The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society released its fifth annual report Monday, showing an overall slowdown in creating new parks and protecting existing ones. But Nova Scotia is bucking the trend. “Here, we are making great progress creating new protected areas,” said Chris Miller, national conservation biologist with the Nova Scotia chapter of the society. “In Nova Scotia, this is a priority. Creating new protected areas is something this province has put a lot of attention to in the last couple of years.” In Atlantic Canada, the report said, Nova Scotia is well ahead of neighbouring jurisdictions in creating new protected areas. Newfoundland and Labrador has 4.5 per cent protection; New Brunswick, three per cent; and Prince Edward Island, 2.5 per cent. Earlier this year, the Nova Scotia government released a protected areas plan that will see over a quarter-million hectares of additional lands in the province dedicated for conservation. “For a small province, that is a really big number, and that’s something that is causing Nova Scotia to emerge as a leader in Canada for the protection of our wilderness,” Miller said. “With these new parks that are under consideration, we jump from the middle of the pack to second place, behind only British Columbia.” Nova Scotia’s plan includes protecting the St. Mary’s River, Eastern Shore islands, Kelly’s Mountain, Wentworth Valley and several expansions to the existing Tobeatic Wilderness Area, among other locations. When fully implemented, Nova Scotia’s protected areas plan will result in 13.7 per cent of the province dedicated to protected areas, up from 9.4 per cent. Should proposed changes take place, the province would be home to 205 provincial parks, 84 wilderness areas and 142 nature reserves. The report raises some red flags for the management of national parks in Nova Scotia. Last year, several of Canada’s national parks, including Kejimkujik, shut down winter services due to a $29.2-million reduction in federal funding. The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society “believes that these budget cuts and associated loss of ecosystem science capacity and visitor services is short-sighted, given the enormous benefit our national parks bring to all Canadians,” the report said. Last month, Sable Island was officially named a national park. It is the first national park in the middle of a petroleum field. Located 290 kilometres southeast of Halifax, the island is famous for its wild horses but also hosts hundreds of species of plants and wild birds. It is the only breeding ground for the Ipswich sparrow and a large breeding ground for the grey seal. Moving forward, the report recommends that Parks Canada develop an effective management plan for the Sable Island National Park Reserve that puts ecological integrity first. “The federal and provincial governments also need to develop clear directives to the offshore petroleum board that that national park is entirely off limits to oil and gas exploration,” the report said.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 17:40:11 +0000