Conserving our biodiversity
Redefining conservation may be especially relevant in 2010 – the International Year of Biodiversity. As world leaders meet to discuss the future of biodiversity this fall, Ontario needs to listen closely. Ontario is home to tens of thousands of species and vast areas of forests, tundra, and freshwater. Yet the provincial government has been unsuccessful at halting biodiversity loss within Ontario’s borders. Conserving biodiversity requires the proactive protection and recovery of at-risk species and spaces. In this part of the Annual Report, the ECO examines Ontario’s progress on implementing the Endangered Species Act, 2007. Habitat loss continues to be the greatest threat to species at risk in the province. Parks and protected areas can provide for preemptive habitat protection. New guidance for managing Ontario’s parks emphasizes the importance of their ecological integrity, but without the necessary legal weight, these guidelines may not produce the desired results. This year, nine species at risk were the first to have their habitat regulated under the new ESA – but are these protections sufficient?
Traditionally, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has managed game wildlife on a species-by- species basis, with the goal of ensuring continued harvest. Redefining wildlife conservation, with an integrative ecological approach, considers wider ecosystem goals and the valuable roles of species outside their use to humans. Policies examined by the ECO in this part suggest that Ontario is moving in this new direction: for example, by managing cervids (e.g., moose, elk and deer) collectively on the landscape level rather than individually by species; and by managing black bears by zones based on ecology rather than by human boundaries. Despite these conceptual changes, has the ministry gone far enough to align new wildlife management frameworks with ecologically sound conservation practices?
Forestry practices in the Stand and Site Guide, discussed in this part, aim to provide for wildlife habitat – but are not yet backed up by long-term research to support their effectiveness in this regard. As we lose forested habitat in some areas, will renewed efforts in afforestation conserve the diversity of forest ecosystems in the province and restore southern Ontario’s forests?
Ontario’s ecosystems will change radically with climatic shifts in the coming years. Innovative approaches will be necessary on the part of many government ministries to ensure policy design takes climate change and ecological uncertainty into account.
- 3.1 Climate Change and Biodiversity Turmoil
- 3.2 Wanted: One Billion Trees
- 3.3 Species at Risk: Progress and the Path Ahead
- 3.3.1 International Year of Biodiversity
- 3.3.2 Dam the American Eels
- 3.3.3 Space for the Redside Dace
- 3.4 A Place to Call Home: Nine Species Receive Regulated Habitat Protection
- 3.4.1 Much Ado About Wood Turtles
- 3.5 Mixed Results: Wildlife Management of Caribou, Moose, Elk and Deer
- 3.6 Managing Black Bears: Thinking Beyond Harvest?
- 3.7 Forest Management: Conserving Biodiversity at the Stand and Site Scale
- 3.8 Bringing Ecological Integrity to the Landscape: Ontario’s Protected Areas Planning Manual
| Previous section: Pricing Carbon: Can a Cap-and-Trade System Deliver the Tonnes? |
| Next section: Climate Change and Biodiversity Turmoil |
| This is an article from the 2009/10 Annual Report to the Legislature from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. |
Citing This Article:
Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. 2010. "Introduction: Conserving our Biodiversity." Redefining Conservation, ECO Annual Report, 2009/10. Toronto, ON : Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. .
