Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk
The federal government's Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk (HSP) provides funding for activities that support the conservation and recovery of species at risk and their habitats. Eligible activities: Habitat improvement; outreach, education, extension and technology transfer; human impact mitigation; program planning and development; surveys, inventories and monitoring; stewardship project evaluation; and habitat protection.
Aquatic proposal contact:
Louvi Nurse - Pacific Region HSP coordinator, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
604.666.4565 louvi.nurse@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Terrestrial proposal contact:
Randal Lake - Pacific and Yukon Region HSP coordinator, Environment Canada
604.940.4646 hsp.pyr@ec.gc.ca
The Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk (HSP) provides funding for activities that support the conservation and recovery of species at risk and their habitats.
HSP Priorities:
Proposals are encouraged that target the following priorities:
- Projects targeting species that have been listed under Schedule 1 of SARA, or other species designated as ‘at risk’ by COSEWIC (http://www.cosewic.gc.ca). Priority will be given to proposals that target species listed on Schedule 1 of SARA as 1
- Threatened or Endangered, or other species designated by COSEWIC as Threatened or Endangered.
- Projects containing provincially or territorially listed species in addition to federally listed or designated Threatened or Endangered species will also receive priority.
- Projects that secure or protect important habitat for species at risk;
- Projects that mitigate threats to species at risk; and
- Projects that directly support the implementation of priority activities in recovery strategies or action plans, where these are in place or under development.
Eligible activities:
- Habitat Improvement: Enhancing or restoring habitat of species at risk; changing land management or land use practices to benefit species at risk.
Vegetation planting or removal of exotics/invasives
Residence creation (eg. hibernacula, bird boxes, turtle nests, etc.)
General land improvement
Specific land management plans
- Outreach, Education, Extension, and Technology Transfer: Providing information to a suitable target audience on actions to be taken to protect species at risk; raising awareness and providing information about species at risk conservation needs, educating resource users about alternative methods that minimize impacts on wildlife and habitat; promoting stewardship at the community level to improve attitudes and change behaviour. The activity should provide tangible benefits for species at risk recovery; general outreach or non-targeted activities are not eligible.
Train individuals in stewardship practices
Inform and engage youth in targeted audiences on SAR
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Human Impact Mitigation: Direct aid to species at risk under immediate threat from human activity (e.g. assisting the migration of animals across roadways) or preventative activities.
Protect and rescue SAR (e.g. disentanglement, nest relocation)
Apply modified or new technology to prevent accidental harm
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Program Planning and Development: Developing species at risk conservation strategies, land use guidelines/best practices, and planning the implementation of stewardship programs, including target audience engagement strategies.
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Surveys, Inventories and Monitoring that are needed to support species at risk stewardship activities such as identifying potential sites for habitat restoration; or assessing the presence of a species at risk and its habitat in order to design and direct a current (or future) stewardship project These activities will only be funded if they are part of a larger stewardship program that is clearly defined in the proposal and that will be implemented within the next 2 years.
Conduct habitat/species community monitoring
Collect Traditional Ecological Knowledge
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Stewardship Project Evaluation to assess the social and biological results and effectiveness of stewardship activities.
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Habitat Protection through acquisition or other means: Protecting species at risk habitat by assisting recipients in acquiring properties or establishing conservation easements, leases or other types of agreements with property owners. Projects utilizing securement methods other than direct acquisition (i.e. fee simple purchase) are a higher priority for the HSP.
Secure land by a written agreement
Secure land by acquiring title
Secure land by an easement, covenant or servitude
Secure land through a lease
Not specified
HSP operates via an online application and tracking system at http://www.recovery.gc.ca/HSP-PIH/. Interested applicants are encouraged to contact their regional project coordinators for access to the system and to discuss their proposals.
Note: Proposals that focus on recovery of multiple priority species in areas where the numbers of species at risk is higher and where the risk of biodiversity loss is higher are priorities in the 2011-12 funding cycle. They also encourage the development of multi-year proposals.
Also note that there is a change in SAR eligibility for the SAR funding programs for 2011-2012. New this year, any species which the Governor in Council has considered but declined to list on Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act is now ineligible for funding under the SAR funding programs. However, these species are eligible during re-assessment by COSEWIC.
