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Vancouver, BC – A new report on the protection of Southern Mountain Caribou in B.C. (Central Group populations) suggests that not enough is being done to protect these threatened caribou populations and help them recover in the long term. This report will be used to help determine whether additional actions need to be taken in order to meet recovery objectives for these caribou under the federal Species at Risk Act.

The majority of the herds assessed in the report have been declining steadily for decades, and long-term population estimates predict that even the sub-populations that are currently stable will eventually begin to decline. The report notes that the ultimate cause for the decline of these threatened herds is habitat loss and fragmentation.

“Addressing this issue needs to be made an absolute, unequivocal priority if we intend to recover these caribou populations before they disappear from the landscape forever. There’s a disproportionate amount of money and effort being spent on reactive measures like predator control, and nowhere near enough focus on proactive measures to reduce habitat disturbance, which is the real root of the problem,” says Jessie Corey, CPAWS-BC’s Terrestrial Conservation Manager.

“In the last 10 years, for example, the province has spent $168,000 on habitat management actions for these caribou, compared to over $3 million spent on actions related to predator and alternate prey management,” says Corey.

The federal recovery strategy sets the maximum threshold for the disturbance of critical habitat at 35 per cent. The caribou ranges assessed in the new report have all exceeded this disturbance limit, and without action plans currently in place for any of them, it is unclear how the province intends to meet this requirement.

The report shows that a significant amount of habitat within these ranges has no protection in place or legally enforceable restrictions on industrial activity into caribou habitat. The report also identifies instances where the province has provided exemptions to the law or has issued authorizations for certain industrial activities that would otherwise be prohibited within areas that have some form of protection in place.

“We’ve recommended in the past that the province consider suspending industrial activity in at least some of these ranges until we can say with certainty that further development won’t impact the likelihood of survival for these herds. Instead, what we’re seeing is that not only is there not enough legal protection in place to help these caribou but that even where there are those legal protections in place, industry is being given the green light to go into those places anyways,” says Corey.

CPAWS-BC strongly urges the provincial and federal governments to avoid any further delays in taking immediate and concrete action to protect these dwindling caribou populations.

“The window of opportunity to take action to recover these herds is getting smaller the longer we wait, and if we’re not more proactive in how we approach caribou recovery for these Southern Mountain herds, it will slam shut entirely before we know it,” adds Corey.

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For interviews, contact:

Jessie Corey, Terrestrial Conservation Manager, CPAWS-BC
604-685-7445 ext 25 | jessie@cpawsbc.org

To read the full report, click here: https://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=C709E996-1&offset=1

Vancouver, BC – The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is celebrating a new marine protected area for Canada’s ancient and unique glass sponge reefs, which CPAWS has been working to protect for over 16 years.

“We are overjoyed to see these reefs finally get the protection they need as Canada’s newest Marine Protected Area,” said Sabine Jessen, CPAWS’ National Ocean Program Director. “The reefs are an international treasure, they are globally unique, incredibly important, and deserving of strong protection so that they can remain a source of awe and wonder for generations to come,” adds Jessen.

The reefs were discovered in 1987 by a team of Canadian scientists surveying the seafloor in Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound, off BC’s north coast. Since that discovery, a handful of smaller reefs have been found elsewhere in BC and Alaska. However, BC’s Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound reefs are the only large, living glass sponge reefs in the global ocean.

“200 million years ago, there were giant glass sponge reefs that stretched across the prehistoric Tethys Sea, in what is now Europe,” said Dr. Manfred Krautter, palaeontologist and glass sponge expert. The fossilized remains of these reefs form giant cliffs that stretch across the Caucasian Mountains in Russia, Poland, the Franconian and Swabian Alps in Germany, northern Switzerland, eastern France, eastern Spain, to the Algarve in southern Portugal. “The reefs disappeared about 40 million years ago. We thought they were extinct, so finding living glass sponge reefs was like finding a herd of dinosaurs on Vancouver Island, it was a big surprise!” adds Krautter.

