COSEWIC to SARA Challenges and Opportunities for Species Recovery Chris Johnson University of Northern British Columbia

CANADIAN’S SUPPORT FOR PROTECTING SPECIES AT RISK Canadian Wildlife Federation Ipsos Online Poll: 96% want the federal government do at least as much (34%) or more (62%) for species at risk. 92% believe federal government should maintain or increase its financial investment in species at risk. 52% of Canadians believe the federal government must bear the primary responsibility of recovering species at risk.

https://www. princegeorgecitizen https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/news/local-news/no-easy-solution-governments-pitch-caribou-plan-to-skeptical-public-1.23779407

And this isn’t a problem that is going to disappear by itself or without some thoughtful consideration of how we address British Columbia’s natural heritage. Blue List - ecological communities, native species and subspecies in B.C. that are of special concern (formerly vulnerable). Red List - ecological communities, native species and subspecies in B.C. that are at a high risk of extinction (T or E) As of April 2019 1804 species, with 886 being Red Listed

Three-Step Process for SAR Recovery Assess the risk of extinction Choose to list a species (or not) $ Reconciliation Recovery planning and actions Time Animals Time Animals

COSEWIC meets twice/year and assesses ~20 species/meeting No Federal Minister of the Environment &CC Yes - listing No Protection SARA Prohibitions & Recovery Provinces/ Territories x 13 Federal BIP Parks Canada Can Wild Service DFO ATK Non-gov Science x 3 Terr Mammal Molluscs Vascul Plant Herpetofauna Arthropods Birds Fresh Fish Mari Mammal Moss Lichen Marine Fish COSEWIC meets twice/year and assesses ~20 species/meeting

Consultation Process 24 months: terrestrial species 36 months: marine species, extended consultation Comments: May 13, 2019

Who Gets Listed?

Recovery Planning…Most Difficult Step! Basic Prohibitions for Listed Species no harvesting/killing a species do not damage/destroy Residence Recovery Planning for Listed Species identify Critical Habitat develop Recovery Strategy/Action Plan BUT….

Recovery Planning…Most Difficult Step! SARA – The Limit and Reach of Federal Conservation Law SARA only applies on federal lands! federal lands are 1% of BC province obligated to recover listed species failure of province to act = federal intervention/federal order (S. 80 “threat”)

The long, long federal recovery timeline for species that are disappearing quickly! 2 or 3 years Step #2 Federal consultation & listing decision Step #3 Develop recovery strategy 1 or 2 years Step #1 COSEWIC Assessment 3 years 3 years 3 years The Many Delays Delayed listing, recovery planning & actions ??? years

“Endangered and Threatened marine fishes face the greatest bias and receive the least protection: their SARA decisions are typically delayed with almost 5 years usually passing between their COSEWIC assessment and listing decision; most (70.6%) are then denied listing…” These delays are well documented and even published in the peer-reviewed literature. Endangered and Threatened marine fishes face the greatest bias and receive the least protection: their SARA decisions are typically delayed with almost 5 years usually passing between their COSEWIC assessment and listing decision; most (70.6%) are then denied listing…

When it comes to protections there are many reasons that SARA is not working as well as it should – and much of that ineffectiveness is due to purposeful delays. We have a 6 to 8 year process window that is often much longer. Plains Bison – assessed as Threatened in 2013 – no listing decision yet!

Cost of Ineffective Legislation Price of not conserving species at risk quickly and efficiently Risk of leaning on a broken SARA: lose our natural heritage fail to meet international commitments federal action on provincial land (S.80) crisis conservation – delay means greater direct and indirect costs Failure of SARA

Delayed recovery means everyone loses… Recovery / Opportunity Costs No. Animals As populations get smaller and social and cultural costs increase the probability of recovery decreases. Likelihood of species recovery Time

To address those risks we can try and make SARA more efficient and nimble; but again this is a federal process; why not take ownership of conservation planning in BC? The current government is certainly trying to do this although progress has been very slow. This is the mandate letter from Premier Horgan asking the Honourable George Heyman to develop an endangered species act for BC “Enact an endangered species law and harmonize other laws to ensure they are all working towards the goal of protecting our beautiful province.”

Recommendations: Mandate an independent oversight committee Adopt automatic listing Implement automatic protections on Crown land Ensure sustained funding “We offer the government evidence-based recommendations for key features of legislation to identify and recover species at risk.”

Conserving species like caribou is not going to be easy, but having the tools in place and addressing these issue proactively is certainly a large step forward from the crisis situation we are in today.