Eastern prickly pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa) recovery strategy

Official title: Recovery Strategy for the Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa) in Canada Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series

Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series Recovery Strategy for the Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa) in Canada Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus March 2010

Recovery Strategy for the Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa) in Canada

Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus

November 2010

About the Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series

What is the Species at Risk Act (SARA)?

SARA is the Act developed by the federal government as a key contribution to the common national effort to protect and conserve species at risk in Canada. SARA came into force in 2003 and one of its purposes is "to provide for the recovery of wildlife species that are extirpated, endangered or threatened as a result of human activity".

What is recovery?

In the context of species at risk conservation, recovery is the process by which the decline of an Endangered, Threatened or Extirpated species is arrested or reversed and threats are removed or reduced to improve the likelihood of the species' persistence in the wild. A species will be considered recovered when its long-term persistence in the wild has been secured.

What is a Recovery Strategy?

A recovery strategy is a planning document that identifies what needs to be done to arrest or reverse the decline of a species. It sets goals and objectives and identifies the main areas of activities to be undertaken. Detailed planning is done at the action plan stage.

Recovery strategy development is a commitment of all provinces and territories and of the three federal SARA agencies - Environment Canada, Parks Canada Agency and Fisheries and Oceans Canada - under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk. Sections 37-46 of SARA outline both the required content and the process for developing recovery strategies published in this series.

Depending on the status of the species and when it was last assessed, a recovery strategy has to be developed within one to two years after the species is added to the List of Wildlife Species at Risk. Three to four years is allowed for those species that were automatically listed when SARA came into force.

What's next?

In most cases, one or more action plans will be developed to define and guide implementation of the recovery strategy. Nevertheless, directions set in the recovery strategy are sufficient to begin involving communities, land users and conservationists in recovery implementation. Cost-effective measures to prevent the reduction or loss of the species should not be postponed for lack of full scientific certainty.

The Series

This series presents the recovery strategies prepared or adopted by the federal government under SARA. New documents will be added regularly as species get listed and as strategies are updated.

To Learn More

To learn more about the Species at Risk Act and recovery initiatives, please consult the Species at Risk Public Registry.

 

Recovery Strategy for the Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa) in Canada

November 2010

 


Recommended Citation:

Dougan & Associates, V. L. M Kay, B. C. Hutchinson and P. Nantel, 2010. Recovery Strategy for the Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa) in Canada (Proposed). Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Parks Canada Agency, Ottawa. viii +18 +1 Appendix.


Additional copies:

You can download additional copies from the Species at Risk Public Registry.

Cover illustration:

Photo by J. Robertson Graham, Parks Canada Agency.

Également disponible en français sous le titre

« Programme de rétablissement de l'oponce de l'Est (Opuntia humifusa) au Canada »

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of the Environment, 2010. All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-100-17307-8
Catalogue no.: En3-4/84-2010E-PDF

Content (excluding illustrations) may be used without permission, with appropriate credit to the source.

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