The living glass sponge reefs are over 9,000 years old, reach the height of an eight-storey building, and cover 1,000 km2 of ocean floor. Like coral reefs, the glass sponge reefs provide important habitat for many ecologically and commercially important species, like spot prawns, rockfish, and sharks.

“Glass sponges are as fragile as they sound. They have the consistency of a baked meringue or prawn chip, and are very easily damaged,” said Jessen. Heavy fishing gear like bottom trawlers and prawn traps can crush the delicate reefs, while the sediment plumes kicked up as equipment is dragged along the sea floor can smother and choke the sponges.
“Tragically, we think about 50 per cent of the glass sponge reefs have already been destroyed by bottom trawlers and other heavy fishing gear,” adds Jessen.

Initially, the proposal for the MPA did not prohibit these harmful activities from happening right next to the reefs, putting the reefs at risk from further damage. After receiving thousands of letters from Canadians, as well as a letter from more than 40 international marine scientists, all demanding better protection of the reefs, the government enhanced protection measures. The MPA will now prohibit all bottom contact fishing activities from occurring within 200 metres of the reefs, until it can be proven they are not harmful, and will implement more stringent measures for the midwater trawl fisheries.

“We are pleased to see that the Government of Canada has taken the necessary steps to improve the protection of the reefs and take a much more precautionary approach to design and management of this MPA. We firmly believe that there will be significant long-term benefits of strongly protecting the reefs that will outweigh the small impacts to the fishing industry,” said Jessen. “As an important nursery habitat for many commercially important species, many fisheries depend on the reefs, so protecting them will ensure the long-term sustainability of these fisheries,” Jessen added.

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Vancouver, BC – CPAWS-BC welcomes the B.C. government’s announcement yesterday of an increase in funding for BC Parks, totaling $25M over three years and including funding for additional full-time park rangers. This is a step in the right direction, but it is not the full re-investment BC Parks needs to protect the millions of hectares of lands and waters in their care.

“Parks funding has been in steady decline for nearly two decades following the massive budget cuts to BC Parks in the early 2000s, and it’s now one of the worst funded parks systems in the country. We can’t claim to have a world-class parks system without world-class funding to go with it,” says Jessie Corey, Terrestrial Conservation Manager for CPAWS-BC.

“This increase, while a positive step forward, doesn’t even get us halfway to where we need to be,” adds Corey.

Thousands of British Columbians have joined CPAWS-BC’s call for an increase in the BC Parks annual operating budget from $30 to $60 million, and for an increase in the number of full-time park rangers from 164 to 360 at a minimum. These small investments, themselves incremental steps towards a robust, sustainable parks system, would go a long way to addressing decades of neglect.

“Our provincial parks are one of the best things about British Columbia, but for years they’ve been falling into disrepair and left on their own with really limited on-the-ground monitoring and enforcement. The time is now for our provincial government to show real leadership, and make some meaningful long-term investments into our parks system,” says Corey.

Yesterday’s announcement follows on a new strategy for the future of BC Parks announced in November 2016. .

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For more information:
Jessie Corey, Terrestrial Conservation Manager, CPAWS-BC
jessie@cpawsbc.org

Vancouver, BC – The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is concerned about the weak protection measures that have been proposed for the Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area. The draft regulations allow activities like bottom trawling, long-lining and industrial shipping to continue within the proposed marine protected area, which continues to put marine wildlife at risk.

Located off the northern tip of Vancouver Island, the Scott Islands are the most important seabird breeding area in Pacific Canada. They are home to 90% of Canada’s tufted puffins and half of the world’s Cassin’s auklets. The surrounding nutrient-rich ocean waters support a great diversity of marine life including albatrosses and other birds, as well as sea otters, Steller sea lions and several species of whales. However the population of nesting seabirds on the islands is estimated to have declined from 2.2 million to 1.4 million birds since the 1990s, and a mass stranding of dead Cassin’s auklets occurred from BC to California last year.

“Environment Minister McKenna has committed to working with stakeholders to improve the protection measures for the Scott Islands, not just for seabirds but for other species that use the area. We will definitely be taking her up on that offer,” said Sabine Jessen, CPAWS’ National ocean program director. “We look forward to working with Minister McKenna alongside Fisheries and Oceans Minister LeBlanc and Transportation Minister Garneau to ensure that the threats from fishing and shipping to seabirds and other marine species are properly addressed,” adds Jessen.

