On Nov. 3, 2015, the Ontario Invasive Species Act (ISA) received royal assent after being passed in the legislature on Oct 21, 2015. The ISA is designed to educate Ontario’s population on the impacts of invasive species, as well as support efforts to eradicate and prevent the spread of invasive species across the province.
According to a Nov. 3, 2015 Government of Ontario news release, the ISA will specifically “ban the possession and transportation of certain invasive species, allow for earlier intervention and rapid response to keep invasive species from spreading, for example, by preventing the movement of contaminated firewood, and help ensure compliance through modernized inspection and enforcement measures.”
The ISA is just one part of a four-part plan to better the province of Ontario.
“Ontario is proud to be the first and only jurisdiction in Canada to enact standalone invasive species legislation,” said Bill Mauro, Ontario’s Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, in the same Nov. 3 news release. “Invasive species pose a significant risk to our natural environment and our economy. This new act is a critical tool in our collective fight against the growing threats of invasive species in Ontario.”
According to the Ontario invasive species awareness program, there are, in the Great Lakes alone, 185 identified invasive species. The impact to the environment from invasive species is equal to $1.4 trillion, which is five per cent of the global economy and seven times the cost of natural disasters.
Invasive species pose a huge threat to biodiversity in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in Ontario. Mauro assures the new plan will “protect Ontario’s rich biodiversity for future generations while we continue to promote economic opportunities and outdoor recreation.”
Working to control and eliminate invasive species is tedious work, and costly. The Ontario Invasive Species Strategic Plan, developed in 2012, highlights specific species and the effect they have had on the province.
The zebra mussel, for example, has cost the City of Windsor almost half a million dollars in order to remove “taste and odor problems from municipal water supplies.” Likewise, the City of Toronto has been greatly affected by the emerald ash borer, which has destroyed over one million trees, and is now costing the city of Toronto $37 million over five years to fix. Furthermore, Ontario wetland wildlife has been severely affected with “habitat losses for several species” due to invasive phragmites.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has asked Ontarians to “learn how to identify invasive species and report new sightings using the invasive species hotline.”