Nature advocates have come a long way since the days of “fortress conservation” when nature was thought to be a place where humans aren’t. We now understand that humans have always been a part of nature, and conservation doesn’t work if it comes at the cost of Indigenous rights or local livelihoods. But it seems the pendulum is swinging too far in the opposite direction in some of the province’s protected areas. Even protected intact forests and wetlands are “open for business”. Is there anything that’s off the table?
Bulldozing Nature So People Can Enjoy Time Outdoors
Ontario Nature knows the value of ecologically sustainable recreation. People will only stand up for nature if they have a connection with it. Furthermore, the physical and health benefits of time in nature are vast. That’s why we looked forward to hearing about a new provincial park last summer. Instead, we got a step backwards for nature. Rather than take the opportunity to contribute to protecting 30% of the planet’s lands and waters by 2030, the province is carving up Bigwind Lake Provincial Park.
A roadless area of forests and wetlands in an increasingly fragmented landscape is not the place to jam in new paved roads, motorhomes, parking lots, sewage systems and building complexes. Since this major development is going ahead, Ontario Parks needs to show leadership and use modern methods to minimize the harm that it causes, including preventing reptile and amphibian roadkill, reducing light pollution in species at risk bat habitat, and warding off bird strikes on park buildings.
Park Management by Petition
Some ecosystems are too rare or too fragile to support recreational use. Sometimes protecting these ecosystems is the reason for a park’s existence. This is especially true for provincial parks that are classified as nature reserves, or the nature reserve zones within other classes of provincial parks. The existing law and policies that govern provincial parks make it clear that these areas should be off-limits to activities that could damage them.
And yet, the province has been entertaining proposals from recreational groups to change the rules for climbing in some cliff ecosystems. This is despite strong ecological evidence that these areas are too sensitive to support climbing at these locations. Ontario Nature will be watching closely for the required public consultation on these proposals.
An Act That Didn’t Live Up to Its Potential
Ontario Nature has a long history of advocating for ecologically-appropriate management of provincial parks. When the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act came into force in 2007, conservation groups celebrated. This legislation, which lays down the law for over 600 protected areas in Ontario, put biodiversity at the forefront, while allowing for “compatible, ecologically sustainable recreation.”
Almost 20 years later, the much-lauded principle of ecological integrity has lost its shine. While Ontario Parks touts itself as being a “world class parks system”, its own reporting shows that it’s doing a middling job of the protection side of its mandate.
Assuming that provincial parks are places where biodiversity is safe is a risky assumption. As an Ontario Parks official recently stated, “The Government of Ontario believes Ontario [provincial] parks are places where recreational activity should be encouraged.” The environmental organizations who worked hard to get the current legislation in place would argue that Ontario’s provincial parks are places where ecologically-sustainable recreation should be encouraged, but not at the expense of ecological integrity. Just as the legislation says.
When you visit provincial parks, let the staff know that the park is more than just a campground or a beach to you – it’s also one of the remaining safe spaces for nature in our province. Sign up for our email list to get updates on Action Alerts and other news about protected places in Ontario. You can also use our Protected Areas Action Alert to let decision-makers know that we need more protected areas, not less.
Corina Brdar has spent her career working in and for nature in Ontario and across Canada. She provides leadership for Ontario Nature’s conservation team as the Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECM) Advisor. Her other vocation is sharing the practice of nature journaling with others.
3 Replies to “Have Ontario’s Protected Areas Lost Their Way?”
I fell in love with Killarney Provincial Park on my first canoe trip ever in July 1973. Since that time, I have not missed a year enjoying that special place. The interior of that park supports wonderful hiking and canoe tripping opportunities in a natural setting unique to Ontario.
From 1986 until 1995, I was a volunteer ranger at the park. The interior staff worked hard to maintain the trails, portages and campsites. We also enforced park rules. I was happy to give back to the place that I loved.
I moved to Sudbury in 2004 and one of the reasons was to be closer to Killarney. I enjoyed canoe tripping, hiking and camping as before but had the ability to complete day trips since I am only an hours drive away. I noticed a steady decline in interior management and enforcement. Now it is close to zero. This year lake levels are low not only from the lack of rainfall but mostly from failure to maintain key dams the worst is the one that maintains the level of Freehand Lake. The water is so low that the start of the portage into Killarney Lake is a quagmire of mud and logs. The solution would be to restore the dam at Freehand so water levels could rise one metre. There is not money for that. The campground is the priority now because interior maintenance and enforcement costs money.
