Species At Risk

Species at Risk (SAR) are a complicated topic in Canada. Whether your objective is a conservation project or legal compliance during development, PGL can assist with SAR services. Our work includes surveys, regulatory constraints assessment, salvage and habitat restoration. 

Below we offer some clarity on where PGL can help, and the overall context of SAR protections in Canada.

How Can PGL Help You?

PGL’s team of Qualified Environmental Professionals (QEPs) and biologists can work with you to assess the potential for SAR within your project area, and to recommend next steps. For example, we have prepared habitat suitability maps for small to large redevelopment projects to help prioritize areas for development. We often receive good feedback about our value to clients in the planning phases of new projects. 

By engaging with an environmental team from the outset, developers can avoid lengthy delays that may occur while waiting for the appropriate timing to conduct surveys and obtain permits. 

Have questions about working in and around SAR habitat? Unsure if SAR exist on your site, or what it means if SAR are present? Contact us – we’d love to hear from you! 

Regulatory Context

Species at Risk (SAR) are protected under provincial and federal laws. Perhaps you have heard terms like “SAR”, “COSEWIC”, “Blue-“ or “Red-Listed” species, “SARA”, “Schedule 1” or “critical habitat”. Regulatory context for SAR in Canada is a patchwork, and it can be confusing. Below we try to clarify some of these terms:

• Canada’s Species At Risk Act (SARA) is the primary piece of legislation that lists and mandates the protection and recovery of endangered and threatened species in Canada. Species listed under Schedule 1 of SARA have been assessed and are considered At Risk. Each listed species is assigned a recovery team, which prepares a Recovery Plan. Habitat protection measures in a Recovery Plan may be very different for the array of SAR out there – so implications can vary amongst species. Depending on the circumstances of a given property or species, Recovery Plans may also be suggested guidance or legally mandatory. 
• The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) is an independent advisory panel that reports to the federal agencies that implement SARA. COSEWIC assesses the status of wildlife and recommends listing under SARA. Status reports are prepared for each listed species and are re-assessed every 10 years, at minimum. 
• Critical Habitat is a very specific term under SARA and species Recovery Plans. Critical Habitat provides habitat for a selected species based on critical life stages that may include breeding, foraging, overwintering or other life stages. SARA prohibits the destruction of the Critical Habitat of a species if:

• The Critical Habitat is on federal land, in the exclusive economic zone of Canada, or on the continental shelf of Canada;
• The listed species is an aquatic species; or
• The listed species is a species of migratory birds protected by the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994.

• PGL can help you determine whether Critical Habitat exists within your project area.
• Other federal legislation that protects SAR and other wildlife includes the Migratory Birds Convention Act and the Fisheries Act. 

You may have noted above that legal SAR protection under federal laws generally does not apply on private land or provincial Crown land unless it is a bird or aquatic species. This means that many issues with SAR fall under provincial or territorial jurisdiction.

• Provinces have been mandated to enact protection for SAR and their habitats outside of federal lands. Wildlife Habitat Areas (WHAs) established by the province, and provincial legislation including the Wildlife Act and the Forest and Range Practices Act provide measures for SAR protection in BC. 

• In BC, the provincial government also maintains a list of Red-, Blue- and Yellow-listed species, generally indicating the population security of a species. Provincial listing is meant to guide conservation policy and does not directly provide any legal protection. A species may also be provincially listed but not federally listed, or vice-versa.

A summary of the federal and provincial (BC) legislation protecting SAR is as follows:

Environmental Inventory and SAR

Working in and around SAR and SAR habitat can be a confusing process. PGL’s Registered Professional Biologists (R.P.Bio.) can help landowners, developers, and contractors understand their responsibilities and obligations. 

Often, baseline inventory is the first step in determining whether SAR may exist on or near a parcel of land. Similar terms may include environmental overview assessment, or environmental reconnaissance study. A baseline inventory may be triggered by a development permitting process, or may be undertaken as due diligence by a developer. 

Even if a formal Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not required for a particular development, a study to understand SAR potential on site is a useful tool in understanding the constraints and opportunities to development. Pre-development inventory can be used to determine SAR that are likely to occur, whether potential habitat exists onsite, and what the development implications may be. 

Often, environmental baseline information can be obtained without need to do field work. PGL is resourceful with online databases and desktop research, which often helps our clients avoid or defer costs for field assessments. 

Surveys and Salvages

One step in determining SAR presence on a site is to undertake presence/absence surveys and/or habitat suitability surveys. Some species can be detected by conducting general wildlife surveys, such as pond breeding amphibian surveys or breeding bird surveys. Because SAR can be rare, sensitive to disturbance, or difficult to detect, a presence/absence survey isn’t always appropriate. 

Species-specific Best Management Practices (BMPs) and survey protocols are used by biologists to conduct surveys in the most appropriate manner to avoid harming and disturbing SAR. In some situations, presence is assumed if habitat is considered moderate or high suitability to support that species (such as Pacific water shrew), and measures to protect that habitat are recommended. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is an emerging that can confirm species presence through trace remnants they leave behind in the water. 

Fish, wildlife and SAR surveys or salvages that require capturing and handling of organisms require permits. Permitting is regulated by the provincial and federal governments, dependent on the species and location of the survey or salvage. An R.P.Bio. must be responsible for each survey or salvage operation – this is all part of the SAR services PGL can offer. 

Our Qualified Environmental Professionals (QEPs) have experience in conducting surveys and/or salvages for fish, birds and terrestrial wildlife including, but not limited to:

• Pacific water shrew; 
• Nooksack dace;
• Eulachon;
• Salish sucker;
• Northern red-legged frog (Photograph 1);
• Oregon spotted frog;
• Coastal tailed frog;
• Western painted turtle;
• Oregon forestsnail (Photograph 2);
• Olive-sided flycatcher;
• Great blue heron; 
• Peregrine falcon; and
• Bat species.

PGL has also conducted rare and endangered plant and ecosystem surveys. 

SAR Salvage

Sometimes it is necessary to remove and relocate SAR (or even wildlife or plants that are not at-risk) before commencing with a development activity. 

Wildlife salvages are considered a last-resort mitigation measure where impacts to wildlife are unavoidable. Salvages are not without risk. They are disruptive, and while the best intention is to save wildlife from harm, the implications are complex. Salvaged wildlife must be captured, handled and transported to a new habitat. This may cause distress, harm, disease transfer, over population and/or genetic isolation. 

PGL has conducted salvages for many species and habitat types where no other recourse was available. However, we work with our clients to explore all other mitigation before a salvage is initiated.