“Scientific research shows that bycatch in fisheries, disturbance by ships and boats, and oil spills are harmful to birds and other marine wildlife. We want to see Environment and Climate Change Canada take a much more precautionary approach than what is outlined in the regulations,” said Alex Barron, Ocean Conservation Manager at CPAWS’ BC chapter.

“The only restrictions in the draft regulations are for fisheries that have never even happened here and on ship anchoring and boat traffic near the islands – what about all the current threats posed by fishing and shipping that the birds face at sea?” said Barron. “The whole point is to protect the foraging habitat of the birds which can travel tens and even hundreds of kilometers from the islands to find food, so these measures won’t protect them when they are at sea,” she adds.

The Scott Islands will be the first marine National Wildlife Area to be established in Canada and is intended to protect the foraging habitat of the seabirds that nest on the Scott Islands as well as migratory birds that feed in the surrounding waters over the summer. The proposed boundary covers a total area of 11,540 km2.  “Unless the regulations contain restrictions on harmful activities, seabirds and other species in the area remain at great risk, and this sets a worryingly poor precedent for future marine National Wildlife Areas,” said Jessen.

As a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Canada has committed to protect at least 10% of its ocean by 2020. “We realise that the government is up against an ambitious timeline for establishing marine protected areas, especially given that just 1% of our ocean is currently protected, but it is important that quality is not sacrificed for quantity. As these regulations currently stand, the Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area would not meet the criteria for an effectively managed MPA and so should not count towards the CBD target” Jessen adds.

The public has 30 days to provide feedback to the government on the proposed Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area.

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Vancouver, B.C – The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) today welcomed the announcement that all Arctic Canadian waters will be designated off limits for future oil and gas licensing, indefinitely, along with a number of other new commitments to ensuring the long term protection of sensitive Arctic ecosystems.

“We are pleased to see the government of Canada take these first critical steps to ensure that our Arctic ecosystems are well protected in light of the uncertain future that climate change brings,” noted Sabine Jessen, CPAWS’ National Ocean Program Director.

The announcement was made as part of the United States-Canada Joint Arctic Leaders’ Statement. The statement included commitments to establish low impact shipping corridors and support sustainable fishing practices that benefit Northern communities. Canada will co-develop a new Arctic Policy Framework with indigenous communities and Northerners that will replace Canada’s existing Northern Strategy. The commitments also include working to protect the future of the last remaining area of summer ice and advancing renewable energy in northern communities.

“A moratorium on new oil and gas licenses in the Arctic will go a long way to protecting fragile Arctic marine ecosystems and species, like whales, polar bears and seabirds, from the risks of a catastrophic oil spill, ” said Jessen. “This announcement makes it very clear that the Arctic is no place for oil and gas activities. We recently saw Shell Oil relinquish its oil and gas licenses around the proposed Lancaster Sound National Marine Conservation Area, and we hope that other existing licenses in Arctic waters will follow suit.”

In the Statement, Canada and the USA have both committed to limiting the impacts of shipping through the Arctic by identifying sustainable shipping lanes and looking at other protection measures like emergency response and Areas To Be Avoided, which could keep ships out of critical habitat for sensitive species and ecosystems, like whale feeding grounds. “Shipping has significant impacts on marine ecosystems and wildlife, including the risk of oil, fuel and cargo spills; collision with whales; disturbance of seabirds and other marine species and noise pollution. But these impacts are often overlooked in Canada’s MPAs, so we are pleased to see that they will be addressed in the Arctic” said Jessen.

Canada has also committed to work with northern and indigenous communities to ensure that Canada’s Arctic fisheries are well managed and benefit Northern communities, although the statement does not provide any detail on how this will be achieved.

