Unlikely Partnership Paves the Way for Grasslands Conservation

Fernando Adauto is a cattle producer in Lavras and a key figure in leading collaborations between cattle producers and conservation groups

Grasslands are arguably the most threatened ecosystem globally. In North America less than 20 percent of native grasslands remain intact. The Southern Cone of South America has seen the conversion to agriculture, plantations or urbanization of around 50% of its grasslands and conversion continues at an alarming rate. Grasslands biodiversity, including birds, and the gaucho culture are at risk.

Cattle born and raised on natural grasslands

But an unlikely partnership between local producers and conservationists is trying to turn this around.

I had the opportunity this past week to participate in the fifth gathering of the Alliance for the Grasslands, known as the Encuentro de Ganaderos de Pastizales Naturales (Gathering of Natural Pasture Cattle Producers) in the town of Lavras do Sul, in southern Brazil.

These unique Encuentros have been bringing together Aves Argentinas, SAVE Brasil, Guyra Paraguay and Aves Uruguay - the BirdLife Partners from the region - with a growing number of landowners, experts, government officials and other groups and individuals interested in the conservation of natural grasslands, biodiversity and the traditional gaucho way of life.

Among the many ambitious and exciting projects of the Alliance is a certification system for beef produced on native grasslands, for which they've agreed on the overall guidelines and are working out the implementation details. The Alliance is also working with rice producers and on recognizing the ecosystem services provided by natural grasslands and providing economic incentives to conserve them.

As it celebrates five years of these Encuentros, the Alliance asked Nature Canada to carry out an evaluation of its progress. I had the opportunity to do this analysis and participate in the V Encuentro to share the preliminary findings and conduct a workshop to gather feedback from participants. I hope that this evaluation will be helpful to the Alliance in identifying gaps, opportunities and in planning its priority actions for the coming years.

I led a workshop with producers to gather feedback on the preliminary evaluation findings where participants identified the need to bring technical expertise to producers so can they improve the productivity of ranches based on natural pastures. The group has proposed creating an international training program to build on and share existing knowledge and know how.

Facilitating a workshop with ranchers from the Pampas of South America

At the same time, the exercise has been a fabulous opportunity to learn about this groundbreaking initiative supported by the BirdLife partnership and for bringing lessons back to North America.

Nature Canada, along with our BirdLife partners National Audubon in the US, and Pronatura in Mexico are looking forward to taking part in a project of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation that seeks to strengthen links in support of healthy ecosystems and communities in the grasslands of North America.

Many of these efforts will benefit the same birds because many of "our" declining grassland birds (including Bobolink and Swainson's hawk, to name but two) migrate to the grasslands of the Southern Cone of South America.

An opportunity still exists to save the grasslands of the Americas, but we urgently need to step up the effort. Despite the many challenges, the Alliance of the Grasslands of the Southern Cone of South America gives me hope that we can do this both in North and South America!

Emergency Summit: Is it Game Over for the Sage-Grouse in Canada?

Greater Sage-Grouse, courtesy Christyann Olson

In 2011, just 13 male greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) were recorded on “leks” in Alberta. Next door, in Saskatchewan, there were only 35. These numbers represent a greater than 95 percent decline since 1968 -- a decline that has continued unchecked despite official designations on provincial and federal species at risk lists. 

The reasons for the collapse of greater sage‐grouse populations are well known by scientists and governments, as is what's needed to reverse the declines. Yet, as an iconic bird species is poised to disappear forever from Canada, two things are quite clear:

1) current efforts are failing to prevent the extirpation of the greater sage‐grouse and protect its habitat
2) there is an urgent need for immediate action and substantive measures if the imminent extirpation of the greater sage‐grouse from Canada is to be prevented.

A panel of scientists and conservation organizations, including Nature Canada, held an emergency summit on the future of greater sage‐grouse in Canada on September 7 and 8, in Calgary. The sense of urgency was palpable, and the desire to spark action was strong.

A public communiqué was issued at the end of the summit, signed by more than a dozen scientists and conservation groups from Canada and the United States. You can read the whole thing on our web site. Here, though, is a partial list of the actions that must occur to save the sage grouse:

•  Designate additional critical habitat as identified on proposed critical habitat maps produced in 2010.
• No new developments in critical greater sage‐grouse habitat. Major concerns are regarding prolonged or expanded industrial development and associated activities in and around critical habitat.
• Restore existing critical habitat, including removal of industrial infrastructure.
• To allow for future recovery, previously occupied range outside current critical habitat must be restored to functionality suitable for greater sage‐grouse.
• Any new development outside of critical habitat but within the identified zone of influence (15 kilometres)must not contribute to the disturbance of the species or destruction of critical habitat.

