Management action plan
Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
Report 3 – Conserving biodiversity
Date: Spring 2018
The complete Report 3—Conserving biodiversity from the 2018 Spring Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to the Parliament.
| Commissioner’s recommendations | Departmental response to recommendations | Actions taken to date to address recommendations | Office of primary interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recommendation 3.87: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Parks Canada, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada should identify the improvements and adjustments needed to achieve the 2020 biodiversity targets for which they are responsible. |
As the lead department for Canada’s marine protected area (MPA) network, Fisheries and Oceans Canada will continue to work with federal partners to identify opportunities to improve interdepartmental coordination and collaboration on the development and management of MPAs for target 1 (protected areas). To formalize relationships, terms of reference will be established for the Federal Interdepartmental MPA Strategy Director General’s Committee, the Directors General Interdepartmental Committee on Oceans, and the Assistant Deputy Ministers Interdepartmental Committee on Oceans. The implementation date will be 31 March 2018. Under Environment and Climate Change Canada’s lead, Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s contribution toward meeting target 2 (species at risk) will focus on aquatic species. To improve the percentage of listed aquatic species that show improvement when reported under the Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators program, Fisheries and Oceans Canada will continue to address any backlogs of outstanding recovery strategies and management plans, as well as action plans and critical habitat orders, for aquatic species listed under the Species at Risk Act. It will also focus on the implementation of recovery actions. The implementation date will be according to Environment and Climate Change Canada’s lead. |
A Federal Interdepartmental MPA Strategy Director General’s (DG) Committee consisting of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Parks Canada Agency has been functioning informally on an ad hoc basis since 2006. The purpose of this Committee is to coordinate implementation of the Federal Marine Protected Areas Strategy and advance other items related to the Government of Canada’s marine conservation mandates. In 2016 work was undertaken to incorporate updated mandate commitments of all participating departments into Terms of Reference for the Committee. Under the guidance of the DGs Federal MPA Strategy Committee, revisions to the Terms of Reference are currently underway, with an anticipated completion date of March 2019. The Director General Interdepartmental Committee on Oceans (DG ICO) held meetings in November 2017, and in July and October 2018. The Assistant Deputy Minister ICO (ADM ICO) held meetings in February, July, and September 2018 discussing a broad range of federal initiatives and key policy issues affecting oceans. The ICO Secretariat continues to identify current Government of Canada (GOC) policy priorities to inform meeting agendas, facilitating strategic and timely discussion of key policy issues affecting oceans. The ADM ICO has an upcoming meeting planned for November 2018. The draft Terms of References for the DG ICO and ADM ICO will be further developed and completed in early 2019. With respect to Fisheries and Oceans Canada contributing to meeting Target 2 of the 2020 Biodiversity Goals, the backlog of outstanding recovery strategies, actions plans, management plans and critical habitat orders for aquatic species is at the lowest point since 2016. As identified in Budget 2018, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is implementing the Nature Legacy for Canada by investing in and advancing multispecies, ecosystem approaches with stakeholders and Indigenous partners to maximize recovery actions and achieve efficiencies. Fisheries and Oceans Canada contributes information to the annual assessment undertaken by ECCC under the Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators Program which measures Species at Risk Population Trends for tracking against Target 2. |
Assistant Deputy Minister, Aquatic Ecosystems |
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