Federation of Ontario Naturalists’ Annual General Meeting

Conference Introduction

Carolinian Canada has proposed the "Big Picture", which is a bioregional network of natural core areas and connecting habitat links producing a natural heritage system that can sustain the full range of plants and animals native to this region while it nurtures the health and wealth of our human population. Carolinian Canada is the most threatened landscape in Ontario and it will take time, patience and the sustained efforts of many groups and individuals to realize our goal.

The Friday, May 31 sessions were about solutions. We examined the conservation "toolkit" that we will require to bring about the Big Picture vision. The conference delegate package included a copy of "Practical Options for the Greening of Carolinian Canada", which is a critical survey of present and proposed means and mechanisms for achieving a significant increase in the size and quality of natural areas in Carolinian Canada (also available at www.carolinian.org). Our expert speakers shared their knowledge of some specific measures that can be employed to secure a healthy future.

Conference Details

WELCOME TO TAKING FLIGHT: FROM THE HEART OF CAROLINIAN CANADA

Jim Faught, Federation of Ontario Naturalists

8:50 – 9:00 am

Morning Plenary Session

A Vision for Conserving & Restoring Carolinian Ecosystems

Moderator, Paul Smith, Chair, Carolinian Canada Coalition

Keynote Speaker, Ric Symmes

9:00 – 10:00 am

The Carolinian zone is Ontario’s most threatened natural region and needs a bold strategy to reverse the trends of declining ecological health. The Carolinian Canada Coalition has developed a set of proposals aimed at conserving and restoring Carolinian ecosystems. Ric Symmes will present the key elements of the discussion paper "Practical Options for the Greening of Carolinian Canada" and challenge the audience to discuss and improve these proposals in today’s concurrent sessions.

Ric Symmes will be well known to most participants; he has been both the Chair of Carolinian Canada and Executive Director of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists. Ric has also been an advocate for nature though the Living Legacy process and the Oak Ridges Moraine debate. In both instances his patient and pragmatic approach has yielded great gains for the environment.

[View Power Point presentation]

Concurrent Sessions

Conservation Science

(AM, PM1, PM2)

Conservation ecology has shown us the need for regions like the Carolinian zone to have systems of large, unfragmented, high quality habitat areas linked to other such areas by habitat corridors. This approach is embodied in the "Big Picture" core and corridor proposals. The three sessions within this theme address the questions: "How do we establish ecological restoration goals?", "How do we implement these goals?", and "How do we know if we are being successful?"

A – Bioregional Planning

Moderator: Bill Stephenson, Parks Canada

"Cheshire Puss, would you tell me, please, which way I ought to walk from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the cat.
"I don’t much care where," said Alice
"Then it doesn’t matter which way you walk," said the cat. - Lewis Carroll

In Carolinian Canada, conservation of existing natural areas is not adequate to reverse declines in ecological health. Bioregional planning using sophisticated computer modeling can identify irreplaceable features of our landscape and also the best bets for restoration to connect, enlarge and protect the existing core areas. How do these bioregional models improve on existing techniques for natural heritage planning? How can these tools be used at the regional and local level?

John Riley, Director of Conservation Science, Nature Conservancy of Canada

Madeline Austen, Restoration Programs Officer, Canadian Centre for Inland Waters

B – Restoration Science

Moderator: John Ambrose, Canadian Botanical Association

While bioregional planning identifies conservation priorities across a large landscape, the real work of restoring and conserving natural heritage takes place hectare by hectare. In Carolinian Canada we face unique challenges due to the extent of sites’ alteration and the presence of species at risk that require specific attention. How can an ecological approach to site restoration be adapted to large-scale landscape restoration? How can re-vegetation efforts be implemented to best benefit species-at-risk?

Tyler Smith, Royal Botanical Gardens

Steve Bowcott, Manager, Species at Risk project, Ontario MNR

C – Ecological Monitoring

Moderator: Alice Casselman, Association for Canadian Educational Resources

The restoration of Carolinian Canada will to take generations of effort. Over this time we need to improve our conservation and restoration approaches to incorporate new knowledge. Effective monitoring is critical to adapt our programs. The presentations will examine the federal and provincial role in monitoring and the importance of environmental non-government organizations in providing an independent viewpoint. How are Carolinian ecosystems being monitored now? How will we know if ecological health improves?

