SPECIES AT RISK ACT Legal listing consultation workbook Northern Bottlenose Whale – Scotian Shelf Population (Hyperoodon ampullatus) Aussi disponible en français 1 Addition of species to the Species at Risk Act Introductory Information the Act is Schedule 1, the list of the The Species at Risk Act species that receive protection under The Species at Risk Act (SARA) SARA, commonly referred to as the strengthens and enhances the ‘SARA list’. Government of Canada’s capacity to protect Canadian wildlife species, The existing SARA list reflects the subspecies and distinct populations that 233 species the Committee on the Status are at risk of becoming Extinct or of Endangered Wildlife in Canada Extirpated. The Act applies only to (COSEWIC) had assessed and found to species on the SARA list. be at risk at the time of the reintroduction of SARA to the House of th Openness and transparency, including Commons on October 9 , 2002. public consultation, is required in making decisions about which species For more information on Species at Risk should be included on the SARA list. visit www.sararegistry.gc.ca The process begins with the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Role of COSEWIC Canada (COSEWIC) assessing a species COSEWIC comprises experts on as being at risk. Upon receipt of these wildlife species at risk. Their assessments, the Minister of the backgrounds are in the fields of biology, Environment, in consultation with the ecology, genetics, aboriginal traditional Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, has knowledge and other relevant fields, and 90 days to report on how he or she they come from various communities, intends to respond to the assessment and including government, academia, to the extent possible, provide timelines Aboriginal organizations and non- for action. Subsequent to the government organizations. consultative process, a recommendation to the Governor in Council on whether Initially, COSEWIC commissions a to add certain species to the SARA list Status Report for the evaluation of the or to refer them back to COSEWIC is conservation status of a species. To be generated. Once a species is added to the accepted, status reports must be peer- SARA list, specific actions must be reviewed and approved by a taken within specified time periods to subcommittee of species specialists. In help ensure that species’ protection and special circumstances assessments can recovery. be done on an emergency basis. Public Consultation COSEWIC then meets to examine the The Government of Canada proclaimed status report, discuss the species and the Species at Risk Act on June 5, 2003 determine whether or not the species is as part of its strategy for the protection at risk, and if so, assess the level of risk. of wildlife species at risk. Attached to For more information on COSEWIC visit www.cosewic.gc.ca 2 Terms used to define the degree of involvement is integral to the processes risk to a species of listing species as being at risk and The degree of risk is categorized protecting Canadian wildlife. The according to the terms Extirpated, best way to secure the survival of Endangered, Threatened and Special species at risk and their habitats is Concern. A species is assessed by through the active participation of all COSEWIC as Extirpated when it is no those concerned. As such, your longer found in the wild in Canada but comments on this document will be still exists elsewhere. It is Endangered if given serious consideration. it is facing imminent extirpation or extinction. An assessment of Purpose of the consultation Threatened means that the species is Having received the COSEWIC likely to become Endangered if nothing assessment of the species’ status, the is done to reverse the factors leading to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans must its extirpation or extinction. COSEWIC provide the Minister of the Environment assesses a species as Special Concern if with a recommendation to the Governor it may become a Threatened or in Council. This recommendation must Endangered species because of a be one of the following: combination of biological characteristics and identified threats. a) that the COSEWIC assessment be accepted and the species be added to New Assessments the SARA list; Since October 9th, 2002, COSEWIC has b) that the species not be added to the assessed or reassessed additional species SARA list; or as being at risk, making them eligible for c) that the species be referred back to addition to the SARA list. Of these, COSEWIC for further information or aquatic species are the responsibility of consideration. the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and terrestrial species are the The Government of Canada is required responsibility of Environment Canada. to take one of these actions within nine Responsibility for species that occur in months of the Governor in Council parks administered by the Parks Canada having received the assessment from the Agency (both terrestrial and aquatic) is Minister of the Environment. shared between the Parks Canada Agency and either Environment Canada COSEWIC bases its assessments solely or the Department of Fisheries and on the biological status of each species. Oceans. However, consultation with Canadians regarding the potential social and For more information on the economic impacts of the addition of each Environment Canada consultations species to the SARA list will occur please see the SARA Public Registry: before the Government of Canada arrives at informed decisions on listing. www.sararegistry.gc.ca Of particular interest in these consultations is the identification of the SARA has been designed to conserve benefits and costs of adding each of the Canadian wildlife species and the species to the list relative to the potential habitats that support them. Public 3 impacts on these species and on society SARA list depends upon the degree of of not adding them. risk assigned to that species. Therefore, before the government Protection for listed Extirpated, makes decisions regarding the SARA Endangered and Threatened species list, affected Canadians will have the Under the Act, prohibitions protect opportunity to express their views and individuals of Extirpated, Endangered concerns. This consultation allows those and Threatened species. These affected to contribute to the government prohibitions make it an offence to kill, decision-making process. harm, harass, capture or take an individual of a species listed as Role and impact of public consultation Extirpated, Endangered or Threatened, The results of this public consultation or to damage or destroy the residence of are of great relevance to the entire one or more individuals (and the critical process of listing species at risk. The habitat, if and when identified) of an comments received will be carefully Endangered or a Threatened species. The reviewed and evaluated. They will then Act also makes it an offence to possess, be documented in a Regulatory Impact collect, buy, sell or trade an individual of Analysis Statement (RIAS). The RIAS is a species that is Extirpated, Endangered an integral part of the federal regulatory or Threatened or a part or derivative of process and is published with all one. These prohibitions come into force regulatory proposals in the Canada when a species is listed on Schedule 1 of Gazette Part I. the SARA. Following initial consultations, a draft The focus of protection will be on those Order (an instrument that serves notice species for which the federal of a decision taken by the executive arm government has direct legal authority. of government) proposing to list all or The protection will be in force for all some of the species under consideration listed birds protected under the will be prepared. This draft Order will be Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 published along with the RIAS in the and for listed aquatic species. The Canada Gazette Part I for a comment prohibitions will also apply to all listed period. Based on the outcome of the species on federal lands. comment period, a recommendation to the Governor in Council on whether to For all other listed Endangered, add certain species to the SARA list or Threatened and Extirpated species, the to refer them back to COSEWIC will be provinces and territories have the generated. The final decision will be responsibility to ensure that they receive published in Canada Gazette Part II and adequate protection. on the Public Registry. Exceptions to the prohibitions on aquatic Significance of the addition of a species may be authorized by the species to the SARA list Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, provided that the survival or recovery of The protection that comes into effect the species is not jeopardised. The following the addition of a species to the Ministers may enter into agreements or 4 issue permits only for (1) research plans will include measures to address relating to the conservation of a species threats, help the species recover and or (2) for activities that benefit a listed protect critical habitat. Measures to species or enhance its chances of implement the recovery strategy will survival or (3) that incidentally affect a also be identified in the action plan. listed species. Recovery strategies and action plans will Protection for listed species of Special be prepared in cooperation with Concern aboriginal organizations, responsible The prohibitions of SARA for species jurisdictions, and relevant management listed as Extirpated, Endangered and boards directly affected by them. Threatened will not apply to species of Stakeholders affected by the recovery Special Concern; however any existing strategy will also be consulted. protections and prohibitions, such as those authorized by the Migratory Birds Management plans for Species of Convention Act or the Canada National Special Concern Parks Act, continue to be in force. For species of Special Concern, management plans will be prepared and Recovery strategies and action plans made available on the Public Registry for Extirpated, Endangered and within three years of their addition to the Threatened species SARA list, allowing for public review The addition of an Extirpated, and comment.