Court victory for caribou in Alberta!
08/02/2011
Boreal Woodland Caribou are listed as Threatened under the Species at Risk Act (SARA). A recovery strategy, including the identification of critical habitat, was due in 2004. The herds in Alberta are particularly endangered as their habitat continues to disappear and degrade due to tar sands development. Fortunately, a court last week ordered the Minister of Environment to protect Woodland Caribou. The court concluded the minister’s decision to deny emergency protection under the SARA had no basis and set a Sept 1st, 2011 deadline for Minister Kent to release a draft recovery strategy for the species.
This court decision was the result of lawsuits brought by Ecojustice on behalf of the Alberta Wilderness Association and the Pembina Institute, and by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, the Beaver Lake Cree Nation and the Enoch Cree Nation. Read more about the case here .
This is one more in a series of court decisions ordering the government to implement the Species at Risk Act. Let’s hope no more court cases are needed; we need urgent action to protect caribou and other species at risk.
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