Species at Risk Act (SARA) Consultation, Cooperation and Accommodation Project

Project Overview

This multi-year project will facilitate Indigenous communities’ and organizations’ participation in Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC) listing and recovery planning processes for terrestrial species as part of implementing the federal Species at Risk Act. CIER’s role is to support a range of activities between Indigenous communities and organizations and ECCC on developing recovery documents, sharing knowledge and language, addressing threats to terrestrial species at risk survival and recovery, and land use planning for species at risk on reserve lands and within traditional territories.

2020-2021 Pilot project:  Prior to the start of the multi-year project, the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER) partnered with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to undertake a pilot project in British Columbia. This project facilitated Indigenous communities’ and organizations’ participation in federal recovery planning for seven terrestrial Species at Risk: Grizzly Bear, Southern Mountain Caribou, Bank Swallow, Western Screech-Owl, Oregon Forestsnail, American Badger, and Marbled Murrelet. The multi-year project is a continuation of this work. 

Species at Risk List

ECCC is continuously listing and reassessing the status of species under the Species at Risk Act and developing recovery documents for those that are listed as special concern, threatened or endangered. The focus of the SARA Consultation, Cooperation and Accommodation Project is on those species that are actively undergoing the listing process or recovery document development. The list below is subject to change over time.

SpeciesListDec2024.pdf

Upcoming Events

May Learning Circle: Monday, May 12, 2025 / 12:00 – 1:00 pm (PT)

The Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER), with financial support from Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service (ECCC-CWS), invites you to join our next online Learning Circle on Monday, May 12 from 12:00 – 1:00 pm Pacific Time. CIER’s Learning Circles are an opportunity for Indigenous Nations/organizations and their close partners to share learnings from projects related to species at risk.

The May Learning Circle will be a discussion on restoring the land and cultural sharing with the Stqeeye’ Learning Society. 

The mission of the Stqeeye’ Learning Society is the restoration and preservation of lands and waters within Xwaaqw’um (Burgoyne Bay Provincial Park) on Salt Spring Island. The non-profit was created by family descendants, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, Youth, and other like-minded individuals for the common purpose of restoring the land and cultural sharing. Stqeeye’ is committed to preserving the Xwaaqw’um village site in partnership with Quw’utsun mustimuhw (Cowichan people). 

The Stqeeye’ Learning Society supports self-determination – nothing about us without us; relationship-building as the foundation of our community; and the sharing of traditional and ecological restoration practices through land-based education. 

Projects include P’hwulhp (Garry Oak) Restoration to create a safe and accessible native food garden for Indigenous and non-Indigenous folks; the Youth on the Land  program which works with Indigenous youth to bring stories, skills, and traditional knowledge to life; and wetland restoration.

You can register by clicking here or below through Zoom. This session is open to anyone in your community or organization interested in attending, so please feel free to share this invitation. 

Register in advance for this meeting: Zoom Registration

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

If you are interested in becoming a Learning Circle presenter for an upcoming session, capacity funding is available, please contact [email protected]

Resources

On this webpage you will find the materials shared at the sessions included in this project (e.g., SARA overview sessions, species specific workshops, training sessions, information sharing sessions, funding application forms). You will also find helpful species at risk related tools and resources. Click on the topic headings to see a drop-down list of the associated resources.

Contact

Kat Hewitt, Project Manager, CIER ([email protected])
Kate Cave, Senior Project Manager, CIER ([email protected])
Jean Polfus, Southern Mountain Caribou Project Lead, ([email protected])
Undiné Thompson, Senior Consultation Biologist, ECCC-CWS for questions related to any other species ([email protected])