Voluntary Projects Protect Species At Risk

For Immediate Release
June 25, 2009

Voluntary Projects Protect Species At Risk
McGuinty Government Marks First Anniversary Of Endangered Species Act

News

Western Golden Horseshoe landowners and organizations have come together to help protect rare and endangered species.

Twenty volunteer stewardship projects in the Halton, Brant, Hamilton, Haldimand-Norfolk and Niagara region are being supported with almost $700,000 from the province’s Species at Risk Fund. These projects are unique because organizations and landowners work together to protect habitat and raise local awareness for species at risk. Projects include:

• constructing a new fish ladder on the Credit River
• updating a survey of snake populations
• developing a model for grassland restoration for the aggregate industry.

Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, which came into effect a year ago, makes the province a North American leader in species at risk protection and recovery.

QUOTES

“This region is home to more than half the province’s species at risk and a growing population that encroaches on forest and wetland habitat. Stewardship projects like the ones the McGuinty government is funding help reverse the rate of species decline and protect Ontario’s rich biodiversity.”

– Donna Cansfield, Minister of Natural Resources

QUICK FACTS

• Ontario is home to more than 30,000 species of plants and animals, of which more than 180 are at risk. The western Golden Horseshoe is home to more rare and endangered species of plants and animals than any other part of Canada.
• The Royal Botanical Gardens provides habitat for more than 20 species at risk.
• There are four categories of "at risk" native species: extirpated (no longer exists in the wild in Ontario, but still exists elsewhere), endangered (facing extinction or extirpation), threatened (at risk of becoming endangered in Ontario) and special concern (sensitive to human activities or natural events which may cause it to become endangered or threatened).

LEARN MORE

• Read about Species at Risk Stewardship Fund projects in the Halton, Hamilton, Brant, Niagara and Haldimand-Norfolk area.
• Find out what you can do to help protect species at risk and their habitats.
• Learn about the Royal Botanical Gardens.
• ontario.ca/speciesatrisk.

For More Information

Ivan Langrish, Minister's Office, 416-314-2212

Media Desk, Communications Services Branch, 416-314-2106

ontario.ca/natural-resources-news

General Enquiries

Natural Resources Information Centre
1-800-667-1940
TTY 1-866-686-6072 (Hearing Impaired)