Good morning.
I'd like to first of all thank you for the opportunity to address the standing committee. Perhaps I can give you somewhat of an on-the-ground perspective on habitat securement and other habitat programs.
The Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation represents 32,000 members and 121 branches across Saskatchewan. We are certainly predominantly a rural organization, with 93% of our membership coming from outside of the two major cities in Saskatchewan, Regina and Saskatoon.
Our habitat trust program began 32 years ago. As of this year, we currently hold title to 62,000 acres of critical wildlife habitat in our province. We have conservation agreements on an additional 300,000 acres with landowners. We hold conservation easements on approximately 9,000 acres in the province. We also manage many of the other parcels for other NGOs and the provincial government. And we are heavily engaged and partners in the ALUS program here in Saskatchewan.
In response to your questions, we would refer three—(a), (d), and (e)—to other sources for answers, but we would like to address question (b): “Does Canada have publicly available knowledge and expertise on habitat conservation? What are the sources of this information and how is it disseminated?”
There is a great deal of publicly available knowledge and expertise on habitat conservation on the landscape. I would, however, state that the general consensus is that the federal government only recognizes national organizations in this field and not those who operate at the provincial level.
To question (c)—“What are the most effective habitat conservation groups or organizations, and what actions do they take?”—I would of course focus in on provincial organizations. Our experience shows us that conservation efforts are much more widely supported at a community level, that promotes ownership, than the national program, that does not engage those communities or its constituents.
Question (f) asks, “How can the federal government improve habitat conservation efforts in Canada?” First of all, we feel that if they were to ensure that future conservation programs were developed to provide access at the community level, not just national or international organizations whose conservation tends to not be shared by all residents...be able to provide realistic protocols for the funding opportunities or models, and provide realistic timelines for approval and delivery of the funding.
I might comment that the focus of this committee is described as a focus “to find ways in which the National Conservation Plan can complement and enhance current habitat conservation efforts”. It's interesting to note that the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation has ceased trying to access federal funding in our habitat conservation efforts, either terrestrial or aquatic.
Our previous experience of what we would consider unreasonable red tape, multi-level approval mechanisms, and decision timelines that were measured in months, not weeks, made any funding opportunities unrealistic for our organization to contemplate in our conservation programs.
We would comment that this wheel does not have to be rediscovered, as there are existing programs, with protocols in place to ensure program compliance and results, in effect in Saskatchewan, and they have been for the last 30 years. It's called the Fish and Wildlife Development Fund.
This system provides the necessary approval timelines and guidelines to make it a very efficient and effective program. In addition, because this program is delivered from a grassroots community level, we've recognized that we were able to secure habitat at a greatly reduced cost compared with national organizations, and that the members of the community accept the ownership, appreciate, and add an added layer of protection to these habitats.
We appreciate the opportunity to address this committee on the fundamental quality of life issue for the residents of Saskatchewan and Canada.
One last point I might make is that we're also currently involved in a very large connectivity model study here in Saskatchewan, being funded by a Go Green program from the Province of Saskatchewan. Again, the ALUS program seems to be doing very, very well in our province.
Thank you.