Mr. Speaker, last fall I asked the Minister of Environment about the critical state of the population of spotted owls in British Columbia. There was once over 1,000 spotted owls in Canada, all of them found in the forests of southwestern British Columbia. By 1986, that number had dwindled to 200 as critical old-growth forest habitat disappeared, and the species was assessed as endangered in Canada.
Over the next decade, the population declined to 100 birds, and now there are only three spotted owls left in the wild in Canada. Two of those owls are a mated pair living in the old-growth forest of Spuzzum Creek in the rugged country along the Fraser Canyon. Many people, including me, were surprised to hear that logging was being carried out in that watershed. We were surprised because the primary cause of the decline of the spotted owl population is the continued loss and fragmentation of old-growth forests in southern B.C.
Before I switched to politics six years ago, I was a biologist, and a lot of my work concerned the conservation biology of owls. I have been following this situation for many years, and indeed I took part in the first organized surveys for spotted owls in British Columbia back in the 1980s. I therefore have a lot of concern about recovery efforts for spotted owls in Canada, and it is clear that the efforts made so far have been largely ineffective.
After the federal Species at Risk Act came into effect in 2003, the government was required to develop recovery plans so that the populations of endangered species could at least stabilize and hopefully increase to become “not at risk”. That certainly has not worked out well for spotted owls.
The provincial government in B.C. has been carrying out a captive breeding program for spotted owls, and I think there are 28 owls in that program right now. Some of those birds will be released for the first time this spring. What is important for captive breeding programs is that there is enough suitable habitat to release birds into, and for spotted owls that means old-growth forests.
I am happy to hear that the Government of B.C. has recently released a plan to preserve old-growth forests. This initiative is long overdue. However, much of the remaining old growth lies outside the range of spotted owls, which is not found in the interior, on the north coast or even on Vancouver Island.
I spoke to the federal minister about this situation last fall and urged him to engage with the province to develop a more rigorous recovery strategy for spotted owls. I also talked to the B.C. minister and her staff about their plans, and I was happy to get briefings on the size, number and location of wildlife habitat areas that provide some refuge for this endangered species.
I was very happy to hear recently that both ministers are in the process of creating a new recovery strategy for the spotted owl. I hope it produces a more realistic chance for recovery, through increases in the size and number of wildlife habitat areas and other measures. I will be watching closely as these plans roll out later this year and in coming years.