Lawsuit argues that the government failed to follow the federal Species at Risk Act
Halifax/K’jipuktuk, unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq — Today, Ecojustice, representing East Coast Environmental Law and Nature Nova Scotia will be in Federal Court to argue that the government’s weakened approach to protecting habitat for the endangered Piping Plover breaks the law.
This judicial review challenges the amended Recovery Strategy and Action Plan for the Piping Plover under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). This 2022 update to the federal recovery strategy replaces a strong, science-based habitat mapping method with a vague, limited one.
Piping Plovers are small shorebirds that nest on open, coastal beaches with little vegetation. They are extremely sensitive to disturbance and habitat loss. In 2012, the federal government released a recovery strategy that identified over 200 beach sites in Atlantic Canada and Quebec by name and GPS location, covering entire beach areas.
However, the amended 2022 strategy now uses what’s called a “bounding box” approach. This method identifies only small sections of a beach that meet unclear criteria. This leaves important parts of Piping Plover habitat unprotected and harder to defend from threats like development or human interference.
Ecojustice and its clients argue that this shift not only violates the Species at Risk Act but also puts the survival and recovery of the Piping Plover in jeopardy.
The federal government has used this same limited approach to habitat identification for many other at-risk species like the Bank Swallow, Northern Dusky Salamander, and Westslope Cutthroat Trout, demonstrating a systemic issue that undermines habitat protections for all affected species.
Sarah McDonald, Lawyer, Ecojustice said: “Effective habitat protection is essential to saving species at risk like the Piping Plover. When the government relies on vague or overly technical definitions of critical habitat, it weakens its own ability to protect it. Through this case, we’re pushing for clear, comprehensive identification of critical habitat—because we can’t protect what we refuse to define.”
Lisa Mitchell, Executive Director, East Coast Environmental Law said: East Coast Environmental Law has published multiple endangered species reports over many years encouraging governments to follow their own legal commitments to protect species at risk. We hope that this legal action will result in clearly defined and effective habitat protection for the Piping Plover.
Bob Bancroft, President, Nature Nova Scotia said: The group hopes this court case will force the government to return to a full and science-based approach to identifying habitat — one that actually protects the space species like the Piping Plover need to survive.
