranching Task Force. She’s also a director of the Grassland Conservation Council of British Columbia and the president of the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association.
· David Hatler, PhD is the proprietor of Wildeor Wildlife Research and Consulting in the Smithers area, where he undertakes wildlife and habitat impact assessment projects and provides mitigation, reclamation and management advice to clients in mining, forestry, hydro, transportation development, backcountry recreation and trapper education. He is on the board of directors of the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation.
· Daryll Hebert, PhD is the president of Encompass Strategic Resources in Creston, where he has developed system plans and research and management plans for over 20 forest industry and oil and gas companies. As a regional wildlife biologist on Vancouver Island and in the Cariboo region for 19 years, he was involved in research, inventory and management for many species including the Vancouver Island marmot, deer, elk and caribou.
· Ben Koop, PhD is a professor and Canada research chair in the department of biology at the University of Victoria. He has served several years as department chair and director of the Centre for Biomedical Research. Major current projects include the salmon genome project and the sea louse genome project. In 2009 he was given the Life Sciences BC Award for Scientific Excellence.
· Peter Robinson is the chief executive officer of the David Suzuki Foundation. He is a member of the Province of British Columbia’s Climate Action Team and the Ontario Premier’s Climate Change Advisory Panel. In addition, he is currently the chair and Chancellor of Royal Roads University in Victoria. Immediately prior to his appointment with the David Suzuki Foundation, he was the CEO of Mountain Equipment Co-op.
· Derek Thompson is an associate professor at Royal Roads University where he teaches a masters course in environmental governance and has represented the university as a teaching member of the Canada-China Environmental Sustainability Project. He is also the volunteer chair of the BC Parks Centennial Steering Committee. He retired from the B.C. government in 2003 as the deputy minister of the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection.
· David Walkem is the Chief of the Cooks Ferry Indian Band and vice-chair of the Nicola Similkameen Innovative Forestry Society. He is also the president of Stuwix Resources Joint Venture, which manages a forest licence for eight shareholder Indian bands in the B.C. interior. He was the Founding President of the First Nations Forestry Council appointed to provide policy direction for First Nations participation in forest resource management in B.C.
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Media Contact:
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Suntanu Dalal Media Relations Ministry of Environment 250 387-9745
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.
