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3.0 Sharing the Vision
The Big Picture vision for a healthy and sustainable Carolinian
Canada will become real only if it is shared - by government agencies at
all levels; by landowners and land managers; and by the people who live
here. In a sense, we are asking groups and individuals to "Think
regionally, Act locally" in their daily decisions.
Informing the residents of Carolinian Canada about the Big Picture
vision - in schools, community groups, even one-on-one - is an essential
component of this communication. But that education process can be
hastened if the vision is also embedded in a wide range of plans,
strategies, and actions that influence how the land base is used in the
future. Encouraging agencies to include Big Picture thinking in
their own agendas, and to work in partnerships towards coordinated
actions, will do much to advance the vision as quickly as possible.
Recognize The Distinctive Needs of Carolinian
Canada
While the Carolinian Canada program has done an excellent job of
increasing recognition of the concentration of threatened species and
habitats in this area, and of the intensity of the threats to their
future, this recognition has not yet been adopted formally in government
policies or programs.
In other jurisdictions, it is not uncommon to provide special designations
for ecologically important and threatened landscapes, as a basis for joint
planning, regulations, or incentives. The New Jersey Pine Barrens, for
example, an oasis of rare species covering over 1 million acres, has been
the subject of special federal and state designation since 1979, and now
has a comprehensive management plan and a land use Commission to protect
its biodiversity (see webpage http://www.state.nj.us/pinelands/
). In England, 22 Environmentally Sensitive Areas are identified on over
1.1 million ha of mostly private lands, where farmers can enter into
voluntary agreements for annual payments for conservation activities
(England Rural Development Programme, 2000). France uses a similar
designation to target agri-environmental programs in sensitive natural
landscapes such as the Pyrenees (DGVI Commission, 1998).
A Carolinian Canada Regional Conservation Strategy
The Ontario Government could develop a regional conservation
and land use strategy for all or parts of Carolinian Canada.
Where land use conflicts threaten special ecological and scenic values,
the Province has acted in the past to protect those values. One
long-standing example of this Provincial action is the Niagara Escarpment
(which overlaps with a section of Carolinian Canada), where a special land
use plan and a Provincially-appointed Commission with powers to control
development have been established. Within the past year, the Province has
also passed legislation to protect the Oak Ridges Moraine, along with a
land use plan for that sensitive area (Ontario, 2001c). The Ministry of
Natural Resources has also initiated integrated planning for a mix of
public and private lands along the Great Lakes Heritage Coast, in
recognition of the special values and threats within that landscape
feature (Chudleigh, 2001). Indeed, the first Carolinian Canada program was
a form of a regional conservation strategy sponsored by the province.
In each of these cases, a mix of strategies was used - both
"carrots" and "sticks." Land use controls are in place
in the Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine. In both those areas a
program of education, private land stewardship, research and incentives
are also in place.
The $28 million Niagara Escarpment Land Acquisition and Stewardship
Program funded acquisition, stewardship, public education projects for 12
years. The proposed $15+ million Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation will do the
same. Natural areas under each plan are, or will be, recognized under the
Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program (CLTIP). The Great Lakes Heritage
Coast proposals also offer "educational stewardship services and
incentives to encourage landowners to protect habitats and ecological
functions" (Chudleigh 2000).
In theory, the Ontario Government could also introduce new Provincial
land use controls across the entire span of Carolinian Canada, either
through new legislation or by using its authority under such existing
legislation as the Ontario Planning and Development Act. In
practice, however, this step appears unlikely and perhaps even
counter-productive. Another option would be for the Province to modify its
natural heritage policies under the Planning Act to provide
different and stronger rules for the Carolinian Canada region, in the same
way that those policies now differentiate between Canadian Shield and
off-Shield regions. Strongly encouraging municipalities and conservation
authorities to develop inter-linking regional natural heritage strategies
would be yet another approach.
