I am writing regarding recent letters on the proposed RDOS conservation trust fund.
I fully agree with the fact that environmental issues don’t have political boundaries; we all have a responsibility to preserve and conserve our natural flora, fauna and their habitat.
This issue is far bigger than the Okanagan, it is worldwide. Many species annually migrate thousands of kilometers, crossing political boundaries all around the world to breed and return from whence they came.
In recognition of this fact, Britain, on behalf of Canada, signed the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1916 with the United States. Current treaties include Mexico, Central and South America. Each country organizes funding to conduct scientific studies and recruit volunteers to count bird species, protect and enhance critical habitat and educate the citizens on the need to support and participate in something which will also benefit them.
Protected forests, for example, act as carbon sinks for humans while preserving wildlife habitat for resident and migrating species.
In Canada, the Species at Risk Act, a federal responsibility, protects species and habitat on federal lands; unfortunately B.C. does not have SAR legislation. We do have, however, some provincial legislation to protect the habitat of B.C. flora and fauna.
All the more reason why the proposed conservation habitat fund is crucial to protecting flora and fauna in the Okanagan as part of the provincial strategy.
To state that the proposed $10 per annum per property will automatically jump to $25 is pure fear mongering.
This is not another tax; it is an enhancement like a Skaha Park that benefits all Okanagan residents and tourists.
Personally, I believe that the vast majority of property owners support this initiative to benefit the Okanagan ecosystem, for them and all our relations. All this for a couple of lattes a year.
Laurie Rockwell, Summerland