Canada’s National Wildlife Disease Strategy

Draft

Available in PDF (222 KB)

Federal, provincial and territorial Ministers responsible for wildlife, forests and fisheries and aquaculture agreed in September 2003 on the need to develop a National Wildlife Disease Strategy. The Canadian Wildlife Directors' Committee has led the development of the Strategy in consultation with federal departments responsible for health, food safety and fisheries management, as well as with the Canadian veterinary colleges, and with provincial and territorial wildlife agencies.

Disease originating in wild species is having an increasingly serious impact on human health, agriculture production, ecosystem integrity, biodiversity and world economies. The National Wildlife Disease Strategy is a disease response and management framework that aims to minimize the negative impacts of wildlife diseases. The Strategy will help to coordinate approaches across jurisdictions in managing wildlife diseases in Canada. The Strategy will also identify current gaps in capacity to prevent, detect, manage and respond to wildlife diseases while identifying existing capacity and areas for enhancement. The six goals of the draft Strategy are: Prevention; Early Detection; Rapid Response; Disease Management; Education and Training; and Communication.

The objectives of the Strategy will be achieved through a series of action plans developed for each of the goals of the Strategy, and implemented collaboratively among the responsible jurisdictions. Action plans identify existing programs and agencies relevant to a particular NWDS component and address issues such as capacity requirements, key gaps and funding priorities.

Federal, provincial and territorial Ministers responsible for wildlife, forests and fisheries and aquaculture reviewed the strategy in September 2004 and decided to test it on a specific disease. Since then, the province of Saskatchewan has led work on a strategy to address chronic wasting disease.

The National Chronic Wasting Disease Control Strategy (NCWDCS), near completion, draws heavily on the framework and guidance provided by the NWDS. This experience has demonstrated that the NWDS provides an excellent overall framework to address wildlife disease issues. Both the NWDS and the NCWDCS will be presented to federal, provincial and territorial Ministers responsible for wildlife, forests and fisheries and aquaculture in October 2005.