FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Environmental groups encourage federal government to keep its promise for Healthy Oceans

Today, the David Suzuki Foundation, Living Oceans Society, and Sierra Club of BC are launching a media campaign titled Healthy Oceans, aimed at raising awareness about the urgent need to develop a conservation plan that includes a network of marine protected areas in Canada’s Pacific North Coast. 

According to the coalition, the threat to Canada’s ocean ecosystems is escalating with each passing year due to growth in a range of industrial and commercial activities in our oceans. As such, the coalition believes more government action is required to address the increased risk to ocean health. 

“The Canadian government is falling short on its promise to engage conservation and management plans that will ensure the health of our oceans,” says Bill Wareham, Senior Marine Conservation Specialist with the David Suzuki Foundation.

“Thirteen years after the establishment of the Ocean Act, Canada continues to lag behind other nations like Australia, New Zealand, and the United States – all of whom are far ahead of us in establishing conservation plans and marine protected areas to safeguard their ocean heritage.”

The coalition is most concerned about an area called the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA), which stretches from northern Vancouver Island up past the central and north coast to Haida Gwaii to the Alaskan border. This area will be the focus of a two-day government and First Nations hosted stakeholder forum on March 26-27, 2009 at Best Western Richmond Hotel & Convention Centre.

The PNCIMA Forum will bring together delegates from throughout coastal BC, including representatives from the federal and provincial governments, First Nations, coastal communities, marine industries and non-governmental organizations in order to initiate critical dialogue on the future of the oceans on BC’s Pacific north coast. Environmental non-governmental organizations  are hoping the government will follow up on this forum and establish a comprehensive marine planning process.

“We strongly believe that a conservation plan that includes a network of marine protected areas in PNCIMA is necessary to improving the way our oceans are managed,” explains Jennifer Lash, Executive Director of the Living Oceans Society. “Oceans contribute $23 billion to the Canadian economy every year, making it imperative that the government implement conservation measures now.”

Adds Colin Campbell, Science Advisor of the Sierra Club of BC, “The PNCIMA forum will provide the foundation for building an integrated marine plan, and will show the government’s commitment to creating healthy oceans. We encourage anyone with an interest in the future health of our coastal communities to attend and voice their concerns.”

For more information about the forum, as well as how you can support the PNCIMA initiative, visit www.healthyoceans.ca.

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