Protect Endangered Mainland Moose by designating Core Habitat
Protect Endangered Mainland Moose by designating Core Habitat
Why this petition matters
The Eastern Moose is Endangered in Nova Scotia, threatened by habitat and connectivity loss, disease, and poaching. Despite its worrying status and a legal obligation to protect the Mainland Moose, the Nova Scotia government continues to allow detrimental harvest and development activities in confirmed habitat, even during breeding season. In May 2020, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Brothers found the provincial government negligent in honouring their legal obligations to Species at Risk, identifying Mainland Moose as just one of many species needing greater action to accomplish their legally required protection. As a result, the provincial government was forced to release a 9-years overdue updated Recovery Plan, as required by the Endangered Species Act. In 2021, nearly 40,000 concerned citizens signed a petition asking that harvest activity immediately halt in an area of South West Nova Scotia between Fourth Lake and the Napier River, a key moose concentration area, in keeping with the goals of Species at Risk recovery planning in this province. We were unsuccessful and moose habitat is still at risk, even though we finally have a Recovery Plan.
We demand that the Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables immediately designate core habitat for the Mainland Moose, as recommended by the Recovery Planning Committee, and implement initiatives or set out regulations to protect moose accordingly. These could include: 1) working with the Department of Environment and Climate Change to designate new protected areas within core habitat parcels on public lands, 2) altering harvest plans on public lands to only include un-even age treatments, 3) updating the Mainland Moose Special Management Practice, 4) deepening relationships with the Mi'kmaq to facilitate greater indigenous-leadership and more effective moose management on public lands, or 5) implementing new regulations that promote better moose habitat stewardship on private lands.
Decision Makers
- Tory Rushton, MLAMinister of Natural Resources
- Minister RushtonNS Department of Natural Resources and Renewables
- Premier Tim HoustonPremier