“CPAWS is concerned that, in the face of climate change, receding ice cover threatens to open new areas of the Arctic for exploitation by shipping and commercial fishing, added Jessen.  “Arctic marine ecosystems are extremely sensitive, these species have not adapted to high levels of human activity, and many of them grow and reproduce very slowly, making them vulnerable to new industrial activities,” said Jessen. “We hope that future actions by Canada and the US will include a commitment to a network of marine protected areas in the Arctic that will protect the ecologically significant areas found in this globally important region.

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Vancouver, BC – The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) has mixed feelings about today’s announcement that Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area (mNWA) in British Columbia, will be Canada’s next marine protected area (MPA).

“We are pleased to see the new government move Canada closer to its international commitment to protect 10% of our ocean by 2020, but it’s important that quality isn’t sacrificed for quantity,” said Sabine Jessen, CPAWS’ National Oceans Program Director.

“We have been involved in consultations on Scott Islands for many years and have had long standing concerns about the lack of meaningful protection measures being proposed. We eagerly await the public release of the draft regulations and will take up the offer by the government to make improvements to ensure that they meet the high standards that Canadians expect of our MPAs,” notes Jessen.

Located off the northern tip of Vancouver Island, the Scott Islands are the most important seabird breeding area in Pacific Canada. They are home to 90% of Canada’s tufted puffins, 70% of the world’s Cassin’s auklets, and are the only Pacific breeding colony of common murres. The surrounding nutrient-rich ocean waters create productive feeding grounds that support a great diversity of marine life, it is also an important area for sea otters, Steller sea lions and several species of whales.

The proposed mNWA is intended to protect the foraging habitat of the seabirds, and covers a total area of 11,540 km2. Based on the regulatory strategy, released in 2013, activities like bottom trawling, long-lining and industrial shipping would be allowed to continue in the proposed MPA. “Unless the regulations contain restrictions on these harmful activities, seabirds and other species in the area remain at great risk,” Jessen adds.

The Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada has expressed her desire to work with stakeholders and her Cabinet colleagues to improve the protection measures for seabirds and expand them to other species, within the Scott Islands mNWA, an offer that Jessen and her colleagues gladly accept.

“Scientific research shows that bycatch in fisheries, disturbance by ships and boats, and oil spills are extremely harmful to birds and other marine species, so we will make every effort to work with the government to achieve better protection for the Scott Islands, and ensure these issues are addressed,” said Jessen.

“We are also pleased to see Canada’s plan to advance a number of other marine protected areas including Lancaster Sound, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound glass sponge reefs, Laurentian Channel, Banc des Americains and St. Anns Bank” said Jessen. “We expect the government to maintain high standards of protection for all of these sites,” she adds.

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December 2, 2016 – VANCOUVER –The province has just announced a new plan for the future of our provincial park system, called BC Parks Future Strategy – read about the strategy here.

The announcement of this strategy is the first real acknowledgement from the B.C. government in nearly two decades that our parks system is in trouble and in desperate need of increased capacity and funding. While the new strategy is promising and certainly a step in the right direction, we are still waiting for to the government to announce specifics that will fill in some of the many missing details in the plan. Without these details, it is unclear how this plan will change the current trajectory our parks system is currently following.

CPAWS-BC has identified several actions the government can take immediately under the framework set out in this new plan for BC Parks. These are commitments they can make now to build on this new strategy, and improve the health and future of our provincial protected areas.

We are asking the government to:

• Increase the number of Park Rangers to 360 regular and seasonal positions (up from the currently employed 164) in order to match pre-2000 staffing levels and account for the additional burden of care placed on these employees as a result of a greatly expanded protected areas system since then;
• In the 2017 budget, increase BC Parks base funding for operations and maintenance to $60 million to match pre-2000 funding levels and account for inflation as well as the additional lands that have been added under to the system since then;
• Increase this base funding annually to eventually match what other leading parks agencies in Canada, like Parks Canada and Alberta Parks, are investing in their protected area systems; and
• Commit to an accompanying increase in long-term operations and maintenance funding to support the expansion of campsites under the management and care of BC Parks.

We want a better future for our provincial parks. It is time for the BC government to make a concrete, long-term commitment to increased investment in our parks system, and not just a one-time injection of funds.

