The report Species in the Balance: Partnering on Tools and Incentives to Recover Species at Risk diagnoses a number of problems facing species at risk recovery work in Canada, including inadequate financial resources, insufficient incentives for stewardship among private landowners and industry, patchy efforts to protect species at risk (SAR) on provincial and territorial crown land and private land, and not making the most of available data and tools to inform decision making.
The report provides actionable solutions which outline how governments and other stakeholders can enhance recovery outcomes, including through greater use of economic instruments, multispecies and ecosystem-based approaches, establishing a comprehensive species at risk database to inform decision-making, managing cumulative effects, and using new funding tools for SAR conservation.
Healthy ecosystems provide vital services to society at multiple scales, ranging from local to global. Private landowners want to steward and enhance these ecosystem services, but they need the right information and support, as well the appropriate incentives.
The COVID-19 pandemic is likely an example of how the disturbance of ecosystems can have systemic consequences.