Executive summary – Recovery strategy for the Pink Milkwort (Polygala incarnata) in Ontario

Prepared by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. Adoption of Recovery strategy for the Pink Milkwort (Polygala incarnata) in Canada (Environment Canada 2013).

The Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA) requires the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry to ensure recovery strategies are prepared for all species listed as endangered or threatened on the Species at Risk in Ontario (SARO) List. Under the ESA, a recovery strategy may incorporate all or part of an existing plan that relates to the species.

The Pink Milkwort (Polygala incarnata) is listed as endangered on the SARO List. The species is also listed as endangered under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). Environment Canada prepared the Recovery strategy for the Pink Milkwort in Canada in 2013 to meet its requirements under the SARA. This recovery strategy is hereby adopted under the ESA. With the additions indicated below, the enclosed strategy meets all of the content requirements outlined in the ESA.

The Critical Habitat section of the federal recovery strategy provides an identification of critical habitat (as defined under the SARA). Identification of critical habitat is not a component of a recovery strategy prepared under the ESA. However, it is recommended that the areas of critical habitat identified in the federal recovery strategy be considered when developing a habitat regulation under the ESA.

Executive summary – Recovery strategy for the Pink Milkwort (Polygala incarnata) in Canada

Prepared by Environment Canada (2013).

Pink Milkwort (Polygala incarnata) is listed as Endangered on Schedule 1 of the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). It is a slender, annual herb of open wet-mesic to mesic tallgrass prairies. In North America, Pink Milkwort distribution is centered in the American mid-west and along the southeastern seaboard. In Canada, Pink Milkwort currently exists on the Walpole Island First Nation in the St. Clair River delta, southwestern Ontario and on the Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve near Windsor, Ontario (COSEWIC, 2009).

Threats identified to the Canadian population of Pink Milkwort include but are not limited to: habitat loss or degradation, changes to ecological dynamics or natural processes, invasive species, disturbance from recreational activities, drought and browsing by wild animals.

Although there are unknowns regarding the feasibility of recovery, in keeping with the precautionary principle, a full recovery strategy has been prepared as would be done when recovery is determined to be feasible. The population and distribution objective is to maintain, or increase where biologically and technically feasible, the current abundance of Pink Milkwort and to maintain the current distribution of the four extant populations in Canada. The broad strategies to be taken to address the threats to the survival and recovery of the species are presented in the section on Strategic Direction for Recovery (Section 6.2).

Critical habitat for Pink Milkwort has been partially identified in this recovery strategy; it has been identified at the Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve near Windsor, Ontario. Once adequate information is obtained, additional critical habitat will be identified and may be described within an area-based, multi-species at risk action plan developed in collaboration with the Walpole Island First Nation.

One or more such action plans will be completed for Pink Milkwort by December 2020.