Read more.

Gift to the Earth - Celebrating Parks Canada's 100th birthday with an eye to the future

Good afternoon, Folks!

I'd like to recap a fantastic week for protected areas in Canada last week. You'll recall that Parks Canada Agency marked its 100th anniversary last Thursday, the same day it received a prestigious “Gift to the Earth” award from WWF International. Way to go Parks Canada!

One hundred years ago to the day, May 19th 1911, the Dominion Parks Branch (now the Parks Canada Agency) was created following the establishment of Banff National Park in 1885. This was the first national parks service in the world (Yellowstone National Park in the US was the first actual national park of its kind created in 1872) and has in many ways set the standard for how governments approach conservation in the national interest the world over.

Nature Canada representatives attended a ceremony last Thursday to commemorate this important historic milestone, at which Parks Canada proudly highlighted its progress on protecting representative examples of Canada’s 39 natural regions on land and 29 marine natural regions on water. You can read more about that progress, as well as forthcoming parks and marine conservation areas here. You can read more about specific conservation achievements here.

But Parks Canada and conservation organizations weren't just celebrating a 100th birthday and a major award last Thursday: the Agency also announced the remarkable expansion of Grasslands National Park through the addition of 110 square kilometers of native mixed prairie grassland on the park's existing West Block!

Grasslands are one of the most threatened ecosystems in North America and the world and, as Canada's only national park in the Prairie Grasslands natural region, Grasslands National Park is home to several nationally-listed species at risk. Nature Canada and other organizations are working to safeguard Canada's remaining grasslands in the Prairies region and British Columbia's dry southern interior. (In fact, you can help us better protect a National Wildlife Area in Canada's Prairie region by taking action here.)

You can celebrate Parks Canada's Centennial and its ongoing work to conserve Canada's epic wild spaces all year long with monthly themes focused on Canada's natural and cultural heritage.

Nature Canada celebrates all of Parks Canada's conservation achievements and seconds WWF International’s choice for the Gift to the Earth award. Alongside other organizations, we have worked hard to support and advocate for the establishment of national parks across Canada to protect our wildlife and their habitats. And we’re poised for more exciting announcements by Parks Canada about further progress toward completing Canada’s national park/ marine conservation areas system. With parks and marine conservation areas currently in progress, Parks Canada is set to expand the national park/marine conservation area system by an additional 28% beyond its existing size – to over 410,000 square kilometers.

One of the sites Nature Canada and other groups are working hard to establish is the proposed South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park Reserve in British Columbia’s southern dry interior. That region is Canada’s “pocket desert” and is a truly unique ecological region that we need to protect before it’s too late. CBC recently did a piece on the issues surrounding that park proposal on The National television broadcast, which you can watch here.

Here's to another great year for national parks, national marine conservation areas and other protected areas in Canada! And don't forget to remind your newly elected Members of Parliament how you would like them to protect these and other 'naturally breathtaking' spaces.

Photos:
Daybreak at La Mauricie National Park of Canada, Québec (A. MacDonald)
Paddler's bliss in Kejimkujik National Park & National Historic Site, Nova Scotia (A. MacDonald)

Study Outlines Steps to Protect Declining North American Landbird Populations

Crested Wood Partridge by Nathan Rupert

A recent study carried out by scientists from Canada, Mexico and the United States found that of the 882 native landbirds shared across borders, 17% (148 species) need immediate conservation action.

The report, Saving Our Shared Birds, an initiative of Partners in Flight, assessed the status of all 882 shared landbirds, and used their findings to rank the vulnerability of each species.

The 148 species identified as most vulnerable include:

• 44 species having limited distributions
• 80 tropical species which depend on deciduous, highland and evergreen forests in Mexico
• 24 species that occur in temperate-zone forests, grasslands and aridland habitats during the breeding season.

Hawk-eagles, wood partridges, Cyanolyca jays and macaws are some of the birds included in the list of 148 species. As is the case for biodiversity, habitat loss is the greatest threat to these birds.

The report concludes with six steps that Canada, Mexico and the United States must take to reverse the trend of declining North American landbird populations:

1. Protect and recover species at greatest risk by establishing protected areas and fully implementing endangered species laws.

2. Conserve habitats and ecosystem functions through policy changes that result in more sustainable agricultural, forestry and urban planning practices.

