Province signs Municipal Habitat Stewardship Agreement in St. Lawrence

The Town of St. Lawrence signed a Municipal Habitat Stewardship Agreement today promising to protect the valuable wetland and coastal habitat of that community.

The Honourable Tom Hedderson, Minister of Environment and Conservation, and the Honourable Darin King, Minister of Justice and MHA for Grand Bank, joined St. Lawrence Mayor Paul Pike at the signing ceremony.

“St. Lawrence now joins a group of communities that are leaders in our province when it comes to demonstrating and conserving our valuable wetlands and coastal habitat,” said Minister Hedderson. “They are role models for the citizens in their community and for other towns in the province.”

Minister King commended St. Lawrence on becoming the third community in the area to sign a Municipal Habitat Stewardship Agreement in two days.

“I’m proud of the people in this area for acting as responsible stewards and protecting the communities where they live,” said Minster King. “These agreements are testaments to the values held by the people who live here.”

Two agreements were also signed yesterday in Garnish and Frenchman’s Cove bringing the total number of Municipal Habitat Stewardship Agreements in the province to 33.

“We are so happy to join this elite group and we can assure the ministers we will embrace our role as environmental stewards for our town,” said Mayor Pike. “This is a vital process and I’m glad the government is making these agreements a priority.”

The Municipal Stewardship Program is unique to Newfoundland and Labrador, and was developed to encourage municipalities to recognize the value of wildlife habitat found in and near their municipal planning boundaries by accepting a stewardship role in maintaining their integrity.

Further information regarding the Municipal Habitat Stewardship Agreement can be found in the backgrounder below.

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BACKGROUNDER
History of the Municipal Stewardship Program

The Municipal Stewardship Program serves as an important mechanism for protecting wildlife habitat located within municipal jurisdictions. In addition to St. Lawrence, 32 other municipalities have signed stewardship agreements including Bay Roberts, Burgeo, Bonavista, Carmanville, Cartwright, Channel-Port aux Basques, Come by Chance, Deer Lake, Flatrock, Flower’s Cove, Frenchman’s Cove, Gambo, Gander, Garnish, Grand Falls-Windsor, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Hawke’s Bay, Labrador City, Mary’s Harbour, Port aux Choix, Red Bay, Spaniard’s Bay, Springdale, St Anthony, St. John’s, St. Lewis, Steady Brook, Stephenville Crossing, Torbay, Wabush, Whitbourne and Winterland.

In 1986, in light of drastic declines in North American waterfowl populations and in an effort to effectively reverse the trend, the governments of Canada and the United States signed the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) with a goal to return waterfowl populations to levels of the 1970’s by actively conserving wetland and upland habitat. In 1994, Mexico also signed on to the NAWMP, making it a truly continental initiative.

To implement and forward the goals of NAWMP, joint ventures were established across North America. The Eastern Habitat Joint Venture (EHJV) was established in 1989. Partners include the six eastern Canadian provinces, Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Wildlife Habitat Canada, and the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Newfoundland and Labrador’s program is administered by the Wildlife Division of the Department of Environment and Conservation.

2013 10 08                             12:35 p.m.