2004 Press
April 23, 2004: Minister Anderson has presented 79 of 115 species assessments, prepared by COSEWIC, to the Governor in Council, the first of such assessments to be presented since SARA was proclaimed in 2003. This begins the 9 month clock for the listing of these species (see How SARA Works). Ninety-one of these 115 species have assessed as being at risk. Twelve species at risk (all aquatic) have not been forwarded to the Governor in Council but instead will go through an "extended consultation period before being transmitted to the GIC in January 2005".
This extended consultation period has raised concerns in the scientific community about the listing process and has prompted the Honourable Charles Caccia to raise the issue in Parliament.
Read the original press release
Why did the fish miss the boat? (pdf.): The Globe and Mail Friday, April 30, 2004
Themes of this year's conference were:
- The Science of Recovery
- The Mechanics and Logistics of Recovery
- The Human Face of Recovery and Stewardship
- Successes and Challenges: Lessons from the Field
The seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 7) was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this February.
The issues discussed included:
- the biological diversity of mountain ecosystems
- the role of protected areas in the preservation of biological diversity
- the transfer of technology and technology cooperation
- implementation of the target set at its sixth meeting (to achieve by 2010): a significant reduction in the rate of loss of biodiversity.