The former Crown Jewel of the Ontario Parks System is no more. The main entry way George Freehand and Killarney lakes are more and more difficult to access. I blame all the governing parties who help power from 1995 to present. The Ford Government is the worst. His values are not mine. I am asking you, are his values ok with you?
As a former seasonal park naturalist for over 20 years, I struggled through and put in my 2 cents about the lack of perspective and insight I could see in the planning and development of new innitiatives. My feeling became that the higher-ups (superintendents and assistant super’ts) In my survey of others in my position it became clear that most of these people got there largelyby kissing azz and not really thinking critically about the places and here purposes and the service they were supposed to provide. They seemed to have an “All change is good” mentality regardless of its impact on the values at hand. I came back to my job many seasons to be disillusioned about some “new improvement”. I love nature and people and wanted to help people reconnect with their senses and emotions in natural spaces so they would be inspired, love learning about it and identify and connected and implored to protect it. Call me idealistic and if I die on these ideals I will be proud. After years of trying to work with it I found myself more in a fight against a system that eroded my faith in the system as it eroded the tools and resources and places that gave me the ability to do the good work that management, ironically kept telling me was “so important”.
None of this is surprising as the Ford Government is a kind of bulldozer itself. As has been pointed out, it is not a real government but a lobby group in power. It’s number one objective is to open up all of Ontario for housing development, and especially to break into the Greenbelt, and other specifically protected areas.
Along with our partners, we aim to secure the property and transfer it to Garden River First Nation – modeling ground breaking, Indigenous-led conservation.
I fell in love with Killarney Provincial Park on my first canoe trip ever in July 1973. Since that time, I have not missed a year enjoying that special place. The interior of that park supports wonderful hiking and canoe tripping opportunities in a natural setting unique to Ontario.
From 1986 until 1995, I was a volunteer ranger at the park. The interior staff worked hard to maintain the trails, portages and campsites. We also enforced park rules. I was happy to give back to the place that I loved.
I moved to Sudbury in 2004 and one of the reasons was to be closer to Killarney. I enjoyed canoe tripping, hiking and camping as before but had the ability to complete day trips since I am only an hours drive away. I noticed a steady decline in interior management and enforcement. Now it is close to zero. This year lake levels are low not only from the lack of rainfall but mostly from failure to maintain key dams the worst is the one that maintains the level of Freehand Lake. The water is so low that the start of the portage into Killarney Lake is a quagmire of mud and logs. The solution would be to restore the dam at Freehand so water levels could rise one metre. There is not money for that. The campground is the priority now because interior maintenance and enforcement costs money.
The former Crown Jewel of the Ontario Parks System is no more. The main entry way George Freehand and Killarney lakes are more and more difficult to access. I blame all the governing parties who help power from 1995 to present. The Ford Government is the worst. His values are not mine. I am asking you, are his values ok with you?
As a former seasonal park naturalist for over 20 years, I struggled through and put in my 2 cents about the lack of perspective and insight I could see in the planning and development of new innitiatives. My feeling became that the higher-ups (superintendents and assistant super’ts) In my survey of others in my position it became clear that most of these people got there largelyby kissing azz and not really thinking critically about the places and here purposes and the service they were supposed to provide. They seemed to have an “All change is good” mentality regardless of its impact on the values at hand. I came back to my job many seasons to be disillusioned about some “new improvement”. I love nature and people and wanted to help people reconnect with their senses and emotions in natural spaces so they would be inspired, love learning about it and identify and connected and implored to protect it. Call me idealistic and if I die on these ideals I will be proud. After years of trying to work with it I found myself more in a fight against a system that eroded my faith in the system as it eroded the tools and resources and places that gave me the ability to do the good work that management, ironically kept telling me was “so important”.
None of this is surprising as the Ford Government is a kind of bulldozer itself. As has been pointed out, it is not a real government but a lobby group in power. It’s number one objective is to open up all of Ontario for housing development, and especially to break into the Greenbelt, and other specifically protected areas.