A new provincial partnership strategy, encompassing land use policies,
public education, private land stewardship, incentives and land securement,
could be well suited to the Carolinian zone. Such a program could even be
concentrated in some sections of Carolinian Canada with particular
potential or special needs, based on low forest cover, poor water quality
and the Big Picture analysis. So, for example, a program of
policies, education, stewardship and incentives might be tailored to
assist conservation of existing natural areas and restoring riparian and
other ecological corridors in areas with forest cover of less than 10% or
with the most degraded watercourses. A similar approach is taken in the
U.S. Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) where funding is
directed primarily to watersheds with poor water quality (Vysatova and
Greenberg, 2000).
Special Consideration through the Smart Growth
Initiative
The Ontario Government could provide special recognition of
Carolinian Canada through its Smart Growth initiative.
During 2001, the Government of Ontario undertook consultations on a
made-in-Ontario strategy for Smart Growth - a concept that involves
managing growth to achieve a strong economy, strong communities, and a
healthy environment (Ontario, 2001a). Subsequently, the Province has
proposed to establish five regionally-based Smart Growth management
councils--three now set up, with a mandate to develop integrated
management plans, including strategies to protect significant natural
systems (Ontario, 2001b). These plans could include strategies for defined
sub-regions. As the Smart Growth management councils and plans emerge,
this integrated approach to regional issues could provide an excellent
opportunity to boost the formal level of recognition for the Carolinian
Canada area and the Big Picture concept.
Southcentral Region Natural Heritage Strategy
The Ministry of Natural Resources could address the special
needs of Carolinian Canada within its Natural Heritage Strategy for
Southcentral Region.
In March of 2001, MNR produced a draft version of a natural heritage
strategy to guide its future activities in the broad region south of the
French River corridor (OMNR, 2001a). This document seeks to clarify and
integrate the Ministry's role in Southcentral Ontario, and refers to such
tools as Integrated Landscape Planning & Natural Heritage Systems, and
Regional Conservation Plans. While the draft document includes many
valuable concepts, such as viewing protection and conservation of natural
heritage features and areas as part of a larger natural landscape, it does
not recognize the differing characteristics and needs among the three
broad site regions (5E, 6E, 7E) included under the Strategy.
Doing so would greatly strengthen the usefulness of the Natural
Heritage Strategy, and would provide an opportunity to examine more
closely the special role that MNR could play in promoting the Big
Picture concept for Carolinian Canada. For example, proposing a
Regional Conservation Plan for the Carolinian zone (7E) could provide a
useful framework to coordinate MNR efforts to conserve the region's
ecosystems.
Multi-Species Approaches to Species-at-Risk Recovery
In the past, conservation activities have often focused on one species at
a time. For example, recovery plans for endangered species typically
relate to a single species. Carolinian Canada, however, contains a large
number of species at risk, concentrated into relatively small remnant
fragments of natural habitat. In this part of the province at least, a
more integrated approach to focus on endangered habitat types and their
associated species could be more efficient and more beneficial. Such an
approach would almost certainly highlight the importance of the core areas
and corridors identified through the Big Picture project.
Some progress towards a more integrated approach is already evident.
The Canadian Wildlife Service is sponsoring a broad-scale recovery plan
for Pelee Island, which is home to more than 20 nationally listed plant
and animal species at risk. On the Sydenham River, which hosts an
exceptional concentration of native mussels and other aquatic species at
risk, a joint federal-provincial program has developed a recovery strategy
based on an ecosystem approach, which seeks to address the cumulative
effects of many interacting stresses (see EBR Registry Number PB02E6002).
Perhaps the best example of integrated recovery work is Tallgrass
Ontario, an organization devoted to conserving and restoring prairie and
savanna communities, which mostly occurred in the Carolinian Canada
region, and which have an abundance of associated rare species. This
organization, which hosts forums and educational events and carries out
landowner contact, is sponsored by MNR and several private foundations. On
a broader scale, the Great Lakes Wetlands Conservation Action Plan,
coordinated by Environment Canada but involving many organizations,
provides a focus on coastal wetland areas.
