SAULT STE. MARIE ONT. - Countries all over the world have committed to conserving 30 per cent of land and water as part of the COP15 climate conference and a Canadian conservation group would like to see the deep water areas of Lake Superior considered as part of it.
The ’30 for 30’ initiative that resulted from the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (CoP15) will see 30 per cent of the earth’s land and water conserved to protect nature and biodiversity.
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Canada has identified a number of sites across the country to nominate for protection, including the Leslie Street Spit in Toronto, Long Point Peninsula and Marshes on Lake Erie and Dufresne Island near Kenora, among others. WCS calls each of these a Key Biodiversity Areas, or KBA.
Closer to home, WCS is nominating the deep water areas of Lake Superior as a KBA for protection, says regional coordinator Robyn Rumney.
“The government is looking to protect large areas of land and water, so by identifying these areas where these rare and at-risk species and ecosystems are across the province, we are hoping this can feed into this new framework,” said Rumney.
Lake Superior holds about ten per cent of the world’s fresh water. Its deep water areas were chosen for protection, in part, because of the presence of two rare fish species that are counted among the more than 80 fish species living in the lake.
“There is a fish species called Kiyi — it’s globally restricted and at this point they believe it to just be in Lake Superior,” said Rumney.
Kiyi are typically found in the waters deeper than 100 metres. This species needs deep cool water that is clear to survive.
“A lot of other lakes where it used to be found, like Lake Ontario and Lake Michigan, have had too much degradation, so it isn’t found there anymore,” she said.
A second species, called the Pygmy Whitefish, was once found throughout the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
“It’s just thought to be remaining in Lake Superior now, also in these deep-water regions,” said Rumney.
Lake Superior remains in good condition, relative to the other Great Lakes, said Rumney. The proposed protections would help to keep it that way.
“There are some threats in Lake Superior. Some of the industries along the shoreline, agriculture, mining and things like that can affect the water temperature and also release chemicals into the lake, which could affect these and other fish species in the lake,” she said.
WCS is continuing the work to identify and nominate KBAs for consideration as Canada fulfills its commitments to the 30 for 30 initiative.
“We are really hopeful these key biodiversity areas can serve as a tool to help identify how we can initiate, in Ontario and in Canada, to try and protect these areas that still have rare and at-risk species to prevent them from being lost,” said Rumney.
