My wife and I went to "A Tale of Herons, Salamanders, Orchids and Shrews" on Wednesday, April 21.
Ross Vennesland, a species at risk biologist with the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection gave the presentation at the Fraser River Discovery Centre, in conjunction with the Douglas College Institute of Urban Ecology.
Ross said 19 species are known to be extinct or extirpated in BC so far, and that biologists are expecting a massive increase in extinctions in the future.
While 12% of BC land is designated as parks, he said that unfortunately there was little overlap between parks and areas with species at risk.
COSEWIC, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, is the federal body charged with assessing and listing species at risk, while in BC, provincial info on endangered species and ecosystems can be found here.
Ross said that while polls show that in principle, over 60% of people strongly support species at risk legislation, and 28% somewhat support it, they are probably not aware of how costly it would be to save many at risk species.
He then focused on the four species in the title of his presentation, and it was a fascinating lecture. There were many questions from the appreciative audience.
Posted by Paul at April 24, 2004 05:48 PM