Protecting the critical habitat of the woodland caribou
On May 7, 2018, CPAWS (Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society) and the Minister of the Environment reached an agreement to settle out of court the application for judicial review filed approximately one year earlier by Me Frédéric Paquin and TJL’s lawyers.
The Minister of the Environment agreed with CPAWS’ interpretation of section 63 of the Species at Risk Act. This section requires the federal Minister of the Environment to publish a report on measures to protect the critical habitat of a species at risk if, six months after the publication of the species’ recovery strategy, he deems that a portion of this habitat is still not protected.
When we know that the decline of natural habitats is the greatest threat to species at risk, we understand the importance of these reports for coordinated and effective action by the various levels of government and environmental organizations such as CPAWS.
The Ministry of the Environment released its first report on the protection of critical habitat for the woodland caribou, boreal population, on April 30, 2018. By June 2019, Environment Canada will catch up on approximately 150 terrestrial species for which no report had been published to date.
TJL is proud to have once again contributed to increasing the protection of species at risk.