Newfoundland and Labrador is the worst province in Canada for protecting public land, conservationists say.
N.L. worst in Canada for protecting public land, conservationists say
This land is your land, say Newfoundland conservationists, but the provincial government is leaving that land unprotected.
“It’s a development or bust mentality,” said Douglas Ballam, volunteer board member for Nature Newfoundland and Labrador and a longtime conservationist. “It might as well be the 1950s. Protected areas are seen as a liability by some administrations. They’re seen as a negative on the balance sheet, as if you’re taking that land away from potential economic development.”
Newfoundland and Labrador was once a leader in protecting public land but now lags the rest of the country, said John D. Jacobs, a retired Memorial University geography professor who works on conservation issues for Nature NL and the Newfoundland and Labrador branch of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.
“We have a history going back to almost Confederation of really establishing parks and valuing them and the open space and wilderness that we have and the recreational opportunities, and an appreciation of that in early days, “We were well on our way to being on outstanding jurisdiction in terms of parks.”
Jacobs cites the 1980 Newfoundland and Labrador Wilderness and Ecological Reserves Act as an example. Following the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, the province — like the rest of Canada and countries around the world — was moving toward a strategy to increase the amount of protected land from four per cent to 12 per cent by the year 2000, but has since stalled.
“All the other provinces seemed to have a protected areas strategy by now, but we’re still working on ours. It’s just hung up,” he said. “At the same time, through the ’90s, there was a consolidation, a closing of parks, a privatization of parks, and really, very few new protected areas of any kind, ecological reserves created.”
About 18,500 square kilometres of Newfoundland and Labrador is protected, about 4.6 per cent of the province. Both New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have lower percentages, but Ballam said much more land in those provinces is already privately owned and can’t be protected.
Ballam points to the deregulation of 56 (out of 77) parks in the ’90s as a low point.
“They weren’t privatized, they were deregulated,” he said. “They were no longer under the Parks Act. Fifty-six protected areas were wiped off the map in the ’90s when the rest of the world was accelerating, was protecting more areas.”
A government spokeswoman told The Telegram, Dan Crummell, provincial minister of environment and conservation, wasn’t available for an interview, but she provided an emailed statement that said the government is working on completing a “natural areas system plan.”
“The plan is fundamental to sustainable development and effective management of our renewable natural resources,” reads the statement from Tina Coffey, on Crummell’s behalf. “There are a number of factors that must be taken into consideration when developing a plan for appropriate land use and conservation in the province, and a balance must be struck that promotes sustainability.”
The statement notes last month’s announcement of Mistaken Point designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, as well as work being done to establish a national park reserve in Labrador’s Mealy Mountains.
Jacobs says he thinks people are increasingly concerned about government inaction on conservation.
“I think we’ve got a new generation coming on that’s maybe going to regain some of this lost ground.
Ballam, however, isn’t so sure, and says the province has a very strong mining lobby.
“I see no indication in terms of political will,” he said.
“The current administration actually promised to release the plan, the strategy, for the last couple of elections. But there hasn’t been enough public outcry, so they’re not moving forward on that whatsoever. … There’s no groundswell.”