VICTORIA, B.C. — One million of the planet’s eight million species are threatened with extinction, according to a comprehensive report released today from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a UN committee, and yet British Columbia’s government has still not announced how it plans to deliver on its 2017 mandate to enact an endangered species law.

VICTORIA, B.C. - “After years of work on this file, my colleagues and I are absolutely overjoyed this decision has finally been made. The results of the government’s consultation were clear and government has listened – we couldn’t be more thrilled,” said Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands and B.C. Green Party spokesperson for the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.

VICTORIA, B.C. - Andrew Weaver, leader of the B.C. Green Party, reintroduced his Private Member’s Bill, the Endangered Species Act, 2017. Weaver first introduced the bill in February 2017 under the previous B.C. Liberal government. The Act builds off similar legislation introduced in Ontario and tabled by the B.C. NDP in 2011, and was further developed with the input of Gwen Barlee from the Wilderness Committee and environmental lawyer Sean Nixon from EcoJustice.

“I am re-introducing this bill to ensure that this issue stays at the top of the government’s priorities,” said Weaver.

VICTORIA, B.C. - Sonia Furstenau, B.C. Green Party Deputy Leader and spokesperson for the environment, introduced her first Private Member’s Bill today. The Bill, introduced on the 10 year anniversary of the film Sharkwater, would restrict the possession and distribution of shark fins within B.C., thereby impacting the demand for shark fins.

“Out of respect for our planet and for future generations, we must recognize our role in ensuring resilient ecosystems,” said Furstenau.

VICTORIA, B.C. - Adam Olsen, the B.C. Green caucus spokesperson for Forestry, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (FLNRO), responded to the Auditor General’s report, An Independent Audit of Grizzly Bear Management, which was released earlier today.

“I am very concerned that the auditor general has found that the Ministries’ have failed to properly manage B.C.’s grizzly population,” Olsen said.

VICTORIA B.C. –  The entire world in is the midst of an extinction crisis and humans are the driving force.

“In Canada, British Columbia is the most biodiverse province, but it is also home to more at-risk species than any other province,” says Andrew Weaver, Leader of the B.C. Green Party. “Half of B.C.’s assessed species are deemed at risk.”