Wildsight, along with Sierra Club BC, the David Suzuki Foundation, Greenpeace and the Wilderness Committee are taking the federal government to court over their failure to meet the government’s legal obligations clearly laid out under one of Canada’s most important remaining federal environmental laws, the Species at Risk Act.

“Without recovery plans and designation of critical habitat, environmental assessments can simply ignore the need to maintain habitat for threatened and endangered wildlife,” stated Wildsight executive director John Bergenske in a press release.

There are currently 188 recovery plans for species that are past their due date; 87 are more than five years overdue, the release noted.

“We have chosen four species including southern mountain caribou, the Pacific humpback whale, the Nechako sturgeon and marbled murrelet for this case. Any further delay increases threats to these species, particularly given that their habitat is further threatened by proposals for the Northern Gateway Pipeline,” Bergenske said.

“It is unfortunate that environmental groups have to go to court in order to have the government act on its own legislation. We are working with Ecojustice’s legal team to highlight the need for action by the federal government. Without enforceable legislation, Canada’s wildlife populations are increasingly under threat from inappropriate development,” he concluded.

Marbled murrelet image from UVic Seabird & Murrelet Research Group / Mountain Caribou images from Parks Canada

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