Proposed exemption severely limits protection for endangered black ash trees

After a two-year delay in providing any protection whatsoever for the endangered black ash under the Endangered Species Act, 2007, the Government of Ontario is now due to implement the law. Instead of making up for lost time, however, the government is proposing to severely limit protections for the species and its habitat going forward through a “conditional exemption” (ERO 019-7378).

Black ash is a critically endangered species globally and is of great cultural significance to many Indigenous Peoples. Ontario’s conservation responsibility for the species is significant, since about 25 percent of the global range for the species ...

After a two-year delay in providing any protection whatsoever for the endangered black ash under the Endangered Species Act, 2007, the Government of Ontario is now due to implement the law. Instead of making up for lost time, however, the government is proposing to severely limit protections for the species and its habitat going forward through a “conditional exemption” (ERO 019-7378).

Black ash is a critically endangered species globally and is of great cultural significance to many Indigenous Peoples. Ontario’s conservation responsibility for the species is significant, since about 25 percent of the global range for the species occurs in the province.

The primary threat to black ash is the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB), which is steadily expanding its range northward. Warmer temperatures resulting from climate change will enable the EAB’s spread, with 99.98 percent of the range of black ash in Ontario at risk of infestation over the next 80 years.

Climate change impacts and habitat loss pose additional threats to black ash, which is found predominantly in wetlands, riparian areas and other seasonally wet areas.

Here are the four biggest problems with the government’s proposed exemption:

Protections for the species would apply only in a small fraction of the species’ range (about 15 percent), where trees have been most impacted by EAB, ignoring the evidence and future modeling for EAB and climate change summarized in the recovery strategy. There would be no protection for the species in the north where it is currently doing best.
Protections would apply only to “healthy” trees with no recognition that even unhealthy trees may be important in supporting the persistence and recovery of the species.
Habitat protections would apply only to a 30-metre radius around a “healthy” tree, inviting habitat fragmentation and loss. This approach falls far short of the recovery strategy recommendation which calls for ecosite-level wetland protection where one or more black ash trees are present (regardless of health).
There is no mention nor consideration of the cultural importance of black ash to Indigenous Peoples, and the potential implications of the proposed exemption on their interests, rights and responsibilities.

All in all, the proposed exemption would deny legal protection for most black ash trees and their habitats across their range in Ontario. It defies the spirit and intent of the Endangered Species Act, 2007, which calls for a precautionary approach to protecting and recovering species at risk.

Please join Ontario Nature in opposing the proposed conditional exemption for black ash and demanding protection for the species and its habitats across Ontario. The deadline for comment is November 2, 2023.

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Photo credit: Black ash © Charlotte Cadow CC BY-NC 4.0

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I oppose proposed circumvention of legal protections for black ash

2,140 emails sent

Andrea Khanjin, Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks

Public Input Coordinator, Species at Risk Branch

Your local MPP

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Subject:

Dear Minister Khanjin,

Cc. Public Input Coordinator, Species at Risk Branch

I am writing to express my opposition to the proposed conditional exemption for black ash, a critically endangered species globally that is of great cultural significance to many Indigenous Peoples. Ontario’s conservation responsibility for the species is significant, since about 25 percent of the global range for the species occurs in our province.

The proposed exemption would deny legal protection for most black ash trees and their habitats in Ontario. Specifically, it would limit protections to only healthy individuals in only a small fraction of the species’ range in the province. Further, the extremely limited approach proposed for protecting habitat fails to account for seed dispersal, seedling establishment and the maintenance of wetland conditions that support viable black ash populations.

As highlighted at the COP 15 conference in Montreal last December, we are facing unprecedented and accelerating species loss worldwide. You can and must do better to protect species at risk in Ontario. I urge you not to proceed with the proposed conditional exemption for black ash.

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