Recovery Strategies for Multiple Species
MNR, CWS and other organizations involved in species conservation
and recovery could identify other themes for recovery strategies to
involve multiple species.
Beyond the work already underway, this kind of integrated approach may
be well suited to such critically endangered Carolinian habitats as forest
interiors, wetlands and coldwater stream habitats.
Landscape- and Watershed-Level Planning Tools
Most planning processes focus primarily at the site level, or on
relatively small areas of land. The Big Picture process
recognized the need to look beyond small isolated "islands of
green" to an interconnected system of terrestrial and aquatic
habitats. That same message needs to be repeated, wherever possible, in
various planning approaches that will gradually influence the way that
agencies and landowners view the landscape.
A true ecosystem approach is needed, integrating terrestrial habitat
planning and aquatic, watershed and water quality approaches. Watershed
planning and natural heritage systems or greenlands planning efforts take
this integrated ecological approach. These approaches are similar and
complementary in how natural area conservation is addressed.
Watershed and subwatershed planning in their comprehensive approaches
generally address the creation of an interlinked natural areas system and
also link terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem management (Ministry of the
Environment and Energy and Ministry of Natural Resources. 1993a, b, c). In
1997, voluntary implementation of watershed planning was recommended by
the Watershed Planning Implementation Project Management Committee (1997).
But times have changed--and the post-Walkerton, post-Val Gibbons report,
Smart Growth era policy environment may be more favourable to broader
implementation of watershed planning.
The "Managing the Environment" report (Val Gibbons) stressed
the need for watershed and other "place-based" approaches. The
new Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan will require watershed planning.
The Walkerton Inquiry Part II report may also have some ideas regarding
watershed planning (see for example Conservation Ontario 2001).
Natural heritage system planning or greenlands planning (Riley and Mohr
1994; OMNR, 1999) adopts a similar comprehensive approach to natural
systems but focuses more particularly on natural heritage features and
functions.
Another example of this kind of thinking is the Man and Biosphere
program, sponsored by UNESCO, which emphasizes a tiered approach with
sensitive natural areas protected in reserves, surrounded by a gradation
to more active human-use areas. Biosphere Reserves are currently in place
on the Niagara Escarpment and the Long Point basin. Other recent planning
exercises, such as the Lake Ontario Greenway Strategy, also promote
recognition of the importance of natural connections, and natural
processes such as sand transported along lakeshores by wave action.
A Lake Erie Marine Conservation Area & Greater
Park Ecosystem Planning
Parks Canada and other agencies could further promote and
implement greater ecosystem planning concepts and a marine conservation
area for Lake Erie.
Parks Canada has been among the first to recognize the vulnerability of
relatively small National Parks such as Point Pelee to the ecological
effects of habitat isolation. As a result, studies have been carried out
on the "greater ecosystem" beyond the park boundaries, along
with discussions on how this federal agency could influence land use
patterns in a positive way and promote improved habitat connections. For
example, restoring a connection over time between the marshlands of Point
Pelee and those of Hillman Marsh just a few kilometres away would yield
many ecological benefits. The same kind of "thinking beyond the
boundaries" could be encouraged for National Wildlife Areas (such as
Long Point and St. Clair), provincial parks, and conservation areas with
significant habitats. These areas form many of the core natural areas
identified in the Big Picture.
The ecological importance of the Great Lakes waters, islands, and
shorelines is well-established, but to date only Lake Superior is
well-advanced in establishing a marine conservation area. Parks Canada is
committed to identifying and establishing similar reserves in all five
Great Lakes. A marine conservation reserve in the western basin of Lake
Erie, for example, would recognize that area's high levels of aquatic
productivity, diverse shorelines, and islands with many rare species and
communities.
Great Lakes Programs
Binational and federal-provincial programs to restore the Great
Lakes offer opportunities to restore habitats and biodiversity.
