Environmental groups will take the federal minister of environment and climate change to court to challenge what they say is a weakened approach to identify habitat for the endangered piping plover.
On behalf of East Coast Environmental Law and Nature Nova Scotia, Ecojustice launched the application for a review of the federal minister and the Liberal government decision this year to amend the original recovery strategy for the rare shorebird.
The department has adopted a “bounding box” approach to habitat identification, meaning that instead of protecting the whole beach for piping plover habitat, only small areas that meet a vague set of criteria will be protected.
The environmental groups allege that this new approach makes enforcement, and consequently protection, of these habitats more difficult and leaves unprotected parts of the beach open for development and construction.
“We’re taking Minister (Steven) Guilbeault to court to ensure that the habitat of endangered species, like piping plover, is properly identified and protected, as required by law under the federal Species at Risk Act,” Halifax Ecojustice lawyer Sarah McDonald said in a release of the action launched in the Federal Court.
“Protecting and restoring natural habitats is a crucial response to tackling the biodiversity crisis and helping endangered species, like piping plovers, survive and recover,” McDonald said.
“We cannot let Environment and Climate Change Canada default to the weakened bounding box approach to habitat identification. There is too much at stake.”
The original strategy, released in 2012, identified more than 200 entire beaches throughout Atlantic Canada and Quebec as piping plover habitat.
Chris Miller, a Halifax ecologist who is the executive director of the Nova Scotia chapter of Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, said earlier this week that West Mabou Beach provincial park is home to one of some 17 beaches in Nova Scotia where the piping plover nests and breeds.
Cabot Cape Breton has expressed interest in making a request to the province to lease one-third of the 275-hectare West Mabou park to develop a third 18-hole coastal golf course, some 25 kilometres south of its successful Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs courses in the Inverness area.
Miller said there are only about 40 breeding pairs of piping plovers in Nova Scotia.
“Every occurrence of piping plover is significant, especially if it’s a breeding pair or a beach that supports breedings pairs,” Miller said.
The federal department has used the bounding box approach to identify other endangered species’ habitat, including the Eastern meadowlark, the American badger, and the bobolink.
Bob Bancroft, a longtime wildlife biologist and president of Nature Nova Scotia said, “strong, enforceable habitat laws are a necessity if we are to turn the tide of endangered species population declines in Canada.”
Lisa Mitchell, executive director and senior lawyer at East Coast Environmental Law said the planet is in the midst of a biodiversity crisis.
“This is not the time to roll back habitat protections for any at-risk species, including the iconic piping plover,” Mitchell said.
