Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada
(COSEWIC)
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Origin
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) was initiated
in May 1977 as a consequence of a call for its establishment made at the 40th
Federal-Provincial Wildlife Conference held in 1976 at Fredericton, New Brunswick. By
November 1978, all non-governmental and governmental agencies that were to form the framework
for the Committee's organization were assembled. The Committee has met annually every April
since 1979.
Purpose
The primary mandate of COSEWIC is to develop a national listing of Canadian species at risk,
based on the best scientific evidence available, for vertebrates, invertebrates (only molluscs and
lepidoptera), plants and lichens. Species are listed in the following categories: extinct,
extirpated, endangered, threatened and vulnerable. As a consequence of the listing
process, species that have been examined and found to be not at risk are also listed as are
species for which there is insufficient information on which to make a status determination.
Status is assigned on the basis of concensus arrived at by voting members of COSEWIC present
at the annual meeting. Designations are frequently based on considerable discussion
of data presented in the status reports prepared by the subcommittees. Once status designations
are made, it is up to the respective provincial and territorial jurisdictions where the species
occurs to take whatever actions are appropriate to address the threats and limiting factors
placing a species at risk. COSEWIC has no legislative or management role.
Structure
The Committee consists of representatives drawn from four sources: - universities and museums from across the country
- the wildlife departments of all 13 Canadian provincial and territorial governments
- four federal departments and corporations concerned with
wildlife including the Canadian Wildlife Service (which provides the secretariat for COSEWIC),
Parks Canada, Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Museum of Nature
- three national non-governmental conservation organizations: the Canadian Wildlife Federation, Canadian
Nature Federation and World Wildlife Fund Canada
The activities of COSEWIC are directed by a chairman elected for a two year renewable term
and is supported by a Secretariat provided by the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS). The primary
compilation of species data, the basis of status designations, is achieved through the commissioning
of status reports by the species specialist groups, especially through the efforts of the chairpersons aided
by the specialist group experts. Specialist groups exist for the following eight groups:
- Birds
- Mammals
- Marine Mammals
- Freshwater Fish
- Marine Fish
- Reptiles and amphibians
- Invertebrates (molluscs and lepidopterans)
- Vascular plants, mosses and lichens
Species Specialist Groups
The Species Specialist Groups serve to ensure the scientific accuracy of information presented in status
reports. The chairperson, a scientist specializing in the group, assisted by volunteer experts
in his field from across Canada, develop candidate species lists that form the basis
for commissioning status reports. They also review and edit status reports and provide an
independent recommendation on the status for each species.
Chairpersons also prepare an annual report of the activities of the Species Specialist Group and assist
COSEWIC representatives in arriving at a decision on status at the annual meeting. This is
done by participating in discussions and providing additional insights of a specialist in
the field. Following status designation, Species Specialist Group chairpersons also make final editorial
changes and revisions before the status reports are released by the Secretariat as public
information documents.
Status Reports
Status reports serve as the working documents and information base upon which
COSEWIC members designate status. Because of this, the information in a report must be as
complete as possible, especially for topics that provide essential information required by
members to assess risk to a species. These essential topics include information on
the numbers of populations, their size, change through time and current threats or limiting
factors affecting them in Canada. A detailed guidelines to the preparation of status reports
for vascular plants, mosses and lichens is available elsewhere at this web site.
Authors provide their personal assessment of status for the species based on COSEWIC definitions.
Management recommendations are not included within the body of status reports. Authors
are encouraged to provide recommendations, if they so wish. These are appended to the report
and are circulated to the appropriate management jurisdictions for possible action. Status report
authors are also encouraged to publish the results of their findings in professional journals.
Precise locality citations for species designated as endangered or threatened are removed
from reports of species so designated to minimize possible disturbance of the sites.
Following review of the status report by the appropriate Species Specialist Group, it is distributed to COSEWIC
representatives six months prior to the annual meeting to allow adequate time for review and addition
of information that may not have been included in the report.
Funding
COSEWIC has no budget of its own and is dependent on the CWS for infrastructure support of
the Secretariat activities. Member agencies assume the cost of staff or contract
salaries for its representatives on the Committee. Funding for status report preparation is
borne, in part, by provincial or federal agencies commissioning status reports and by
funding arrangements through national conservation organizations. World Wildlife Fund Canada
was a major funding organization during the 1980s, through private funding provided by the Richard Ivey
Foundation and through matching funding using its own resources. In recent years, the Canadian
Wildlife Federation has assumed funding responsibilities by providing each subcommittee with
a base budget and by making matching funds available, both in support of status report preparation.
COSEWIC Status Definitions
The revised (1994) status definitions used by the Committee together with the COSEWIC
definition of what constitutes a species for purposes of status report preparation are
as follows:
"Species" means an indigenous [Canadian] species, subspecies, variety or geographically
defined population of wild fauna and flora.
Vulnerable (V): A species of special concern because of characteristics that make it particularly
sensitive to human activities or natural events.
Threatened (T): A species likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed.
Endangered (E): A species facing imminent extirpation or extinction.
Extirpated (XT): A species no longer existing in the wild in Canada, but occurring elsewhere.
Extinct (X): A species that no longer exists.
Not at Risk (NAR):. A species that has been evaluated and found to be not at risk.
Data Deficient (I): A species for which there is insufficient scientific information to support
status designation.
COSEWIC Reptile and Amphibian Subcommittee