OTTAWA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Canada approved six Critical Habitat Orders Wednesday to further protect six more species at risk.
The approved orders will allow for further protection of these at-risk species: hotwater physa, western brook lamprey, salish sucker, round hickorynut, kidneyshell, and lake utopia rainbow smelt. These are all species with small habitat ranges with many existing in only one watershed in the country.
The Critical Habitat Orders under the Canadian Species at Risk Act were signed by Canadian Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Jonathan Wilkinson.
Over the past 50 years, the world's wildlife populations have declined by 60 percent. In Canada, approximately 544 species have been identified as being at risk by the act, and the list is growing.
Critical habitat may include areas where species give birth, hatch, feed or raise their young.
A Critical Habitat Order focuses on protecting the functions, features and attributes of a species' critical habitat in specific geographical locations that are essential to its survival.
Human activities are permitted on a case-by-case basis within the habitat of a species. Any proposed activities are assessed to ensure that they will not result in the destruction of the critical habitat. Enditem