3. Reduce bird mortality by adopting measures that are effective in reducing bird mortality from collisions with windows or tall buildings, poisoning from pesticides and unsustainable hunting and trapping.

4. Expand our knowledge base for conservation by acquiring a better understanding of bird distribution patterns; connectivity between locations; population responses to management practices; and the cumulative effects of human-caused bird mortality.

5. Engage people in conservation about birds, and encourage the participation of local communities through citizen science programs and programs that promote the benefits of conserving birds to those who depend on them for their well-being.

6. Increase the power of international partnerships by sharing and transferring information and knowledge through partnerships such as regional alliances, international joint ventures and community-based partnerships, as well as develop new mechanisms to engage business, industry, and NGOs.

We hope the Government of Canada will adopt these recommendations, and by doing so, make significant progress towards the conservation of North American landbirds.

Native Prairie Saved From Potato Production

We previously told you about a shocking plan to sell public prairie land in Alberta for potato production. Since then, SLM Spud Farms has withdrawn its offer to purchase public native prairie rangeland in Alberta's Bow Island Provincial Grazing Land (BIPGR).

Keith Ypma, SPL Spud Farms' family spokesperson, said the withdrawal was due to the "negative attention" the proposal stirred up.

This case is a great example of how the public can make a difference by voicing their opposition to the destruction of endangered habitats and wildlife and conserving Canada's natural heritage! But, the sale of public lands could continue. Environmental groups and opposition party members in Alberta are urging the government to complete land-use plans that protect the province's lands, and engage the public in a transparent and open process should any public land be put up for sale.

Native Prairie Threatened by Potato Production

White potatoes
by Julep67 via flickr

The Alberta Cabinet is considering a proposal to sell 13,600 acres of public native prairie rangeland in the Bow Island Provincial Grazing Reserve (BIPGR) to SLM Spud Farms for conversion into irrigated cropland for potato production.

This plan is absolutely shocking.

The central grasslands of North America are considered one of North America’s most endangered ecosystems. In this International Year of Biodiversity and as governments from around the world are gathered in Nagoya, Japan to work towards addressing alarming biodiversity loss, entertaining a proposal to convert endangered native prairie lands to potato production should be out of the question.

We wrote last week to Alberta's Premier to urge him to reject this proposal and prevent the significant impacts this conversion would have on Canada’s biodiversity. Read our letter.

Recovery Strategy for Endangered Burrowing Owl Incomplete: Critical Habitat Not Identified in Suffield National Wildlife Area

Burrowing Owl
Photo by C. Wallis

Four years after a recovery strategy for the Endangered Burrowing Owl was due, the federal government has released a plan that overlooks critical habitat within CFB Suffield National Wildlife Area (NWA).

Burrowing owls are iconic small, long-legged grassland owls that were common summer residents in the southern regions of the prairie provinces and British Columbia until the mid-1900s when modern agriculture practices began. This species was first assessed as 'Threatened' in 1979 and designated as 'Endangered' in 1995. In the prairie provinces they continue to decline, with fewer than 800 pairs remaining in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Suffield NWA, located near Medicine Hat, Alberta, is one of the last large areas of unploughed mixed grass prairie in Canada. This unique habitat is home to nearly 100 plant and animal species at risk of extinction, including the Burrowing Owl.

Recovery Strategy Long Overdue

Under the Species at Risk Act (SARA), the federal government was required to produce a recovery strategy for the Burrowing Owl by June 2006. This strategy should have identified the species' entire critical habitat based on the best available information.

In the summer of 2007, a year past the legal deadline, Environment Canada published a proposed recovery strategy which failed to identify any critical habitat for the Burrowing Owl. Nature Canada called for a new strategy to be written to include critical habitat, since enough information existed to identify it. In our formal response given to the department, we also stressed the urgency of identifying critical habitat within Suffield NWA, given the threat to such habitat from a gas development project proposed by EnCana (now Cenovus).

Now, more than four years after it was due, a revised proposed recovery strategy has again failed to identify the entire critical habitat for Burrowing Owl as the law requires.

Suffield Habitat Overlooked


Suffield NWA
Photo by A. Teucher



The revised recovery strategy does identify critical habitat in land currently under federal jurisdiction, such as within Grasslands National Park. However, the valuable habitat within Suffield NWA – another federal protected area – is overlooked and the presence of Burrowing Owls within Suffield is misrepresented.