Binational Lakewide Management Plans (LaMPs) are well underway for both
Lake Ontario and Lake Erie (Lake Erie LaMP, 2000, 2002; Lake Ontario LaMP,
2000, 2001). These plans are oriented towards restoring any beneficial use
impairments (such as water quality and healthy fish communities in the
lakes). They are based on an ecosystem approach, and also consider habitat
conditions and needs within the tributary watersheds. For example, a
modeling exercise for the Lake Erie LaMP determined that land use has a
major impact on the lake ecosystem (Colavechhia et al., 2001). A recent
report for the Canadian watershed of Lake Ontario (Reid, 2001) documents
habitat status and trends in that area. The LaMP processes for Lake Erie
and Lake Ontario, as well as a future binational process for Lake Huron,
provide important opportunities to incorporate the Big Picture
results into a set of strategic plans that will guide government
priorities for some time to come.
Remedial Action Plans (RAPs) also work to restore beneficial use
impairments within the six Areas of Concern within Carolinian Canada - St.
Clair River, Detroit River, Wheatley Harbour, Niagara River, Hamilton
Harbour, and Toronto. RAPs typically consider water quality and habitat
issues within the immediate watersheds feeding into each Area of Concern,
and provide a focal point for federal funding for restoration activities.
Habitat targets relating to riparian buffers, upland and wetland habitats
are often included as delisting criteria for these AOCs, and RAPs
encourage habitat restoration through natural heritage strategies and
watershed report cards (North-South Environmental, 2001; website http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/glimr/raps/Ontario)
Conservation Ontario is also promoting a Healthy Great Lakes program
which would support habitat restoration and other projects along the Great
Lakes shore outside of these RAP sites.
Inter-Linking Municipal Natural Heritage
Strategies
Municipalities and conservation authorities have the mandate to
develop comprehensive natural heritage strategies within their
jurisdictions.
In recent years, some Counties and Regions have been moving from the
traditional approach of identifying isolated Environmentally Sensitive
Areas in their Official Plans to the development of interconnected natural
heritage systems (Community Development Group Ltd., 1999). While progress
has been uneven, municipalities such as Hamilton-Wentworth have led the
way. Conservation authorities also participate strongly in this area,
producing such plans as the Essex Region Biodiversity Strategy.
Conservation authority watershed plans and sub-watershed plans usually
include development of local natural heritage systems (MOEE and MNR 1993a,
b, c).
Recent initiatives such as the Middlesex County Natural Heritage Study
are cooperative projects between the municipality and its corresponding
conservation authorities (see webpage
). These strategies have the potential to use the results of the Big
Picture project directly, together with local information and
priorities. If all municipalities and conservation authorities completed
inter-linking natural heritage strategies, together these would provide a
region-wide system. Carolinian Canada's Big Picture data would
provide a useful starting point for these regional strategies.
In many municipalities, development proposed within an environmentally
sensitive area requires Development Assessment Reports or Environmental
Impact Studies to determine what conditions are necessary to protect
natural features and functions. In most cases, the guidelines which direct
these studies require information and analysis only at the site specific
level. These guidelines could be modified to require the consideration of
landscape-level effects of development as well, particularly effects on
natural cores and connectivity.
Pilot Restoration Projects
Pilot restoration strategies could take components of Big
Picture results into implementation steps.
The Big Picture provides a framework for conservation activities
in Carolinian Canada, but more detailed strategies are essential to
protect and restore individual core areas and corridors. A few projects of
this kind of implementation strategies are underway, which could serve as
examples elsewhere in the region. Within the Long Point Conservation
Authority watershed, efforts are underway to re-establish connections
among remaining blocks of woodland. The Thames Talbot Land Trust, in
cooperation with the City of London and the Upper Thames Conservation
Authority, has recently undertaken detailed planning of the Dingman Creek
corridor south of London, which would provide a natural corridor linking
Komoka Provincial Park and Dorchester Swamp. The large-scale wetland
restoration at Lake St. Clair wetlands, under the Eastern Habitat Joint
Venture, is one of the largest efforts of its kind in the region.
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