The Conservation Framework will rank each threatened species and determine what action is needed to protect them
MARK HUME Globe and Mail, July 10, 2008VANCOUVER — With more than 1,600 species identified as being a “conservation concern” and habitat degradation increasing, the British Columbia government has decided to try an innovative approach to protect biodiversity.At a press conference yesterday at VanDusen Botanical Garden, where thousands of protected plants flourish in an idyllic landscape, government officials released a detailed status report on provincial species that are threatened in the wild.At the same time, the government unveiled a new action plan, the Conservation Framework, for saving those endangered species. The plan is to be implemented over the next three years.The status report, Taking Nature’s Pulse, found that 43 per cent of species (1,640) are threatened enough to be of concern, as are four “biogeoclimatic zones” that represent about 5 per cent of the B.C. land base. It also found that 54 per cent (2,055 species) are secure.The groups with the highest proportion of species of concern were mosses, followed by reptiles and turtles, ferns, flowering plants and freshwater fish.Some species of special concern, because their global range is found mostly in B.C., include the Cassin’s auklet, the Cowichan Lake lamprey, the Vancouver Island marmot and the Pacific water shrew.The Conservation Framework proposes to use a complex formula to prioritize or rank each species. Those species will then be sorted into “action bins” that determine what strategies will be used to protect them. Actions including everything from moving to a captive breeding program, setting aside habitat, controlling predators, and simply reducing the harvest levels.Dr. Fred Bunnell, a professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia and a scientific adviser to the Ministry of Environment, said no other jurisdiction has used an approach as detailed as the Conservation Framework.But he said a number of states and provinces are looking at the approach and may soon adopt it.Dr. Bunnell praised the science that went into preparing both the status report and the Conservation Framework, but he warned the plan won’t work without more support from government.“It needs a carrot and a big stick. … Without it, it’s just another Kyoto,” he said, referring to the international convention on climate change that failed to meet its goals.Dr. Bunnell said a carrot would be adequate funding to implement the Conservation Framework, and the stick would be legislation that made protecting endangered species mandatory.Devon Page, Ecojustice executive director, agreed with Dr. Bunnell’s assessment.He said he fears the new policy is just an empty promise.“There’s no carrot here and no stick - that’s the problem,” he said.“The science here is great. What they’ve come out with is groundbreaking, but government’s response to the plan is lukewarm,” he said. He noted the province has earmarked only $1.2-million this year for a test implementation of the Conservation Framework.“That’ll buy you a house in Vancouver,” he said. “When you think of the billions of dollars going into the Olympics and the hundreds of millions going into Gateway [highway and port expansion], this is just a ridiculously small amount of money.”Dr. Faisal Moola, director of science at the David Suzuki Foundation, said he’s concerned the Conservation Framework will fail because the government will rely on existing regulations. They haven’t succeeded in protecting species in the past, he said. He said without endangered-species legislation, which would require the government to protect habitat where needed, the Conservation Framework won’t work.“With the fate of thousands of species hanging in the balance and global warming threatening to tip the scales, we were really hoping for [an endangered species] law,” Dr. Moola said.But Chloe O’Loughlin, executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, praised the government.“What we have for the first time is hope,” she said. “No, it’s not adequately funded, no it’s not backed by legislation, but it’s a major step forward.”Ms. O’Loughlin said the status report and the Conservation Framework emerged from a collaborative effort between government and environmental organizations, with input from some 50 scientists.“It’s a pretty remarkable effort, and we now have the decision-making tools in place to make a difference,” she said.
