Ontario’s 2013/2014 Species at Risk Stewardship Fund: Apply Before Midnight (EST) on Jan.8, 2013

This video presents “Species at Risk: Ontario’s Response”:

Discover how species get on the Species at Risk in Ontario list, what MNR (Ministry of Natural Resources) biologists are doing to help protect and recover them and what the Natural Resources Minister in Ontario, Canada, has to say (2009)

Ontario has a strategy for improving protection of its forests, lakes, animals, plants and citizens.

Via the implementation of the new Biodiversity: It’s in Our Nature plan, Ontario will undertake over 100 activities with industry, environmental and community partners over the next decade to protect biodiversity:

“Biodiversity” refers to the “immense variety of life on Earth, from microscopic insects to vast northern forests”
- Ontario Biodiversity Council identifies six main threats to Ontario’s biodiversity:
  1. habitat loss
  2. invasive alien species
  3. population growth
  4. pollution
  5. unsustainable use
  6. climate change

These activities respond to the recommendations of the Ontario Biodiversity Council’s report – Ontario Biodiversity Strategy, 2011 – such as:
- “To integrate biodiversity conservation in school curricula by 2015
  - so that 50 per cent of Ontarians understand biodiversity and its role in maintaining their health and well-being
- Identifying new ways to enable Ontario’s carbon-intensive industries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
  - By 2015, plans for climate change mitigation are developed and implemented
    - contributing to Ontario’s target to reduce green house gas emissions by 6 per cent below 1990 levels
  - Continue to phase out coal-fired electricity generation and implement the Long-Term Energy Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emission
- Involving Aboriginal peoples in biodiversity monitoring, data collection and information sharing to establish a long-term biodiversity monitoring system“

Ontario has partnered with Trees Ontario to plant 50 million trees across southern Ontario to:
- maintain and enhance species habitats
- help clean our air by removing about 6.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2050

Ontario is home to more than 30,000 species, with more than 200 currently considered at risk.

This video presents “NCC Ontario – Landscapes and Species”:

This is a slideshow of some of Ontario’s species at risk and rare species as well as landscapes – many globally rare or significant

And with Biodiversity: It’s in Our Nature in mind, Ontario is taking a “stewardship first” approach to the protection and recovery of species at risk through the Species at Risk Stewardship Program which is a cornerstone of Ontario’s Endangered Species Act (ESA), and includes:

education and outreach
- so that by 2015, the number of Ontarians who participate in biodiversity conservation activities is increased by 25 per cent

incentive programs to support private landowners

funding for stewardship activities:
- The Species at Risk Stewardship Fund has helped restore nearly 24,000 hectares of important habitat
- Completed projects have supported about 1,800 jobs and an estimated 214,700 hours of volunteer work for 17,300 Ontarians
  - Ontario has supported over 600 projects through the fund
  - Please click here to see Ontario’s 2012-13 Species at Risk Stewardship Fund Approved Projects

Hence, applications are being accepted for the Species at Risk Stewardship Fund for projects to be undertaken in 2013/14:

The application deadline is by midnight (EST) on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
- Guidelines (PDF, 0.1 MB)
- Application form (DOC)

Good Luck / Bonne Chance!

Ontario Biodiversity Council and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources: "Protecting What Sustains Us - Ontario's Biodiversity - Biodiversity is all around us; it's the variety of life on Earth, from tiniest insects to vast northern forests." — Ontario Biodiversity Council and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources: “Protecting What Sustains Us – Ontario’s Biodiversity – Biodiversity is all around us; it’s the variety of life on Earth, from tiniest insects to vast northern forests.”

Ontario, Canada

NEWS RELEASE

Ontario Helping Protect Rare Plants and Animals

November 20, 2012

McGuinty Government Supporting Community Projects

Ontario is once again supporting individual and community projects that protect and recover species at risk and their habitats.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2013/2014 Species at Risk Stewardship Fund. The deadline to apply is January 8, 2013.

Now in its seventh year, the fund has helped restore nearly 24,000 hectares of important habitat, with more than 100 projects from the last two years still underway. Completed projects have supported about 1,800 jobs and an estimated 214,700 hours of volunteer work for 17,300 Ontarians.

Supporting community-based species at risk projects is part of the McGuinty government’s plan to help Ontarians take an active role in protecting and restoring the province’s biodiversity.

QUICK FACTS

Ontario has supported over 600 projects through the fund, which is available to individuals and groups including landowners and farmers, Aboriginal communities, academic institutions, industries, municipalities and conservation organizations

Guidelines and applications are available online

Ontario is home to more than 30,000 species, with more than 200 currently considered at risk

LEARN MORE

See the list of Species at Risk projects underway this year

Learn about species at risk in Ontario

QUOTES

“Each one of us has a responsibility towards the province’s wild species. I commend every person and group that has come together to protect our species at risk and safeguard Ontario’s biodiversity for future generations. ”
— Michael Gravelle, Minister of Natural Resources