Integrative Pest Management:

An innovative approach

The City of Medicine Hat strives to be a leading Canadian municipality in adopting the ideology and implementation of Integrative Pest Management (IPM). This practice to combat all invasive species, both foreign and domestic incorporates biological conservation, ecological sustainability and conventional tactics into one adaptive and innovative Best Management Practice (BMP).

Pests and weeds that may cause a significant threat to the City of Medicine Hat’s urban forest, natural environment and associated ecosystems are managed on a case by case basis. The City’s current IPM procedure promotes utilizing the best strategy and management practices to address a specific pest problem, which includes using pesticides when necessary.

The conventional mindset of spraying any and all undesirable species with large volumes of chemicals and at high frequency rates is no longer common practice. The new objective is to reduce potential adverse environmental and public health concerns while maintaining a balance with maintenance demands. Under the new strategy pests are to be properly identified, monitored, acted upon, treated and evaluated using the proactive practice.

The City of Medicine Hat is currently investigating innovative best management practices such as using steam instead of herbicides to control weeds in high sensitive areas such as near waterways or parks. This offers an effective compromise to managing weed populations in areas frequently inhabited by people within the City of Medicine Hat.

In 2014 the Parks and Recreation department ceased chemical applications in Central and Osborne Parks.

Also, all parks with a playground currently have a 30 meter spraying buffer surrounding them. Parks where pesticides are not used require approximately 23 hours of labor per acre per year within Medicine Hat. Currently, Parks and Recreation is considering introducing a public volunteer group to assist in weed control throughout the city.

Pesticide and herbicide chemicals will increase in concentration over time within our urban environment, due to continual use as well as increasing intensity as species develop a tolerance annually; therefore, bio accumulation becomes apparent and predator populations will be negatively impacted.

The City of Medicine Hat encourages all members of the public to implement a level of IPM within their own property. Hand pulling weeds or use of non-chemical methods will greatly reduce the environmental footprint as the City of Medicine Hat continues to be recognized as an innovative and environmentally sustainable city.

Doug Knowles is a parks technician with the City of Medicine Hat's Parks and Recreation Department.