Exploring cartography
All of Canada’s protected areas on one map
WWhen Prime Minister John A. Macdonald insisted in 1885 that the newly discovered Banff hot springs be kept out of private speculators’ hands so the government could “frame such regulations as will make the springs a respectable resort,” his reasons for establishing Canada’s first protected area were purely commercial. Nevertheless, the stage was set for the addition of numerous nature reserves left “unimpaired for future generations,” as the 1930 National Parks Act put it, and ecological integrity became the cardinal rule a few decades later. As of January 2017, Canada’s total network of more than 7,500 protected areas covers the equivalent of 11.5 per cent* of the nation’s landmass — an area the size of Spain and France combined — with more added every year. Outlined on this map,** these areas fall into six main categories between I (strict nature reserves) and VI (protected areas with sustainable use of natural resources), as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. More than 95 per cent of these national and provincial parks, wildlife areas, migratory bird sanctuaries, forest conservation reserves, marine reserves, privately owned natural areas and other land designations fall in categories I to IV, meaning no harvesting, mining or development is permitted. Of Canada’s provinces and territories, Nunavut (the largest by around half a million square kilometres) has the lion’s share of the country’s protected areas (21.4 per cent, covering 11.7 per cent of the territory), many of them spacious reserves such as the Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary and Quttinirpaaq National Park. Like Western Canada’s and Labrador’s mountain landscapes, intact Arctic wildernesses are well suited to conservation, while other regions, such as New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, are smaller, more widely developed and heavily agricultural, resulting in a low ratio of protected land area. Starting in the 1990s but especially as a key component of the Liberal government’s platform since 2015, marine conservation is now in the spotlight. Given that Canada’s current marine protection — including the ocean and Great Lakes portions of coastal terrestrial parks — adds up to 65,000 square kilometres (1.3 per cent of the nation’s marine area), the addition this year of potentially more than 100,000 square kilometres in the Arctic Ocean’s Lancaster Sound (see page 57) will go a long way in helping the feds reach their target of five per cent before the end of this year and 10 per cent by 2020.