Ottawa Forests & Greenspace

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Proposed Wildlife Strategy

PROPOSED WILDLIFE STRATEGY FOR THE CITY OF OTTAWA /

PROPOSITION D’UNE STRATÉGIE SUR LES ANIMAUX SAUVAGES POUR LA VILLE D’OTTAWA

Donna Dubreil, President of the Ottawa Carleton Wildlife Centre noted the centre had been in operation since 1987, originally catering to orphaned and injured wildlife. A telephone hotline created by the centre to address human-wildlife interaction at one point took in over 7,000 phone calls in one year, underscoring the centre’s focus on conflict resolution. Ms. Dubreil advocated for the City to develop a comprehensive wildlife strategy that puts the City in a proactive position, and that:

• looks at wildlife from an eco-system perspective
• is firmly placed and included in environmental planning (i.e., leaving standing cornstalk rows in fields beside roads as natural snow fences might create another problem by encouraging hungry wildlife into the path of vehicular traffic)
• must involve community stakeholder participation, such as OFGAC

Moved by H. Hamilton

The Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee (OFGAC) strongly supports the need to develop a comprehensive and integrated Wildlife Strategy for the City of Ottawa.

This strategy should be a major component of the biodiversity strategy to be developed under the city's Environmental Strategy.

The Wildlife Strategy would be centered on wildlife-sensitive planning, focus on public education and awareness programs, and involve community stakeholder organizations and relevant agency personnel in its development and implementation.

We recommend that members of the Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee, Environmental Advisory Committee and Rural Issues Advisory Committee be included on the Wildlife Strategy Steering Committee, as well as organizations such as the Ottawa Carleton Wildlife Centre and the Greenbelt Coalition of Canada's Capital Region.

OFGAC endorses the Community and Protective Services motion to ask Planning and Environment Committee and Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee to jointly address this issue.

We recommend that some priority be given to developing the Wildlife Strategy.

CARRIED

Action:           The Vice-Chair will make a presentation to the Planning and Environment Committee (PEC) February 23 with respect to a wildlife strategy presentation by the Ottawa CArleton Wildlife Centre.

Related Minutes: http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/citycouncil/a-ofac/2010/02-22/minutes30.htm

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