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Study says Canada’s National Parks need more support; five ways to help

B is for Banff National Park, one of Canada's many preserved natural wonders. (Jim Trodel)

A new report that suggests Canada's national parks are getting short shrift from federal and provincial governments and suffering from the lack of support paints a concerning picture for the country's most beautiful landscapes.

The report from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) says challenges are mounting for national parks across the country, from limited investment to the creeping threat of industrialization of protected land.

“We’re most worried about the growing trend by governments to prioritize industrial and commercial interests over the long-term ecological, social and economic benefits of establishing and protecting Canada’s parks. Decisions are being made in many instances that ignore scientific evidence and public opinion,” CPAWS Parks Program Director Alison Woodley said in a statement.

CPAWS releases its "State of Canada's Parks" report every year, making note of the good and bad in Canadian parkland development. This year's report, "Losing Ground: Time to Embrace the True Value of Parks," notes that we continue to lose ground on creating and protecting parks.

Among the biggest disappointments were British Columbia's government amending its Park Act to allow boundary adjustments for pipeline and industrial developments. New Brunswick also agreed to open up previous wildlife and water conservation zones to J.D. Irving Ltd., a forestry company.

CPAWS also noted that funding cuts in 2012 continue to do damage to Parks Canada's science and conservation programs.

The situation is not without some positives, of course. Included in the group's report is a celebration that a plan to drill for oil inside Newfoundland's Gros Morne National Park was halted last fall.

Amid several delayed or stagnating to establish new parks, there was progress in Manitoba, where a massive park on the coast of Hudson's Bay was established, which will protect polar bears and other northern species.

The report includes recommendations on how to address specific concerns and issues, but a larger view is also important if the country is going to improve and protect its system of national parks. Here are a few ideas proposed by CPAWS and other groups committed to protecting Canadian ecology.

More appreciation from decision-makers

In its report, CPAWS noted that governments across the country are making "short-sighted decisions" that prioritize industrial and commercial interests over ecological and social benefit. "Give the overwhelming evidence of the value and benefits of nature conservation, for humans and every other species on the planet, government policy decision to protect more of our public land and water and ensure existing parks are well-protected should be an easy choice," the report states. More awareness of those benefits would surely help. The David Suzuki Foundation, for example, recently release a study that found daily exposure to nature improved personal well-being and happiness.

Better, focused Parks funding

The federal government's 2014 budget included a $391 million investment in the Parks Canada Agency to "protect and preserve Canada's rich natural heritage by making improvements to Canada's national parks." CPAWS was critical of the investment on two counts. One, that money is earmarked for infrastructure improvement, such as building dams and repairing roads and bridges, not on nature conservation. Two, the money is set to be dripped out over an extensive period of time; only $1 million is allocated for the 2014-15 fiscal year and $4 million is allocated for the following period. The rest will come at some point in the future.

Woodley recommends the federal government invest $40 million per year to fund conservation programs, such as reintroducing caribou and bison into Banff National Park, and creating six new national parks.

Expanding the parks system

The Green Budget Coalition has appealed for the government to expand the parks system by six new locations; the list of current possibilities include an area on the East Arm of Great Slave Lake in Northwest Territories, Nunavut's Bathurst Island and a region of British Columbia's Okanagan Valley.

Parks expansion is an idea supported by Nature Canada. The group is currently focused on advocating for four new parks: the Mealy Mountains in Newfoundland, the Yukon's Wolf Lake, the Manitoba Lowlands and Bathurst Island.

According to Nature Canada, we lag behind the U.S. in terms of how much land is considered protected area. Senior Communications Manager Paul Jorgenson said Canada should lead the world on that front.

“Canada’s network of parks and protected areas are an iconic aspect of Canada’s identity and a cherished part of our heritage,” Jorgenson told Yahoo Canada News. “Simply put: without nature, there is no Canada.”

Committing to promises

Canada currently has a promise, through the international Convention on Biological Diversity, to protect at least 17 per cent of the landscape by 2020, well above the approximately 10 per cent it currently protects. Yet no plan on how to achieve that goal was included in the National Conservation Plan for Canada. "A road map to achieving this protected areas target is urgently needed," CPAWS notes. A World Parks Congress being held in Sydney, Australia, in November is focused on assessing country's progress toward achieving that protected areas target, which should give Canada more reason to hit that mark.

Limit commercial development

The federal government is currently considering a proposal for a lakeside hotel in Jasper National Park, which would contravene park policy and, according to CPAWS, put a highly-endangered caribou herd at risk. This has led to petitions to protect the parkland, and three former senior Parks Canada staff sent a letter to Canada's Environment Minister calling for the government to reject the project.

“It is our view that the Canadian people, Jasper and other national park ecosystems and Parks Canada have nothing to gain and plenty to lose if this development is approved,” reads the letter from former Banff superintendent Kevin Van Tighem, former National Parks director general Nikita Lopoukhine and former chief ecosystem scientist Dr. Stephen Woodley.

Last year, Banff town council voted not to limit the number of chain stores it allowed. The decision prompted concern about the impact of over-development on the national park. Even a recent decision to introduce wireless internet service in some areas of the park was met with outrage.

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