To show your support for greater funding for BC Parks, take action here.

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For more information:

Jessie Corey, Terrestrial Conservation Manager, CPAWS-BC
604-685-7445 ext 25, jessie@cpawsbc.org

Six years ago the Ktunaxa Nation Council, on the behalf of the Ktunaxa Nation, released a declaration affirming their cultural and spiritual connection to Qat’muk and to Kⱡawⱡa Tukⱡuⱡakʔis. Qat’muk is where the Grizzly Bear Spirit was born, goes to heal itself and returns to the spirit world. They declared that in accordance with their Law, ʔaknumu¢tiŧiŧ, they have an obligation to protect their sacred places for future generations as part of an ongoing relationship with the land.

Qat’muk is currently under threat. For almost two decades now a ski resort, Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort, has been proposed for the Qat’muk area. If constructed it would do irreparable damage to the region’s ecosystem, and degrade the spiritual value of this area. As a result, the Ktunaxa Nation Council launched a legal challenge before the BC Superior Court in 2013, stating that the proposed resort infringed on their freedom of religion, as protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In their declaration the Ktunaxa called on “Other governments, non-governmental organizations, business proponents, local communities, and others to support and respect our spiritual traditions and practices linked to Qat’muk, and to help protect it against desecration and destruction.” In response to their call, we at CPAWS-BC offer our support to the Ktunaxa Nation and stand in solidarity in asking the provincial government to not approve this project. Furthermore we support the Ktunaxa Nation Council’s plan for Qat’muk to be declared a refuge and protected in accordance with their principles of stewardship.

We celebrate the Ktunaxa Nation’s commitment over many years to protect Qat’muk and wish them all the best as they head to court this week. Let’s hope that the long struggle will soon be over and that Qat’muk will be preserved for many generations to come.

To learn more about Qat’muk, the proposed project and ways to support the Ktunaxa in their fight, visit: www.keepitwild.ca.

Vancouver, BC – The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society is celebrating the recent designation of the Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs as a Mission Blue Hope Spot. Hope Spots are described by Mission Blue as “special places that are critical to the health of the ocean” and are particularly deserving of protection. The reefs were one of just 14 sites around the world chosen for this special recognition.

The Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs were nominated by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, who have been working to secure protection of the reefs for decades. “We have known for a long time that the glass sponge reefs are very special and really need protecting, so to see them announced as a Hope Spot, and just one of 14 sites chosen from around the world, is a really great feeling,” said Sabine Jessen, director of CPAWS’ ocean program.

The announcement of the Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reef Hope Spot was made by “Her Deepness” Dr. Sylvia Earle, world famous marine scientist and founder of Mission Blue, and Carl Gustaf Lundin, IUCN’s director of the Global Marine and Polar Program.

Living glass sponge reefs were first discovered in 1987 by a team of Canadian scientists who were surveying the seafloor of Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound. Before this discovery, scientists thought that glass sponge reefs had gone extinct with the dinosaurs some 40 million years ago. Dr. Manfred Krautter, a palaeoecologist who studied fossilized glass sponge reefs and was one of the first people to study the living reefs, likens the discovery to finding a herd of dinosaurs on land.

Since the discovery of these sponge reefs, a few more smaller reefs have been discovered in Alaska and  British Columbia, in the Strait of Georgia, Howe Sound and most recently in Chatham Sound, near Prince Rupert. The Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Reefs are by far the largest living glass sponge reefs, covering an area of 1,000km². The reefs can grow to a height of 25 m (equivalent to an eight storey building), and are 9,000 years old.

The reefs are a very important seafloor ecosystem, providing habitat for many important species like endangered rockfish, spot prawns, and halibut. Scientists who first studied the Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound glass sponge reefs noticed vast areas of reef damaged and destroyed by bottom trawlers. “Bottom trawlers drag a great big heavy net along the seafloor, and destroy everything in their path,” says Jessen. “The glass sponges are so fragile that the nets just smash them to pieces.”

