Sault Ste. Marie's fledgling bid to be designated a bird-friendly city has failed to launch from the nest.
We needed 32 points to be granted entry-level certification from Nature Canada.
"The city was short by 10," says Emily Cormier, the city's sustainability coordinator.
"Nature Canada’s feedback provides council with a wide-ranging understanding of both policies and projects necessary for supporting a Sault Ste. Marie bird- friendly city certification," Cormier says in a report detailing 16 months of ornithological exertions by city staff, Algoma University's CityStudio and other stakeholders.
"Many of these would also support local biodiversity and urban sustainable development, green space conservation and community ecological health," Cormier said.
Over that time, the city organized a local bird team, voted for an official bird (black-capped chickadee), issued a World Migratory Bird Proclamation and reached out to Batchewana First Nation, Garden River First Nation, the Métis Nation of Ontario and Missanabie Cree First Nation.
Here are some of the ways Nature Canada says we 'fowled' up:
- no official municipal strategy to reduce populations of unowned (feral) cats and mitigate their threat to birds (e.g. removing feral colonies from areas of high bird importance)
- no municipal promotion of the no-roam bylaw
- no cat counting or estimating protocol to establish baseline numbers
- no bird-friendly building design standard (e.g. such as Green Development Standard or timeline to implementation)
- no community bird collision monitoring project
- no evidence of a municipal strategy or policy (including guidance or standards) to reduce light pollution
- no support of the Montreal COP 154, such as a pledge for protecting 30 per cent natural areas by 2030 or policies supporting this
Nature Canada's criteria for bird-friendly certification strongly favour cities that use education, policy and bylaw enforcement to control and reduce populations of roaming cats.
"Cities can become a safer place for birds and cats alike," the organization says.
Cormier has suggested that the city "prioritize more impactful initiatives that align with the city's broader environmental goals."
"Once these priorities are addressed, staff can revisit the consideration of the bird-friendly designation," she said.