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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEGovernment of Canada Announces $270,000 to Protect Piping Plover Habitats in Atlantic CanadaP.E.I. NATIONAL PARK, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, August 12, 2001 -- Environment Minister David Anderson announced today that the Government of Canada is contributing more than $270,000 toward the conservation of sensitive beaches in Atlantic Canada that are home to endangered species, particularly the Piping Plover. The funds are provided under the Government of Canada Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk. The new contribution, combined with other funding and in-kind resources last year and this year arranged by provincial government partners, non-government organizations, volunteers, property owners, municipalities and other participants, provides more than $550,000 for activities designed to conserve beach habitats for the recovery of the Piping Plover and other species. In 2000, the federal government committed $45 million over five years to the Habitat Stewardship Program. "Piping Plovers are an endangered species and we must all work together to increase our efforts to preserve them," said Minister Anderson. "We must protect beaches and shorelines where they nest. We must discourage beach users from harming these birds or destroying their vital habitat, and encourage our fellow citizens to do whatever they can to protect and preserve plovers and their homes and feeding grounds." A special network of volunteer "Beach Guardians" – Canadians from all walks of life who love nature and want to help – has developed over the years. The volunteers observe activities in sensitive areas: activities by wildlife in ecologically significant habitats and activities by humans. Their objectives are to protect the habitat and to make the areas safe for endangered wildlife while increasing human awareness of the impacts their activities have on endangered species. There are about 2,200 Piping Plovers in Canada, about a quarter of them in Atlantic Canada, the rest in the Prairies. The small shorebirds nest along sandbars, coastal dunes, coastlines and lakeshores. They return to their Canadian breeding grounds in April or May. Their numbers have been declining, mostly because of human recreational activities that disturb their nesting sites. Programs that protect Piping Plovers and their nesting areas in the Atlantic provinces will also benefit other threatened species, such as beach nesting Terns, the Gulf of St. Lawrence Aster, the Bathurst Aster, and the Maritime Ringlet butterfly. During the first year of the Government of Habitat Stewardship Program, more than 60 partnerships across Canada were established with First Nations, landowners, resource users, nature trusts, provinces, the natural resource sector, community-based wildlife societies, educational institutions and conservation organizations. The program has improved the habitat of about 60 nationally endangered and threatened species and more than 100 provincially-listed species at risk. This year, the following non-governmental organizations will deliver projects in the Atlantic provinces:
Now in its second year of operation, the Government of Canada Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk is a partnership-based conservation initiative. The Program is managed cooperatively by Environment Canada, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Parks Canada and administered by Environment Canada. Funds are provided in a directed program for the recovery of species listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern. Recipients of the funds can be non-government organizations and private landowners, conservation groups and local governments. "We are proud of this broad-based effort to maintain and restore habitat critical to species at risk throughout Canada," said Minister Anderson. "The Program takes a holistic approach and projects are designed to conserve habitat so that an entire landscape or waterscape will benefit. In this way, we are not only acting as stewards for a given species, but for a large part of the ecosystem in which it is found." Information on the Habitat Stewardship Program is available on Environment Canada's Web site at http://www.ec.gc.ca For further information, please contact:
Paul Chamberland |
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