- by Ian Miron and Sue Tan at Ecojustice
Not long ago we thought the endangered piping plover would never appear in Ontario again. After a nearly 30-year absence, these tiny migratory birds returned to the shores of the Great Lakes, including Sauble Beach in 2007. Unfortunately, they didn’t receive a warm welcome from everyone.
Ecojustice has a long history of working to protect the piping plover.
Plovers are shorebirds that winter as far south as Mexico and Florida, then fly north to nest in the late spring and early summer. They need a specific habitat, free from disturbance, to reproduce successfully in their shallow nest. Unfortunately, this can mean conflict with humans, who also like to hit the beach as soon as the sun comes out. Recently a music festival near Chicago was shut down to protect a pair of plovers and their nest.
Piping plovers and their habitat are protected under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act. Legally, this means that no one, including municipalities and towns in Ontario, is permitted to carry out any activities that harm the small birds or their habitat. Sometimes Ontario municipalities need reminding of the law, however.
In the summer of 2018, Ecojustice, working with our clients Environmental Defence and Ontario Nature, stepped up our efforts to protect plovers near Sauble Beach. The town of South Bruce Peninsula was raking a portion of Sauble with heavy equipment, compromising not only the plovers’ nests but also their habitat.
We asked the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to order the Town to stop raking plover habitat and beach maintenance activities that would damage piping plover habitat.
The Ministry issued a Stop Order to that effect but the Town of South Bruce Peninsula appealed this Stop Order. Ecojustice helped our clients, Ontario Nature and Environmental Defence, intervene in this appeal.
Environmental Defence and Ontario Nature called expert witness Peter Middleton, an amateur field ornithologist from Owen Sound, Ontario, who has been involved with piping plover recovery efforts at Sauble Beach since 2007. At the hearing, Peter Middleton, as well as the Ministry’s experts, all agreed that certain aspects of the beach had to be protected in order to protect piping plover habitat.
The Hearing Officer on the appeal has issued a report which, if followed, will help stabilize the plover habitat and assist the population to rebuild. These recommendations include:
Prohibiting the removal of natural material within 30 feet of the water’s edge;
Maintaining the “swales,” small, shallow pools of water on the beach, as plovers depend on them for foraging.
The Hearing Officer’s Report was a victory for Ecojustice and our clients. The report agreed that Sauble Beach is an important habitat for the piping plover and the Town of South Bruce Peninsula should not carry out any activities which harm the birds.
Unfortunately, the Stop Order which was appealed during this hearing has expired, so the Ministry has not yet adopted these recommendations in a legal instrument. Nevertheless, the Hearing Officer’s recommendations lay out a clear path for the type of protection necessary for plover habitat at Sauble Beach. Ecojustice will continue to be involved in the protection of this important little bird, wherever it chooses to make its home.
Originally published on the Ecojustice blog here . Re-published with the authors' generous permission.
