$25M a year kept for conservation
Environmental groups helping species at risk get 2 years of funding
Ian Davidson understands the greater sage-grouse is but a minor concern these days for Canadians.
Whittled down to a tiny population in Alberta and Saskatchewan, as the expanding oil industry invades their natural habitat, the turkey-like birds are on the brink.
But after Thursday’s federal budget announcement, it looks like the birds, which reportedly number fewer than 60 in the two provinces, have a fighting chance.
Under its proposed economic ac- tion plan, the federal government is pledging $50 million over two years to buttress the 2003 Species at Risk Act, one of the government’s signature pieces of conservation legislation. The act supports the government’s program to preserve threatened species and help them to recover. Since 2007, the species at risk program has received $25 million annually. “It’s very surprising news,” said Davidson, the Nature Canada executive director who had expected a proposed decrease in funding for conservation initiatives. “The impact is very positive, in that naturalist organizations can continue to receive money for species at risk conservation across the country.” The species at risk program partly supports the 12-year-old habitat stewardship program, which lets $9 million to $13 million in annual funding trickle down to local and provincial environmental groups. The funding promise comes in spite of a federal belt-tightening plan that asked departments to propose blueprints for 10 per cent and 5 per cent spending reductions. The budget outlines sharp spending cuts for Environment Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, which both help implement the species at risk program. As part of the Conservatives’ plan to cut $5.2 billion in spending, Environment Canada will lose $88.2 million by 2014-15 and Fisheries and Oceans will lose $79.3 million. The budget document is not entirely clear on how those cuts will be made.
Davidson, who has previously worked at the Canadian Wildlife Service, Wildlife Habitat Canada and Birdlife International, said the “substantive” proposed cuts to Environment Canada will “naturally . . . have an impact on the ability of the agency to move forward with effective conservation work.”
And while Davidson noted the $50 million guarantee for species at risk is positive, it will be spread thin over 10 provinces and dozens of threatened species.
One hundred recovery strategies are currently under review, according to the species at risk federal registry.
“It’s not a lot of money for a wide suite of species at risk,” he said. “Much more money is going to be needed.”