Rigid apple moss (Bartramia stricta bridel) recovery strategy

Official title: Recovery Strategy for the Rigid Apple Moss (Bartramia stricta Bridel) in Canada 

Species at Risk Act recovery strategy series, recovery strategy for the Rigid Apple Moss (Bartramia stricta Bridel) in Canada.

Species at Risk Act
Recovery strategy series
Adopted under Section 44 of SARA

Rigid Apple Moss

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 three federal 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 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 SARA Public Registry.


Recovery Strategy for the Rigid Apple Moss (Bartramia stricta Bridel) in Canada

2011

Under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk (1996), the federal, provincial, and territorial governments agreed to work together on legislation, programs, and policies to protect wildlife species at risk throughout Canada.

In the spirit of cooperation of the Accord, the Government of British Columbia has provided the Recovery Strategy for the Rigid Apple Moss (Bartramia stricta) in British Columbia to the Government of Canada. The federal Minister of the Environment as the competent minister under SARA adopts this recovery strategy pursuant to Section 44 of the Species at Risk Act, with any exceptions or modifications as detailed within the body of this document.

This recovery strategy is the recovery strategy of the federal Minister of the Environment for this species. Amendments, if required, will be developed in accordance with Section 45 of the Species at Risk Act.


The federal Minister of the Environment's recovery strategy for the Rigid Apple Moss in Canada consists of two parts:

  1. The federal text for the Rigid Apple Moss in Canada and
  2. The Recovery Strategy for the Rigid Apple Moss (Bartramia stricta Bridel) in British Columbia, prepared by the British Columbia Bryophyte Recovery Team and the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (2007) for the BC Ministry of Environment. (Appendix 1).

Recommended citation:

Parks Canada Agency. 2011. Recovery Strategy for the Rigid Apple Moss (Bartramia stricta Bridel) in Canada. Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Parks Canada Agency. Ottawa. v + 43 pp


Additional copies:

Additional copies can be downloaded from the SARA Public Registry.

Cover illustration:

Terry McIntosh

Également disponible en français sous le titre : « Programme de rétablissement de la bartramie à feuilles dressées (Bartramia stricta Bridel) au Canada »

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of the Environment. 2011. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-100-18977-2
Catalogue no.: En3-4/112-2011E-PDF

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

Declaration

Under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk (1996), the federal, provincial, and territorial governments agreed to work together on legislation, programs, and policies to protect wildlife species at risk throughout Canada. The Species at Risk Act (S.C. 2002, c.29) (SARA) requires that federal competent ministers prepare recovery strategies for listed Extirpated, Endangered, and Threatened species. The Parks Canada Agency and Environment Canada are competent for the recovery of the Rigid Apple Moss.

The Minister of the Environment, as the competent minister under SARA, presents this document as the recovery strategy for the Rigid Apple Moss as required under SARA. It has been prepared in cooperation with the jurisdictions responsible for the species. The Minister invites other jurisdictions and organizations that may be involved in recovering the species to use this recovery strategy as advice to guide their actions.

The goals, objectives and recovery approaches identified in the strategy are based on the best existing knowledge and are subject to modifications resulting from new findings and revised objectives.

This recovery strategy will be the basis for one or more action plans that will provide details on specific recovery measures to be taken to support conservation and recovery of the species. Success in the recovery of this species depends on the commitment and cooperation of many different constituencies that will be involved in implementing the actions identified in this strategy. In the spirit of the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk, all Canadians are invited to join in supporting and implementing this strategy for the benefit of the species and of Canadian society as a whole. The competent minister will report on progress within five years.

Acknowledgments

Parks Canada Agency would like to thank the following organizations and individuals: The Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team is the recovery team for the Rigid Apple Moss and was involved in the development of this recovery strategy. Further revision was the result of comments and edits provided by the Department of National Defence, the Province of British Columbia, and Environment Canada.

Strategic environmental assessment statement

A strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is conducted on all Species at Risk Act recovery strategies, in accordance with the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan, and Program Proposals (2004). The purpose of a SEA is to incorporate environmental considerations into the development of public policies, plans, and program proposals to support environmentally sound decision-making.

Recovery planning is intended to benefit species at risk and biodiversity in general. However, it is recognized that strategies may also inadvertently lead to environmental effects beyond their intended benefits. Environmental effects, including impacts to non-target species and the environment, were considered during recovery planning. The SEA is incorporated directly into the strategy and also summarized below.

The greatest potential for effects on the environmental and species comes from fieldwork activities aimed at habitat inventory, monitoring, and management; however, these effects can be mitigated or eliminated at the project level phase through proper field procedures and strong involvement of Parks Canada Agency and the Garry Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team (see the "Effects on other species" section in the federal text of this document). Some recovery strategy activities may require project-level environmental assessment, as required under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Any activities found to require project-level environmental assessments will be assessed at that time pursuant to the provisions of the Act.

This recovery strategy will clearly benefit the environment by promoting the protection of habitat for the Rigid Apple Moss. Activities to meet recovery objectives are unlikely to result in any important negative environmental effects as they are limited to habitat protection, research activities, fostering stewardship, increasing public awareness, improving knowledge of habitat requirements and population threats, and conducting habitat/species mapping, inventory, and restoration (see the "Approaches Recommended to Meet Recovery Objectives" section in Appendix 1).

In summary, the SEA process has concluded that this recovery strategy will likely have several positive effects on the environment and other species. There are no obvious adverse environmental effects anticipated with the implementation of this recovery strategy.

Residence

SARA defines residence as: a dwelling-place, such as a den, nest or other similar area or place, that is occupied or habitually occupied by one or more individuals during all or part of their life cycles, including breeding, rearing, staging, wintering, feeding or hibernating [Subsection 2(1)].

Residence descriptions, or the rationale for why the residence concept does not apply to a given species, are posted on the SARA public registry.

Preface

This recovery strategy addresses the recovery of Rigid Apple Moss. In Canada, this species only occurs in British Columbia.

Subsection 44 (2) of the Species at Risk Act (SARA) provides that a competent minister may incorporate any part of an existing plan relating to a wildlife species into a proposed SARA recovery strategy for the species. The provincial government of British Columbia lead the preparation of the Recovery Strategy for the Rigid Apple Moss in British Columbia in cooperation with the Parks Canada Agency, Environment Canada, and the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team. The Recovery Strategy for Rigid Apple Moss in Canada incorporates parts of the provincial strategy (Appendix 1) and adds to it the information needed to comply with the content requirements of a recovery strategy for which recovery is feasible, as per the SARA section 41(1). Rigid Apple Moss is a species of ephemeral wet areas in Garry oak Ecosystems and recovery of this species will be integrated with the recovery of species in the Recovery Strategy for Multi-Species at Risk in Vernal Pools and other Ephemeral Wet Areas Associated with Garry Oak Ecosystems in Canada (Parks Canada Agency 2006).

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