Jessen and her colleagues have been fighting to have the reefs protected as an MPA (Marine Protected Area) since 2001 in order to protect them from harmful activities. The MPA is close to completion, but Jessen is worried, “The proposed regulations that were released for public comment in 2015 were far too weak. They allow bottom trawling to continue right next to the reefs and other harmful activities like cable laying, anchoring, midwater trawling and trap fisheries to happen right around the reefs,” says Jessen. “As it is currently proposed, this MPA won’t protect the reefs at all,” she adds.

According to Jessen, the announcement of the reefs as a Hope Spot is wonderful news. “The Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound glass sponge reefs are unique, they really are one of the wonders of the world.” Jessen hopes that this new designation will inspire Canadians and world citizens to learn about the reefs and stand up for their protection. “If we don’t protect them now, we risk losing the reefs again, this time for good. I am hopeful that we can give this amazing Hope Spot the protection it needs and deserves,” Jessen adds.

For more information about the glass sponge reefs, visit: www.glassspongereefs.com
For more information about Mission Blue Hope Spots, visit: https://www.mission-blue.org/hope-spots/

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OTTAWA – In its latest annual report released in advance of Canada Parks Day, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is calling on Parks Canada to re-focus on its legal obligation to protect nature as the first priority for managing our national parks, and to immediately stop development in Banff and Jasper National Parks.

In recent years, CPAWS has observed a major shift in how Parks Canada is managing our national parks, moving away from its priority mandate of nature conservation, and towards a greater focus on tourism and marketing, increasing visitation, and revenue generation. This shift in priorities has resulted in developments being approved behind closed doors, with inadequate regard for how they impact on parks’ ecological integrity or for public input, and financial decisions being made that undermine the Agency’s conservation and science capacity.

“National parks are supposed to be the gold standard for conservation in our country,” says Alison Woodley, National Director of CPAWS’ Parks Program. “If Parks Canada shifts away from its conservation mandate, where will our wildlife and wilderness be safe?”

CPAWS is encouraged by the new federal government’s commitments to limit development in our parks, re-focus on protecting their ecological integrity, re-invest in science-based management, and restore open, transparent decision-making. So far two important decisions have been made that begin to deliver on these promises – cancelling the giant Mother Canada statue proposed for Cape Breton Highlands National Park and strengthening legislation for the Rouge National Urban Park to focus on protecting ecological integrity as the first priority. However, as this report highlights, there are systemic problems in Parks Canada’s management approach that need to be overcome for the new government to fully implement their commitments. For example:

1. Limiting development: Recent development approvals include a massive expansion of the Lake Louise Ski Resort in Banff into legally protected wilderness, commercial accommodations proposed for Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park that contravene the management plan; and a $66 million paved bike path through sensitive caribou and grizzly bear habitat which mysteriously appeared in the 2016 Federal Budget with no prior public discussion or environmental review.
2. Re-focusing on ecological integrity and funding for science: Parks Canada’s last publicly available report indicates that less than half of national park ecosystems measured were deemed to be in “good condition”, more than a third were in declining health, while 41% of park ecosystems remained to be assessed. There is an urgent need for more conservation effort, not less. Yet over the past five years there has been an over 30% decrease in Parks Canada’s conservation staffing while visitor experience staffing has risen by 9% over the same time period.  The report also finds that public “state of park” reporting has virtually disappeared, and park management plan reviews are less frequent.
3. Open, transparent decision-making: Public consultations on development proposals within national parks have become short processes that are geographically restricted, and that largely ignore public feedback. Legally required biennial Round Tables on Parks Canada’s performance are no longer focused on accountability, instead focusing on how to increase park visitation with little or no attention to how well the Agency is delivering on its core conservation mandate.

“We have put forward 17 recommendations to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change that we believe will help get Parks Canada back on track to conserving nature as the first priority in our national parks,” says Woodley. “We hope the new government will act immediately to stop developments in Banff and Jasper, and restore Parks Canada’s culture as a science-based nature conservation organization working in the long term public interest. The future of wildlife and wilderness in our national parks depends on re-focusing on nature first and foremost in their management.

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Read the full report.
Read the Executive Summary with recommendations.

For interviews, contact: Karen Turner (613) 569-7226 x 232