Conserving Ontario's Biodiversity - Moving Forward? - 2006
In October 2004, the Minister of Natural Resources announced that his ministry would develop a biodiversity strategy for Ontario. According to the minister, “We have a responsibility to conserve biodiversity and use our biological resources in a sustainable way. Conserving biodiversity is a key way of ensuring a healthy environment, strong communities and a thriving economy.” The ministry subsequently undertook public consultation and released a finalized strategy in June 2005.
Biological diversity, also called biodiversity, can be understood as the variety of native species, the genetic variability of each species, and the variety of different ecosystems they form. The loss of biodiversity is a global problem, and is acknowledged as one of the most critical environmental issues facing the planet. Ontario is not isolated from this crisis.
Ontario’s strategy identifies five main threats to biodiversity: pollution, habitat loss, invasive species, unsustainable use, and climate change. Each of these threats also combines and produces cumulative impacts on biodiversity, requiring a strategy that adopts an integrated approach. The strategy states that these impacts not only cause the loss of biodiversity, but also damage “society’s ability to generate wealth.” Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy, 2005, is intended to be an “umbrella” strategy that aims at identifying, at a strategic level, a series of needed actions. Its 37 recommended actions are grouped into six theme areas: engage Ontarians, promote stewardship, work together, integrate biodiversity conservation into land use planning, practise prevention, and improve understanding. The strategy further prioritizes 10 of the recommended actions for implementation in 2005, with other actions, presumably, to follow in the years to come.
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Implications
Recognizing the core issues and developing a coordinated plan to address them is an effective first step in addressing the threats to biodiversity. It also allows for an efficient use of government resources. Environmental problems sometimes appear to be isolated issues, but often they are highly interrelated. The assessment of a strategy’s strategic goals – its underlying motivation and agenda – is of enormous significance in gauging its relative success or failure. Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy, 2005, states that two goals must be achieved for a “balanced and realistic approach”:
- Protect the genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity of Ontario.
- Use and develop the biological assets of Ontario sustainably, and capture benefits from such use for Ontarians.
A successful biodiversity strategy should not attempt to be all things to all people. Its first and foremost focus should be the conservation of biodiversity. There is already a multitude of other government programs, policies, and strategies that seek to capitalize on the province’s natural resources and promote economic growth. Unfortunately, Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy, 2005, sets its strategic direction toward exploiting the “economic, social and cultural benefits of biodiversity, as well as its ecological and intrinsic values.”
Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy, 2005: Recommended Actions
Engage Ontarians
The biodiversity strategy astutely recognizes that “there are challenges both in trying to create awareness in people about an issue and in trying to stimulate action.” One of the central challenges is that conserving biodiversity is not a “top-of-mind issue” for most Ontarians. The ECO fully endorses the objectives of a strategy that broadens people’s understanding about natural spaces and species, including their interconnected nature.
The ECO commends the strategy’s recommendation for “multi-partner collaboration to promote community-based biodiversity education and awareness and environmental citizenship.” However, the ECO believes that strategy does not sufficiently address educational concerns and urges the Ministry of Education to mandate, explicitly, the teaching of biodiversity conservation as part of elementary and secondary school curricula.
Promote stewardship
MNR’s strategy recognizes that the support of private landowners is crucial to conserving biodiversity, particularly in southern Ontario, where the majority of species at risk inhabit privately owned lands. The ECO believes that the strategy’s focus on improving incentive programs for private landowners is valuable, but, unfortunately, few details were provided aside from the mention of pre-existing programs. (For more on this issue, see the ECO’s discussion of the Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program.)
Work together
Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy, 2005, places a significant emphasis on partnerships in its development and implementation, involving a broad coalition that includes private landowners, academic institutions, non-government organizations, industrial sectors, urban and rural communities, First Nations, all levels of government and individual Ontarians working together. This inclusive approach to such a pervasive environmental issue is generally laudable, but it does not relieve the Ministry of Natural Resources of primary responsibility.
With few exceptions, MNR’s strategy does not delegate or describe which ministries are responsible for implementing each of the 37 recommended actions. The strategy should have specified the exact role of MNR and those of all other relevant ministries such as the Ministries of Transportation, Municipal Affairs and Housing, Northern Development and Mines, Public Infrastructure Renewal, Agriculture and Food, and Education. As one commenter stated, in response to the posting of the strategy on the Environmental Registry, “This needs to be corrected by ensuring that this is a provincial policy, and not just an MNR policy that can be largely ignored by other ministries.”
The ECO does support the creation of the broad-based Ontario Biodiversity Council that is to guide implementation of the strategy. This council is composed of representatives from industry associations, environmental organizations, hunting organizations, Conservation Authorities, and First Nations, as well as having the Minister of Natural Resources as a member. The Council will evaluate progress and report on implementation annually, with emphasis on priorities for each year. Further, it will also lead a five-yea review of the strategy and its implementation, and prepare an updated strategy for 2010-2015.
