(Niagara At Large is pleased to post this one from one of the province’s bravest appointed representatives, Environment Commissioner Gord Miller, on the continued loss of our natural spaces due to low-density sprawl and the failure of the province and regional municipalities to do much of anything about it. Rest assured that Niagara At Large will have more to say about his issue later.)
Toronto, January 10, 2012 – The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario says the Government of Ontario must come up with a new strategy to stem the continuing decline in Ontario’s species and natural spaces.
Ontario Environment Commissioner Gord Miller
“The Ontario government did adopt a Biodiversity Strategy in 2005,” says Gord Miller. “Unfortunately, it expired in 2010, and the government has so far chosen not to adopt an updated plan. Our government cannot avoid its obligation,” says Miller, “to guide Ontario’s response to this urgent crisis.”
In 2010, Canada met with almost 200 nations in Nagoya, Japan and agreed on 20 biodiversity conservation targets that should be achieved by 2020. But the Commissioner says most of the constitutional responsibility for meeting these targets lies with Ontario and the other provincial governments. “Efforts to halt the loss of biodiversity must be implemented at the provincial level if they are to be effective. And Ontario won’t be able to do that unless it has a new Biodiversity Strategy.”
In Ontario, the most significant threats to the province’s species and natural spaces are habitat degradation, climate change, invasive species, overexploitation and pollution. The Commissioner has previously warned about the lack of action to safeguard the province’s 200 species at risk such as snapping turtles, cougars, and Jefferson salamanders. Gord Miller has said the government also needs to address the threats from invasive species like Asian carp, and protect wetlands and woodlands in southern Ontario.
The Environmental Commissioner says, “the federal government has promised, during the current International Decade for Biodiversity, to conserve biodiversity on behalf of all Canadians.” It is imperative that the Government of Ontario acts quickly and come up with a plan to implement those commitments. This requires a new Biodiversity Strategy. Rhetoric alone will not suffice.”
The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario is appointed by the Legislative Assembly to be the province’s independent environmental watchdog, reporting publicly on the government’s environmental decision making.
Download the special report “Biodiversity: A Nation’s Commitment, an Obligation for Ontario” at http://www.eco.on.ca/ .
(Niagara At Large invites you to share your comments below.)
Niagara At Large 
Every time we lose a species, we lose a chance for a medical breakthrough.
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This report shows how much Mike Harris and Dalton McGuinty are so much alike Teedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, he is for logging at Temagami forests that are centurys old, they would fell the last tree in Ontario too make a dollar, he has promised big bucks to clean up the Great Lakes, $79 million, another broken election promise, Dalton cannot be believed on anything .anymore. We need a strong environmental party at Queens Park before Ontario resembles the deserts of Nevada.
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The big chemical companies are genetically modifying seeds, such as alfalfa soy beans and cotton making these seeds patented, which means farmers are forced to buy these to plant , tens of thousands of farmers in India have committed suicide after their crops failed and they lose their farms to forclosure, every year there is less and less biodiversity just mono culture, which caused the failure of the potato crop in Ireland in the 1840s and a horrible famine ensued, hundreds of thousand of Irish died as this was their main staple crop.,we need bio diversity to protect our food supply.against bugs and mold diseases.
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