News Release Archive
NEWS RELEASE (CNS963) -->> NATURAL RESOURCES--ENDANGERED SPECIES LEGISLATION INTRODUCED NATURAL RESOURCES--ENDANGERED SPECIES LEGISLATION INTRODUCED ----------------------------------------------------------------- A Nova Scotia Endangered Species Act has been introduced in the provincial legislature by Natural Resources Minister Eleanor Norrie. It will circulated for public input and discussion between now and the spring, 1997 session of the Legislative Assembly. "This draft legislation provides a comprehensive set of tools to protect species at risk," said Mrs. Norrie. "It complements the federal Endangered Species Act and is consistent with the National Framework for the Conservation of Species at Risk which was accepted in principle at the Canadian Wildlife Ministers conference in Prince Edward Island last October." This is Nova Scotia's first endangered species act. It provides for: a) legal designation and listing of species at risk; b) establishment of a species at risk conservation fund and a species at risk working group; c) prohibition of killing, disturbance, sale or trade in endangered and threatened species; d) development of endangered species recovery plans; and, e) protection of critical habitat of endangered and threatened species. "Over the weeks ahead, I encourage Nova Scotians to comment on this important legislation and to make their views known to my office or to the Wildlife Division of the Department of Natural resources," said Mrs. Norrie. In its current draft form, the Nova Scotia Endangered Species Act is the most comprehensive and progressive provincial legislation of its type in Canada, the minister said. Copies of the act and background information on endangered species conservation in Nova Scotia are available from the Halifax office of the department --- Founders' Square, 1701 Hollis Street, Halifax -- or from the department's Wildlife Division, 136 Exhibition Street, Kentville, NS, B4N 4E5, telephone 902-679-6091. Information packages, including copies of the act, will be available from Department of Natural Resources field offices during the first week of January. -30- Contact: Dr. Sherman Boates or Barry Sabean 902-679-6091 trp Dec. 18, 1996 - 2:35 p.m.