Species at Risk Act

The Species at Risk Act (French: Loi sur les espèces en péril, SARA) is a piece of Canadian federal legislation which became law in Canada on December 12, 2002. It is designed to meet one of Canada's key commitments under the International Convention on Biological Diversity. The goal of the Act is to prevent wildlife species in Canada from disappearing^[1] by protecting endangered or threatened organisms and their habitats.^[2] It also manages species which are not yet threatened, but whose existence or habitat is in jeopardy.

SARA defines a method to determine the steps that need to be taken in order to help protect existing relatively healthy environments, as well as recover threatened habitats, although timing and implementation of recovery plans have limitations.^[2] It identifies ways in which governments, organizations, and individuals can work together to preserve species at risk and establishes penalties for failure to obey the law.

The Act designates COSEWIC,^[3] an independent committee of wildlife experts and scientists, to identify threatened species and assess their conservation status. COSEWIC then issues a report to the government, and the Minister of the Environment evaluates the committee's recommendations when considering whether to add a species to the Schedule 1, which is the official List of Wildlife Species at Risk, or change its status. The Minister will give the list of wildlife species at Risk to the governor in council and will take advice from the Cabinet. The Cabinet is in charge of taking the list of species into account.^[4]

If a species is listed as extirpated, endangered, or threatened, SARA requires that a Recovery Strategy^[5] be prepared by the federal government, in consultation with the relevant provinces and territories, wildlife management boards, and Indigenous organizations.^[6] The Recovery Strategy describes the major threats to the species and its habitat, identifies population objectives, and in broad terms, states what will need to be done to stop or reverse the species declines. Proposed Recovery Strategies are posted on the Species at Risk Public Registry,^[7] after which public comments are accepted, generally for 60 days. 30 days after the end of the public comment period, the recovery strategy must be finalized.^[8]