Rich Wildlife, Poor Protection

The report Rich Wildlife, Poor Protection offers five recommendations, including creating strong endangered species legislation. British Columbia needs extensive revision and renewal to its laws and policies to meet our national and international responsibilities. Ontario has just strengthened its existing endangered species legislation. BC's wildlife needs the same! Take action now

What do the dromedary jumping slug, northern leopard frog and the redwood sorrel have in common? 

They all live in Canada’s biological hotbed - British Columbia.
Along with 1,300 other species in B.C., their future is at risk.

As host to 76 per cent of Canada’s bird species, 70 per cent of its freshwater fish species, and 60 per cent of its conifer species, British Columbia is Canada’s richest province, biologically.

Well over 3,600 species and subspecies call B.C. home. Animals such as the mountain goat and mountain caribou live in the province year round, while migratory birds like Trumpeter Swans and Sandhill Cranes use B.C. as a critical wintering ground or stop-over.

The province has a rich legacy to protect, but is squandering its unique biological inheritance. There is no strong, stand-alone endangered species legislation in British Columbia. Current protections are piecemeal, weak and ineffective, leaving the province rich in species, but poor in protection. Many species have already been lost from the province.

In June 2007, the David Suzuki Foundation published an extensive study of B.C.’s wildlife entitled, Rich Species, Poor Protection: The urgent need for strong legal protection of British Columbia's biodiversity.
Download full report (PDF--2.3 MB, 47 pages)

When we say extensive, we mean it: amphibians, birds, fish, vascular plants, molluscs, mammals, reptiles and turtles; dragonflies and damselflies; butterflies and skippers, were all part of the study to determine the state of biodiversity in the province and the effectiveness of existing laws.

The results were disturbing:

• B.C. has lost 49 known species and subspecies including the Dawson caribou, greater sage-grouse and western pond turtle.
• A further 1300 species and subspecies may be at risk of disappearing from the province
• Only 68 of B.C.’s known species at risk – approximately 5 per cent – get any kind of “protection” under B.C. laws. None receive essential habitat protection
• Species “protected” under these laws are teetering on the verge of extinction. For example, Northern Spotted Owl – with only 17 birds left in Canada – are not given the survival and recovery strategies they need to survive.

The study is also published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Biodiversity, Volume 8, Issue 1, entitled Waiting for the Ark: The biodiversity crisis in British Columbia, Canada,and the need for a strong endangered species law.

The Solution
Rich Wildlife, Poor Protection offers five recommendations, including creating strong endangered species legislation. British Columbia needs extensive revision and renewal to its laws and policies to meet our national and international responsibilities.

Ontario has just strengthened its existing endangered species legislation.
BC's wildlife needs the same! Take action now 

We’ve gotten postcards from some of B.C.’s most endangered species—like the green sturgeon above-- about their journeys around the province. 

See the postcards and hear what these critters have to say, or send your own.
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The Sierra Club of BC has developed a citizen's toolkit to help people like you help endangered species.
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The province of British Columbia recently conducted a review the Wildlife Act. Despite the name, the Wildlife Act deals primarily with hunting isses. In partnership with other environmental organizations, the David Suzuki Foundation made a submission to the provincial government calling for improvements to the review, especially in regard to public input and consultation.

Media release on Wildlife Act review.

See these links for more information on endangered species