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Calgary Herald

Biodiversity advisory committee gives city council failing grade on habitat restoration

With the City of Calgary's 10-year biodiversity strategy wrapping up this year, the plan's advisory committee will present a mixed report card to council next week. Article content Article content The Our BiodiverCity strategic plan was launched in 2015, with a decade-long mandate to manage and protect Calgary's natural and built environments and support biodiversity. Article content The plan included four guiding principles and three targets to measure the plan's success by 2025: reversing habitat loss, protecting important ecological zones and managing invasive species. Article content Article content The Biodiversity Advisory Committee, which was struck to oversee the strategy and is being disbanded this year, was made up of city administration and public members who had either an interest in biodiversity, or a professional or educational background relating to the topic. Article content Article content In a press release, public members of the committee said they have graded council's performance on 10 of the biodiversity strategy's intended outcomes. Article content Council (which has seen turnover twice since the strategy was implemented, considering the results of the 2017 and 2021 elections) scored a grade of A- or less on eight of the 10 outcomes, according to committee member Sara Jordan-McLachlan. Article content She commended council's focus on biodiversity education and outreach, as well as its ability to get the city's ecological network entrenched in the Municipal Development Plan and the city's new parks plan, which is being rolled out this year. Article content 'Prioritizing that connectivity of habitat through the city and connections for green spaces throughout the entire city is a very positive step,' Jordan-McLachlan said. Article content Article content Another positive was council's willingness to increase funding for programs related to biodiversity, which garnered an A-, according to Jordan-McLachlan. Article content However, she noted council received a D+ in habitat restoration, as only 53 per cent of the strategy's target was met. Article content She criticized council's recent rejection of a notice of motion from Ward 11 Coun. Kourtney Penner, which sought to naturalize the sides of the city's roadways by reducing mowing and by planting more native flowers and plant species. Council's rejection stemmed from concerns over the total cost and the complexity of implementing the plan.