The current proposed recovery strategy appears to indicate that Burrowing Owls are not found in Suffield NWA. However, in Environment Canada's own testimony before a joint environmental assessment review panel in February 2008, the department told the panel (established to consider EnCana's - now Cenovus - proposal to drill 1,275 gas wells in the National Wildlife Area) that the endangered owls are known to nest in the area's rare natural prairie environment. The department even stated it was possible that critical habitat could be identified in Suffield.

It would seem this vital habitat was overlooked in the identification of critical habitat for Burrowing Owl without considering the scientific data. Information is clearly available to identify critical habitat within CFB Suffield National Wildlife Area and such habitat should be identified in the recovery strategy.

Suffield Critical for Burrowing Owl Recovery

Nature Canada and our partners in the Suffield Coalition are urging the federal government to revise the proposed recovery strategy to identify all critical habitat for the Burrowing Owl, including at Suffield. We also continue to call on the government to accept the recommendations of its environmental assessment panel and reject Cenovus' proposed project to drill 1,275 gas wells in Suffield National Wildlife Area.

The Suffield Coalition comprises seven groups: Alberta Wilderness Association, Federation of Alberta Naturalists, World Wildlife Fund Canada, Nature Saskatchewan, Southern Alberta Group for the Environment, Grasslands Naturalists, and Nature Canada.

Suffield NWA should be a haven for grassland species such as the Burrowing Owl. The Burrowing Owl deserves to have its entire critical habitat identified according to the best available information. With a complete recovery strategy, land use decisions can be made that create a recipe for recovery rather than for extirpation.

Create Protected Areas, End Use of Pesticides

Suffield National Wildlife Area
Photo by Andy Teucher

Nature Canada is carrying a grasslands conservation message to an international forum.

North America's native grasslands are rapidly vanishing, along with some of the continent's most endangered species, but concerted action by national governments can turn the tide, we plan to say before an international commission gathering in Mexico this week.

The Montreal-based Commission for Environmental Co-operation (CEC), a body created by NAFTA's environmental side agreement in 1994, is holding its annual meeting on 16-17 August, in Guanajuato, Mexico, where experts will examine ways of improving environmental protection provided by each country.

Nature Canada will be urging the governments of Mexico, United States and Canada to focus the CEC's efforts over the next 5 years on restoring the health of one of North America's most imperiled ecosystems – our native grasslands.

North America's central grasslands extend from the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada, south through the central, northern and mid-west United States to southern Texas into northeastern and central Mexico, and from western Indiana to the foothills of the Rockies.

The grasses, sand hills, coulees and riverbanks of the grasslands ecosystem sustain hundreds of plant and animal species, including the burrowing owl, peregrine falcon, California condor, northern leopard frog and pronghorn antelope.

About a quarter of the species North America's three nations share, including many at the greatest risk of extinction, breed primarily in grasslands. Yet less than 20% of Canada's native grasslands remain and many of the country's grasslands species are in decline. In less than 5 years, Canada's largest grassland bird, the Greater Sage Grouse, may be extirpated from Canada.

In a presentation scheduled for Tuesday, Nature Canada will call on the CEC's member nations to deliver on two critical and long-overdue actions that only governments can take: creating additional protected areas, and ending the use of pesticides that kill birds and other wildlife.

Less than 3% of the region's grasslands are found inside protected areas. That figure should be at least 10% within each country.

The CEC has already completed an important step by identifying the North American Grasslands Priority Conservation Areas. Also, many organizations in the three countries, including Nature Canada, are working to protect grassland areas on public and private land. The CEC's leadership could leverage these efforts and build the momentum required to achieve the 10% target by 2015.

North America's governments should also move immediately to end the use of pesticides that needlessly harm birds and other biodiversity.

Burrowing Owl

Birds are effective indicators of the health of our environment, and the message we're receiving from grasslands birds is that we're going down a disastrous path.

Among the many factors contributing to bird declines, the use of pesticides is a major culprit. Research by Environment Canada's own scientist, Dr. Pierre Mineau, has recently shown pesticides still kill millions of birds every year.

The good news is that this cause of bird mortality can be directly addressed through government action.

The CEC could coordinate work to identify a list of pesticides of common concern that our governments can then phase out. At the same time, CEC can work on best management practices that support the transition to an Integrated Pest Management approach.

In addition to calling for more protected areas and an end to harmful pesticides, Nature Canada also supports the CEC's proposal to promote best management practices among ranchers, landowners and others who live and work within grasslands ecosystems. Governments should promote their widespread adoption by recognizing and rewarding those who follow such practices.