Thank you for that question.
First, to be able to deliver on the act you need the people in place who understand what is required. Certainly Environment Canada did have a time when we were staffing, and that does take some time in the public service process. So we now have staff in place to be able to get on and do the work.
You also need guidance that is available to staff to be able to execute in a consistent manner that applies the act in a consistent manner, whether you are dealing with a plant, a fish, or whatever. So we have been developing a policy suite that was published for public comment back in 2009. Since then we have been in the process of revising the policies. We're about ready to publish the policies and we received some direction from the courts. We wanted to review the policies to ensure we were completely consistent with the direction that came as a result of judicial decisions.
As well, we've also been working on developing guidance material for our staff. For example, on recovery strategies, we have revised and revamped the templates and the specific guidance for our staff so the recovery strategies that are produced are at the right level. As well, we've been developing the more streamlined approaches to consultation that are required, given that we want to engage with the parties that are affected by any recovery planning documents that will come forward.
So we have put in place a lot of what I would call the machinery to be able to execute quickly, consistently, and effectively.
Then we can also point to the fact that we are now picking up the pace and developing recovery strategies. In the last ten months we have produced recovery strategies for 35 species, which is about a quarter of the total of the recovery strategies available. So you can see that all of a sudden we've put the foundation and the machinery in place. We have the people able to execute. So now we're starting to see progress.
I don't know if my colleagues want to comment.