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Federal government needs to restore the will to protect environmentOctober 31, 2006 -
(VANCOUVER —) The federal government needs to address the fish habitat protection crisis, demonstrate the will to protect the environment and allow public service professionals to do their jobs. The funding and management crisis currently paralyzing the Department of Fisheries and Oceans was detailed at a joint press conference held today by the David Suzuki Foundation and the federal Union of Environment Workers. “We have dedicated members who are being prevented from doing their job of protecting and enhancing Canada’s fish stocks and environment,” said Nick Humphreys, Regional Vice-President, BC/Yukon, Union of Environment Workers. “Chronic under-funding is stopping our members on the ground from fulfilling their mandate to protect what is also a global resource and treasure.” The union represents 5,700 PSAC members in the Departments of Environment, Fisheries and Oceans, Natural Resources Canada and the Canadian Forest Service from coast to coast. The Foundation put forward a suite of timely and progressive solutions to reinvigorate the government’s will to protect fish habitat in B.C. The scope of the fish habitat protection crisis and the solutions are contained in the Foundation’s new report, The Will to Protect: Preserving B.C.’s wild salmon habitat, which will be released at the press conference and can be found at: www.davidsuzuki.org. The report documents the failure of current federal policy to protect salmon habitat and details solutions to ensure a better future for B.C.’s wild salmon, including:
A major problem identified in the report is the under-funding of habitat protection enforcement initiatives. In 2005-2006, the DFO’s entire budget for Habitat Management in the Pacific Region was $9 million. Of that, only $600,000 was devoted to habitat monitoring and enforcement. “This paltry amount represents the equivalent of only six to eight full time staff to cover all of B.C. and the Yukon, an area of land encompassing approximately 1.4 million square kilometres. That's roughly 240,000 square kilometres per individual,” said Bill Wareham, acting director of Marine Conservation with the David Suzuki Foundation. “It’s difficult to see how budgets of this size can represent a serious effort to administer and enforce the habitat protection provisions of the Fisheries Act and protection of fish habitat in general.” said Mr. Wareham. “Major changes in spending priorities have to be realized if we hope to stem the loss of fish habitat in this country.” To download the full report, click here.
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