Bringing Species Back from the Brink—Some Good News

Press Release

Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists

April 9, 2010

By Cathy Keddy

Good News—Bringing Species Back From the Brink

As the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists (MVFN) Big Picture Conservation lecture series continues, the focus will be on some environmental good news—species once considered at risk and how they can be brought back from the brink. For this lecture MVFN is pleased to welcome Paula Norlock, Lanark County native and Species at Risk Biologist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources’ Kemptville office.

We realize the best approach for species at risk is preventing species from falling into this category in the first place, through being good land stewards and caring about the natural world around us. However, species may become at risk due to a variety of underlying causes and combinations of factors such as peculiarities of their biology and habitat requirements, disease, habitat loss, pollution, land cover change, competition or hybridization with alien species, as well as our lack of awareness. Population trends for species at risk are often indicators of the condition of other species and reveal the health of our ecosystems as Bill Crins explained to MVFN in his February lecture “A Stitch in Time: Monitoring Indicator Species to Diagnose Ecosystem Vitality.”

But what can we do if we miss the prevention boat? We can take action to recover these species at risk— to arrest or reverse their decline by removing or reducing the underlying threats and thus improving the likelihood that they will persist in the wild.

The good news is that currently, about 80 recovery teams are reviewing biology, habitat requirements and threats to livelihood in an effort to improve the status of endangered and threatened species in the province. Recovery strategies have now been prepared for protection and restoration of the populations of 13 species including mammals (American Badger), birds (Peregrine Falcon, Barn Owl), fish (Redside Dace), turtles (Wood Turtle), salamanders (Jefferson Salamander) and plants (Deerberry, Eastern Flowering Dogwood, Eastern Prairie Fringed-orchid, Engelmann’s Quillwort, Few-flowered Club-rush, Ogden’s Pondweed, Spotted Wintergreen). The good news continues. Some species such as the Red-shouldered Hawk and Southern Flying squirrel, formerly considered at risk, now seem to have more secure populations.

Ms. Norlock will lead us through the fortunes, misfortunes and prospects of a selection of species at risk. Arrive ready to learn about achievements and plans to recover more species from Paula’s presentation “Bringing Species Back from the Brink—Some Good News!”, and leave inspired. Attend this upcoming MVFN lecture Thursday April 15, at 7:30 p.m., Almonte United Church, 106 Elgin St., Almonte. All are welcome; $5 charge for non members. For further details, please contact Cathy Keddy at 613-257-3089, or visit www.mvfn.ca.

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