Integrate biodiversity conservation into land use planning
Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy, 2005, promises to “implement the 2005 Provincial Policy Statement under the Planning Act to ensure effective direction to promote managed growth, sustainable development, a strong economy and a healthy environment.” Additionally, the strategy promises to “enact and implement a legislative framework that will guide the preparation of growth plans in Ontario to enable decisions about growth to be made in ways that sustain a robust economy, build strong communities and promote a healthy environment and a culture of conservation.” However, the ECO has significant concerns that Ontario’s existing approaches to land use planning do not sufficiently address biodiversity concerns and are sometimes the root causes of threats to biodiversity.
The ECO does support the strategy’s recommendation to “update provincial guidelines that encourage the enhanced integration of the conservation of biodiversity (including related water quality measures) into municipal land use planning decisions, including the guidelines for ‘Significant Habitat’ and ‘Natural Heritage’ for municipal planning to address gaps and/or inconsistencies.” The ECO notes that changes to these government policies should also be accompanied by revisions to the planning statutes themselves in order to enshrine biodiversity conservation as a provincial interest.
Prevention
Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy, 2005, organizes recommendations relating to preventative measures according to six general themes: air and water pollution, invasive species, species at risk, genetic diversity, ecosystem representation and integrity, and compliance and enforcement. Several of the recommended actions are urgently needed to better conserve Ontario’s biodiversity, including revisions to the statutes governing protected areas and species at risk. Indeed, the ECO and many other stakeholders have long called for such reforms.
Improve understanding
The strategy commits to reporting on the State of Ontario’s Biodiversity every five years and to issuing a first report by 2010. The purpose of such a report would be to describe biodiversity reporting standards, including criteria and indicators; to establish benchmarks for biodiversity in Ontario so that future reports can track progress in meeting conservation goals; and to identify challenges, risks, threats and opportunities. The dissemination of baseline information is critical for the success of conserving the province’s biodiversity as a whole, as well as for targeting key threats and areas of concern.
Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy, 2005, commits to reviewing other relevant legislation, regulations, and policies in order to identify gaps and issues, including the need for potential changes in the legal framework for the conservation of biodiversity. The strategy does provide a list of possible items to review, such as land trust legislation and multi-ministry input into municipal planning. Indeed, in our 2001/2002 report, the ECO encouraged MNR to undertake a comprehensive assessment of its Acts, regulations, and policies to ensure the conservation of Ontario’s biodiversity. Based on MNR’s strategy, the ECO believes that biodiversity concerns should be reflected in future amendments to a variety of legislation, such as the Public Lands Act and the Mining Act.
ECO Comment
One of the central purposes of the Environmental Bill of Rights is to hold the Ontario government accountable for the “protection and conservation of biological, ecological and genetic diversity.” In our 2004/2005 annual report, the ECO wrote that “a successful biodiversity strategy should clearly detail the responsibilities of all relevant ministries, describe decisive actions, contain quantifiable targets, and specify timelines for delivery. It also should target program areas, policies, and legislation that need revision to achieve its goals. In essence, a successful strategy should focus on what new things need to be done, using an adaptive approach that makes biodiversity the priority.”
The ECO commends the Ministry of Natural Resources for acknowledging that conserving Ontario’s biodiversity is one of its prime responsibilities. It is in the public interest that the province’s biodiversity be conserved and that MNR be the lead ministry. Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy, 2005, represents a good start at addressing one of the most pervasive and challenging environmental issues of our time. However, there are still many challenges that lie ahead.
The ECO urges the Ontario government to treat the issue of conserving biodiversity as a government-wide responsibility. Many ministries other than MNR have crucial roles to play in conserving biodiversity, whether it involves regulating highway construction practices, establishing land use planning rules or even influencing the design of school curricula. The ECO believes that each ministry that could aid in conserving biodiversity should be held accountable for its actions in this regard. Left to one ministry, failure will result at the cost of the province’s wild spaces and species.
The Ontario government must ensure that this new agenda delivers concrete actions that tangibly conserve the province’s biodiversity. Relegating this strategy to simple rhetoric would be a tragic loss, one that future generations of Ontario will lament. The ECO believes that the Ontario government should ensure that MNR and all other relevant ministries have the necessary financial and human resources to fulfil this commitment to Ontarians. In our forthcoming annual reports, the ECO will continue to follow the implementation of Ontario’s biodiversity strategy and to report on the actions taken by ministries to support it.
| This is an article from the 2005/06 Annual Report to the Legislature from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. |
Citing This Article:
Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. 2006. "Conserving Ontario's Biodiversity: Moving Forward?." Neglecting our Obligations, ECO Annual Report, 2005-06. Toronto, ON : Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. 68-73.
