GOVERNMENT OF CANADA INVESTING IN COMMUNITY ACTION TO PRESERVE LOCAL HABITAT
AND SPECIES AT RISK IN YUKON

WHITEHORSE, Oct. 28 /CNW/ - Canada's Environment Minister, the Honourable Jim Prentice, today announced funding from the Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk for three Yukon Government projects. In total, $61,120 in federal funding will support environmental action focusing on conservation and protection of species at risk and their habitats, helping to preserve Canada's biodiversity.

"As part of the International Year of Biodiversity, I am pleased to highlight that these projects will help to protect Canada's rich biodiversity for generations to come," said Minister Prentice. "Our Government is proud to support the Government of Yukon through the Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk. Your actions will help to protect the abundance and variety of life that is part of our natural heritage."

The three Yukon Government projects receiving funding include a wood bison conservation project, a Peregrine Falcon nesting habitat project, and a Beaver River bison, western toad and woodland caribou habitat identification and stewardship project. This work will involve local land stewards and First Nations people directly to build ecological monitoring and stewardship capacity, and to educate the Yukon public about the conservation concerns with these species.

The Yukon's Environment Minister John Edzerza said Yukoners have a close connection to the land and wildlife, and are fortunate that many species that are listed under federal legislation are doing well in Yukon. 

"The Government of Canada's support for these three studies will help us determine the areas important to Peregrine Falcons in northern Yukon, wood bison in the southwest, and the western toad and woodland caribou in the southeast," said Minister Edzerza. "The information we gather from these projects will help private sector developers, land use planners and wildlife managers provide effective stewardship of these species for years to come."

Projects that will receive funding this year include stewardship actions to conserve habitat for plant species at risk, negotiations with landowners to develop voluntary Land Care Agreements, targeted educational outreach efforts to reduce the entanglement of species at risk in fishing gear, and the enhancement of water quality and aquatic habitat on private lands to benefit aquatic species at risk. They will be undertaken with many partners such as agricultural producers, private landowners, and commercial fishers.  These projects will benefit many species at risk, including the north Atlantic right whale, Steller sea lion, swift fox, and small white leek.

The Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk is administered by Environment Canada and managed cooperatively with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Parks Canada Agency. More information on the Species at Risk Act and the Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk can be found on the Internet at: http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/ or http://www.ec.gc.ca/hsp-pih/default.asp?lang=En&n=59BF488F-1.

For more information and to view a backgrounder on this announcement, please visit the Web site of Environment Canada, at http://www.ec.gc.ca/.

(Également offert en français)

                                                   

For further information:

For more information, please see the attached backgrounder or contact:

Pascale Boulay Press Secretary Office of the Minister of the Environment 819-997-1441	Media Relations Environment Canada 819-934-8008 1-888-908-8008
Canada's Environment Minister Twitter page: http://twitter.com/jimprentice	Environment Canada's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/environmentcan