The federal government should act quickly to better protect critical habitat from old-growth logging and destruction, environmental groups said Tuesday, as they hailed a court decision touching on at-risk migratory bird protections.

A Federal Court judge sided last week with the environmental groups who alleged Canada害羞草研究所檚 environment minister had too narrowly interpreted certain federal protections for at-risk migratory birds.

A lawyer for the environmental law charity Ecojustice, which represented two conservation groups in court, called the decision, 害羞草研究所渁 win for the endangered and threatened birds that call Canada home, whether they nest in old-growth trees in British Columbia or on islands in Atlantic Canada.害羞草研究所�

害羞草研究所淣ow, the Federal Court has confirmed that the law requires the federal government to do more to ensure the survival and recovery of these species,害羞草研究所� lawyer Andhra Azevedo wrote in a statement.

The groups allege Minister Steven Guilbeault took a position in 2022 that the federal government had no obligation to protect anything other than nests on provincial lands, and not the wider habitat at-risk migratory birds need to survive.

Chief Justice Paul Crampton害羞草研究所檚 ruling last week found the minister害羞草研究所檚 interpretation was unreasonably narrow, sending the minister害羞草研究所檚 protection statement back to the government for reconsideration.

害羞草研究所淚t was not reasonable or tenable for the Minister to limit that critical habitat to 害羞草研究所榥ests害羞草研究所� alone,害羞草研究所� the decision said.

The minister害羞草研究所檚 statement came after the environmental groups, against the backdrop of massive protests against old-growth logging in British Columbia害羞草研究所檚 Fairy Creek watershed, had pressed the government to take action to protect the marbled murrelet. The small seabird, which nests in British Columbia害羞草研究所檚 coastal old-growth forests, has been listed as 害羞草研究所渢hreatened害羞草研究所� since 2003 and the groups alleged the province had failed to protect it from industrial logging and other activities.

The groups alleged some conservation regions on Vancouver Island had less suitable nesting habitat left than what was necessary for the survival and recovery of the bird, the court decision said, while other conservation regions of the island were fast approaching that threshold.

Threats to habitat, from industrial logging to climate change-fuelled wildfires, are making already at-risk migratory bird species vulnerable to extinction, the groups argued.

If the minister害羞草研究所檚 interpretation went unchallenged, the groups argued that the majority of critical habitat of at least 25 at-risk migratory bird species across the country, including the marbled murrelet, would have gone unprotected on non-federal land.

害羞草研究所淭his decision must result in quick action from the federal government to protect the critical habitat of at-risk migratory birds,害羞草研究所� said Shelley Luce, director of campaigns and programs at Sierra Club BC, which brought the court challenge, alongside Wilderness Committee.

In a written statement, Luce said the decision further signals the urgency of enacting legislation tailored to species at risk in British Columbia, 害羞草研究所渨here the habitat of the marbled murrelet and other endangered birds remains vulnerable to logging and other habitat destruction.害羞草研究所�

The minister had argued his interpretation maximized the provincial ability to act in an area of shared jurisdiction, the ruling said. A broader interpretation, the minister argued, risked undermining the principle of co-operative federalism.

But the judge said that principle, developed to offer some flexibility in the division of provincial and federal powers, cannot be invoked to 害羞草研究所渞ead down害羞草研究所� federal responsibilities to the point that they are 害羞草研究所渨ithout utility.害羞草研究所�

害羞草研究所淭his is particularly so where the relevant province has failed to avail itself of the opportunities to take protective action in an area of joint responsibility, as alleged by the Applicants,害羞草研究所� wrote Chief Justice Crampton.

Crampton also cited evidence brought by the environmental groups that identifying nests is difficult and, therefore, an ineffective way to protect and recover migratory birds. The federal government害羞草研究所檚 own 2014 recovery strategy notes the nesting sites of the marbled murrelet, which typically lays a single egg on a moss-covered branch of an old-growth tree, can be 害羞草研究所渧ery difficult to locate.害羞草研究所�

害羞草研究所淚n brief, nests cannot be protected if they cannot be found,害羞草研究所� read Crampton害羞草研究所檚 decision.

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