Approved Land Use Strategy > Parks & Prtected Areas
2.0 COMPLETING ONTARIO'S SYSTEM OF PARKS AND PROTECTED AREAS
Parks and protected areas achieve a range of objectives, including protection of natural and cultural heritage values, and the provision of opportunities for outdoor recreation, heritage appreciation, and tourism. The current planning process has focused on identifying areas that contribute to the representation of the spectrum of the province's ecosystems and natural features, including both biological and geological features, while minimizing impacts on other land uses. Some new protected areas with significant recreational values have also been identified as a result of suggestions by the public. The addition of the protected areas that are recommended for regulation will complete the Provincial Parks system within the planning area and protect 12.0 percent of the land and water base. All recommended sites have been placed under interim protection pending formal regulation.
Table 1 summarizes the existing and recommended protected areas in the Land Use Strategy planning area.
Table 1: Summary of the Protected Areas System in the Planning Area
|
Protected Area Designation |
Existing (#) |
New / Additions (#) |
Total Number |
Existing Area (ha) |
Net Area of New, Additions & Reclassifi-cations (ha) |
Total Area (ha) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Wilderness Provincial Park |
5 |
0 / 2 |
5 |
1,797,177 |
31,688 |
1,828,865 |
|
Natural Environment Provincial Park |
49 |
12 / 21 |
61 |
1,106,426 |
277,658 |
1,384,084 |
|
Waterway Provincial Park |
24 |
37 (-1) / 13 |
60 |
333,128 |
578,279 |
911,407 |
|
Nature Reserve Provincial Park |
67 |
13 / 7 |
80 |
83,743 |
18,711 |
102,454 |
|
Recreation Provincial Park |
37 |
0 (-1) / 2 |
36 |
30,234 |
1,853 |
32,087 |
|
Historical Provincial Park |
3 |
1 / 0 |
4 |
1,858 |
5,163 |
7,021 |
|
Total Provincial Parks |
185 |
61 / 45 |
246 |
3,352,566 |
913,352 |
4,265,918 |
|
Conservation Reserves |
29 |
271/ 1 |
300 |
63,867 |
1,473,327 |
1,537,194 |
|
National Parks |
2 |
0 |
2 |
186,521 |
0 |
186,521 |
|
TOTAL |
216 |
332/ 46 |
548 |
3,602,954 |
2,386,679 |
5,989,633 |
Notes:
The Provincial Parks system has a set of park class targets that have been used as one factor in the selection of new Provincial Parks during the Lands for Life process. The park class targets are not ends in themselves, but rather they are a means of ensuring that new parks protect a sample of representative features throughout the province. These targets are to establish at least:
Site regions and site districts are units that subdivide the province into areas with similar ecological values. There are 8 site regions and 39 site districts which are entirely within the planning area, or where a significant portion falls into the planning area.
The park class targets have been achieved to the extent that is possible within the planning area given the nature of the values in specific areas, the extent of Crown land, and the other values that need to be considered in land allocation decisions. Consideration will continue to be given to the park class targets in planning for the portions of site regions and districts that extend beyond the Land Use Strategy planning area.
A planning and consultation process will be developed to consider future suggestions for areas that may provide improved representation of natural heritage features. Any potential protected areas will be subject to broad public consultation through a planning process.
The Strategy recommends the regulation of numerous new or expanded protected areas as either Provincial Parks or Conservation Reserves. Provincial Parks will be regulated under the Provincial Parks Act and will be assigned to one of six park classes: wilderness, natural environment, nature reserve, waterway, recreation, or historical. Each of the classes of park has a standard set of management policies and permitted uses. However, the Land Use Strategy outlines a number of exceptions to existing policy for parks within the Strategy's planning area (see Section 7.2.1).
A Conservation Reserve is a protected area designation that is regulated under the Public Lands Act. This designation permits many traditional land uses to continue while excluding activities such as commercial timber harvest, mining and hydroelectric development. Some exceptions to the uses permitted in Conservation Reserves are identified for those reserves within the Strategy's planning area (see Section 7.2.2).
The proposed boundaries of both the parks and Conservation Reserves will be refined before they are placed into regulation. This refinement will consider detailed ecological information and will attempt to locate regulated boundaries along features that can be identified on the ground. The boundary refinement process may result in modest increases or decreases in the sizes of the areas. Any existing commitments for the areas which were considered during the identification process will also be considered in this process. Some of these commitments are noted in the land use intent section of Appendix A.
The process for considering the regulation of new protected areas will provide for consultation with potentially affected stakeholders, particularly with respect to the refinement of the protected area boundaries. All of the recommended protected areas will be subject to interim protection policies by MNR and the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM), which will ensure that the identified values are not altered prior to regulation under the Provincial Parks Act or the Public Lands Act. MNR will need to meet appropriate Environmental Assessment Act requirements for the establishment and management of the new protected areas.
Over time, management planning documents will be prepared for all existing and new protected areas. Because of the number of recommended protected areas, the short- to medium-term priority will be the preparation of interim management statements for Provincial Parks and statements of conservation interest for Conservation Reserves. Planning priorities will be established based on available funding and an assessment of ecological significance, management issues, and public interest.
The establishment and management of protected areas will continue to be supported by the Ministry's commitment to managing the entire landscape in a way that supports ecological sustainability. This Strategy also outlines a number of new land use designations that contribute to the protection of significant natural features, thereby complementing the protected areas system.
Natural heritage features outside parks and conservation reserves will continue to receive consideration as a result of policies in forest management or special area plans, other policy direction (e.g., policies for provincially significant wetlands), or because they have existing regulated protection (e.g., Wilderness Areas Act areas). Where areas have been removed from resource management solely because of the potential for establishment of a park or conservation reserve, and this status has not been confirmed through a formal land use or resource planning process, these areas will be reinstated in the productive forest land base.
Since many significant natural heritage features occur on lands that MNR does not manage, particularly in the southern portion of the planning area, there is a need to involve a broad range of sectors in the protection and management of natural heritage values. The Ministry will continue to work with private landowners, municipalities, organizations and other agencies in support of the protection of significant features on private lands. The Ministry will also continue to work with other agencies that manage public lands with natural heritage values, in support of a coordinated approach to protected areas.
Next: Recognizing the Land Use Needs or Resource-Based Tourism
Modified: January 31, 2007