Maintaining SuperNatural BC for Our Children - CoalWatch Comox ...

10. Protecting Species at RiskBy Jacqueline LebelMy most vivid childhood memory is of my brother weeping over a picture ofthe Dodo bird in our children’s encyclopedia. His grade three assignment hadbeen to read about an extinct species; and he chose the giant, cartoon-like birddriven to extinction in the 17 th century. The tears came when he realized thatthe Dodos were no more, that all had died. He would never see a real Dodo.An Ecojustice report, The Last Place on Earth, has described the importanceof protecting British Columbia species at risk:British Columbia has the richest biodiversity of any Canadianprovince. It is home to 76 percent of Canada’s bird species, 70percent of its freshwater fish species, and thousands of otheranimals and plants. Well over 3,600 species call BC home, andmany of these, such as mountain goat and mountain caribou,live mostly – or only – in the province. For others, such as themigratory trumpeter swan and sandhill crane, BC is a critical54Maintaining SuperNatural BC: Selected Law Reform Proposals