The Fraser River estuary in British Columbia is home to 102 species at risk of extinction. A new study says it’s not too late to save these species if action is taken now.
“There is currently no overarching plan to save them. If we don’t act quickly, many species, including species of salmon and southern resident killer whales, are likely to be functionally extinct in the next 25 years,” says senior author Tara Martin, a professor of conservation science at UBC, in a paper published today in Conservation Science and Practice.
The Fraser estuary is the largest on the Pacific coast of North America. More than three million people in B.C.’s Lower Mainland live near the Fraser River, and many of them rely on these species and ecosystems for their livelihoods, culture and well-being.
Applying a conservation decision framework called Priority Threat Management developed by Martin and her team, the authors brought together over 65 experts in the ecology and management of species that utilize the Fraser River estuary to identify conservation actions, estimate their benefit to species recovery, their cost and feasibility.
