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Ottawa, Dec. 29 - On the fourth day of Christmas, the Green Party of Canada issued an urgent call to action to protect partridges, pear trees, calling birds, French hens, turtle doves and Canada's endangered species from the threat of extinction.
Fourteen years after the UN Convention on Biological Diversity went into force, the federal government has yet to pass effective Species At Risk legislation and complete Canada's network of national parks and marine protected areas, said Green Party leader Elizabeth May.
Today the Green Party responded with the release of Investing in Biodiversity - a comprehensive blueprint for protecting Canada's natural capital. The plan calls for $500 million to be added to existing 2003 and 2005 budget commitments to complete the national parks and marine protected areas system.
"Every prime minister of Canada for the last 20 years has committed to completing the network - except the current prime minister," said Ms. May. "Canada desperately needs a bold new campaign to protect biodiversity but the Harper government insists on looking the other way."
"Biodiversity" is a complex word for a simple concept. It means nature itself - everything from micro-organisms to landscape diversity, from partridges and pear trees to forests and oceans.
Other urgent issues addressed in Investing in Biodiversity include the need to overhaul the failed Species at Risk Act and provide the research and logistical support to ensure that legislation prevents adverse impacts on habitats and ecosystems.
Investing in Biodiversity is a follow-up to the Green Party's Green Plan (GP2) released earlier this year, which condemned the federal government for systematically undermining the role of scientific research in supporting ecologically protective legislation.
According to the report released today, knowledge of species and the ecosystems in which they live must be the foundation of an effective national biodiversity conservation strategy to protect vital ecosystems like natural prairie, old-growth forests, un-trawled ocean floors and freshwater habitats.
"Not only has the federal government been gutting research agencies created to understand biodiversity, it is also ignoring the recommendations of its own scientists on how to protect species and their habitats," said May. "Without scientific knowledge guiding our decisions, we will continue to over-exploit resources and suffer the economic and social consequences."
In April 2006, Fisheries and Oceans minister Loyola Hearn ignored the advice of Department of Fisheries and Oceans scientists and blocked the listing of the Interior Fraser Coho salmon as a "species at risk." The listing would not have reduced the commercial fishery but the minister's decision was an extinction order for the coho.
The Green Party will continue to put pressure on the federal government to live up to its obligations under the UN Convention on Biodiversity to prevent species loss and habitat destruction while fostering a holistic and humble view of our place in nature through public education and awareness.
Changing the way we place economic value on the natural world through full-cost accounting and taxation and fiscal incentives to conserve valuable land will also help Canada protect its dwindling biodiversity.
The Convention on Biological Diversity, negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program, has three goals: to promote the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
Contact:
John Chenery
416-532-8218
416-452-6016 (cell)
jchenery@greenparty.ca
Fourteen years after the UN Convention on Biological Diversity went into force, the federal government has yet to pass effective Species At Risk legislation and complete Canada's network of national parks and marine protected areas, said Green Party leader Elizabeth May.
Today the Green Party responded with the release of Investing in Biodiversity - a comprehensive blueprint for protecting Canada's natural capital. The plan calls for $500 million to be added to existing 2003 and 2005 budget commitments to complete the national parks and marine protected areas system.
"Every prime minister of Canada for the last 20 years has committed to completing the network - except the current prime minister," said Ms. May. "Canada desperately needs a bold new campaign to protect biodiversity but the Harper government insists on looking the other way."
"Biodiversity" is a complex word for a simple concept. It means nature itself - everything from micro-organisms to landscape diversity, from partridges and pear trees to forests and oceans.
Other urgent issues addressed in Investing in Biodiversity include the need to overhaul the failed Species at Risk Act and provide the research and logistical support to ensure that legislation prevents adverse impacts on habitats and ecosystems.
Investing in Biodiversity is a follow-up to the Green Party's Green Plan (GP2) released earlier this year, which condemned the federal government for systematically undermining the role of scientific research in supporting ecologically protective legislation.
According to the report released today, knowledge of species and the ecosystems in which they live must be the foundation of an effective national biodiversity conservation strategy to protect vital ecosystems like natural prairie, old-growth forests, un-trawled ocean floors and freshwater habitats.
"Not only has the federal government been gutting research agencies created to understand biodiversity, it is also ignoring the recommendations of its own scientists on how to protect species and their habitats," said May. "Without scientific knowledge guiding our decisions, we will continue to over-exploit resources and suffer the economic and social consequences."
In April 2006, Fisheries and Oceans minister Loyola Hearn ignored the advice of Department of Fisheries and Oceans scientists and blocked the listing of the Interior Fraser Coho salmon as a "species at risk." The listing would not have reduced the commercial fishery but the minister's decision was an extinction order for the coho.
The Green Party will continue to put pressure on the federal government to live up to its obligations under the UN Convention on Biodiversity to prevent species loss and habitat destruction while fostering a holistic and humble view of our place in nature through public education and awareness.
Changing the way we place economic value on the natural world through full-cost accounting and taxation and fiscal incentives to conserve valuable land will also help Canada protect its dwindling biodiversity.
The Convention on Biological Diversity, negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program, has three goals: to promote the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
Contact:
John Chenery
416-532-8218
416-452-6016 (cell)
jchenery@greenparty.ca
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