Rays of Ocean Light
Not all is shadows in the conservation game, the sun can shine and when it does the warmth and light are particularly sweet. Last week, representatives of most of the nine ENGOs that collaborated in a lawsuit over the issue of protecting critical habitat for B.C.’s resident killer whales met to discuss the consequences of a major victory in court.
Last December, Justice Russell delivered a judgment that requires that the services (food, quiet, cleanliness) of a physical habitat be included when critical habitat is protected. A critical piece indeed. Meanwhile, the responsible federal ministers (Fisheries; Environment) were given strict guidance on the lawful process and content of a legal protection order.
These are important precedents under SARA (the Species at Risk Act), and the ENGO team and their lawyers from Ecojustice did some strategic planning to ensure the new obligations roll out ‘in the water’. Cases like this are rare enough, positive outcomes rarer still. Ecojustice deserves extensive congratulations.
By coincidence perhaps, the week closed out with that enduring symbol of progress in our work, a ministerial announcement of an intergovernmental agreement. Federal Environment Minister Hon. Peter Kent and B.C. Environment Minister Hon. Terry Lake gathered oceans activists and government officials at the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre in Sidney to deliver a milestone in a process already 8 years long - to establish a National Marine Conservation Area (NMCA) in the Southern Strait of Georgia.
This 900 square kilometres encompasses most of the critical habitat of the Southern Resident Orcas. Two rays of light converging! The NMCA Act of 2002 is intended to protect marine habitat and attending species via large areas zoned for multiple use – while protected under an umbrella of environmental objectives.
The area is declared, the boundaries drawn, the planning with coastal and First Nations communities can now begin. A good week for local oceans, and a reminder that patience is obligatory.
Sierra Club BC has been very active in past years in the Strait of Georgia and this campaigner has participated in many of the planning session along the way to the NMCA.
