Development jeopardizes Canada’s economic and ecological health: officials

MIKE DE SOUZA
Postmedia News

Biodiversity is deteriorating at an “unprecedented rate” due to urban and industrial development that’s putting Canada’s economic and ecological health in jeopardy, Environment Minister Peter Kent was warned in newly released briefing notes.

The dire advice, submitted to the minister when he took over the environment portfolio in January, said that measures taken by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government since 2006 to protect Canada’s natural wealth had failed to stop declines in a wide variety of species and ecosystems that provide clean water, clean air and food, among other services.

“Biodiversity is being lost at an unprecedented rate due to drivers, or major threats, which include habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive species, climate change, over-exploitation of resources, and pollution,” said the briefing notes, released through an access to information request and labelled under the “secret” classification.

“Although Canada is one of the few countries to still have relatively large, intact ecosystems, urban and industrial development, combined with a changing climate, are putting growing pressure on biodiversity and reducing the many economic, ecological and social benefits that biodiversity provides.”

The revelations come as Kent was poised to announce the next phase in a government plan to improve monitoring of environmental impacts from oilsands activity.

Kent is scheduled to make the announcement today to follow up on an earlier decision in March to improve and increase monitoring and testing of water quality at various sites near oilsands facilities.

The next phase is expected to cover air quality and biodiversity issues in the surrounding regions.

The briefing notes explained that preserving biodiversity was “critical” to the long-term health, prosperity and security of Canadians.

Kent was told that more than 13 per cent of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product — the market value of the goods and services produced in the economy — depends on healthy ecosystems in terms of forests, agriculture, oceans and tourism.

“Biodiversity contributes to essential ecosystem goods and services, such as the production of food and fibre, carbon sequestration, clean air and water, disease and pest control, pollination of food crops and recreational, esthetic and spiritual benefits,” said the briefing notes. “The wise management of genetic resources is increasingly seen as essential to innovation in key economic sectors, such as the agricultural, forestry, and pharmaceutical industries. Healthy and resilient ecosystems are one of our best defences to a changing climate.”

It acknowledged that the government made efforts in recent years to expand protected areas and national parks, but that it needs to do more to stop significant declines in migratory bird populations, commercially important fish stocks, amphibians, reptiles and freshwater mussels.

“Despite these actions [to expand national parks], Canada’s biodiversity continues to show signs of decline, particularly as a result of ongoing habitat loss and fragmentation,” said the briefing notes. “There have also been significant declines in key ecosystems such as prairie grasslands [tall grass prairie has been reduced to one per cent] and wetlands. The dramatic loss of sea ice as a result of climate change is having direct impact on northern species, including seals, polar bears and Arctic cod.”

The advice to Kent, consistent with findings of recent research on climate change impacts by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, a government advisory panel, explained that invasive alien species were also having a “major impact on many ecosystems.”