Trevor Kellar, Manager, Inventory, Management and Assessment Review project, OMNR

Hague Vaughan, Ph.D. Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network, Environment Canada

Kevin Kavanagh, World Wildlife Fund Canada

Securing A Legacy

(AM, PM1, PM2)

"What your father can hardly remember, you will not miss. What you now take for granted, or what is slowly disappearing, your children, not having known, cannot lament" (D.F. Kozlovsky)

Many core natural areas in Carolinian Canada are privately owned and while many will remain so, efforts to secure selected key areas should be a priority. To secure key areas identified in the "Big Picture system" we will need a wide range of tools. Options to secure land include public ownership, conservation easements, management agreements, voluntary stewardship and recognition programs and even public education.

A – Securement I

Moderator: Andrea Kettle, Federation of Ontario Naturalists

Public agencies have a long history of acquiring land to protect habitat and use of a variety of stewardship techniques. The Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, now has new Species-at-Risk legislation to support action, as well as other tools such as National Wildlife Areas, eco-gifts and habitat stewardship. How will these be used to best advantage to conserve Carolinian wildlife?

Ontario’s Conservation Authorities have been cornerstones of habitat conservation for over 50 years and own or regulate many key Carolinian habitats. Current constraints offer many challenges to Authorities in acquiring land, assisting landowners and in other programs. How have Authorities adapted and what improvements would best assist their work in land securement and other programs?

Rick Pratt, Manager, Canadian Wildlife Resource Management, Canadian Wildlife Service

Bob Edmundson, Director of Watershed Management, Conservation Halton

B – Securement II

Moderator: Michelle Kanter, Nature Conservancy of Canada

Governments and private conservation groups have increasingly been working together to secure conservation lands. Ontario Parks Legacy 2000 and the new Ecological Land Acquisition Program are examples of this cooperation. While public lands like Provincial Parks are a small part of Carolinian Canada, they contain many of the most important natural areas. These public lands are core areas in the "Big Picture" vision and park managers are increasingly involved in landscape conservation to maintain park integrity. Protected public lands are increasingly complemented by private conservation lands held by naturalist clubs and land trusts. How are key Carolinian habitats assessed for priority in land securement currently? How can conservation programs adapt to better secure key Carolinian habitats?

Adair Ireland-Smith, Director, Ontario Parks

Chris Baines, Land Securement Coordinator, Ontario Nature Trust Assistance Program

C – Land Use Planning

Moderator: Mary Ellen Scanlon, Ontario Professional Planners Institute

A big challenge in conserving habitat is managing growth of urban areas and development in rural areas. Our municipalities have potential to be an enormous force for good land use – or bad. The Planning Act, Provincial Planning Policy, Official Plans, Environmental Advisory Committees and Ontario Municipal Board all affect our natural heritage. Some approaches in the new Oak Ridges Moraine plan may offer models for Carolinian Canada. New initiatives such as Smart Growth and municipal Greenlands Strategies offer excellent opportunities for change, if designed and implemented well. But how will these initiatives improve conservation in Carolinian Canada?

Ed Sajecki, Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of Municipal Affairs

Linda Pim, Federation of Ontario Naturalists

Conservation Incentives and Stewardship

(AM, PM1, PM2)

Carolinian Canada is primarily a privately owned landscape and conservation goals will need to be met through cooperation with landowners. Time and again, in jurisdictions across North America and Europe, private land conservation incentives have proved effective. Incentive programs are equitable in that conservation benefits are enjoyed by society while the "burden" of conservation activity falls upon individual landowners. Landowners have embraced incentive programs and the conservation benefit is usually well in excess of the cost of the program.

A – Conservation Incentives I

Moderator: Nancy Walther, Ontario Federation of Agriculture

73% of Carolinian Canada’s land area is involved in one of the world’s most productive agricultural economies. Conservation measures that do not also meet the needs and aspirations of the farm community are almost certainly doomed to fail. Fortunately, there are a variety of incentive programs—some in current practice in Ontario, proposed or in place in other jurisdictions—that are effective, and enjoy farmer support.

Andrew Graham, Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association

Max Schnepf, Coordinator, USDA National Conservation Buffer Initiative

B – Conservation Incentives II

Moderator: Jo-Anne Rzadki, Hamilton-Halton Watershed Stewardship Program

Property tax incentives for conservation land and "managed forests" have been in place for over a decade. Rural Water Quality Programs in some parts of Ontario help finance restoring stream and river corridors—as does the Community Wildlife and Fisheries Improvement Program.

New financial incentives for tree planting are also possible to finance removing carbon from the atmosphere to lessen climate change. Ducks Unlimited is seeking a nation-wide land retirement incentive program to restore riparian and wetland areas.

MNR’s Stewardship Councils, Conservation Authorities and other groups also provide a variety of supports for conservation actions by private landowners. How can improvements to existing programs and new measures be packaged into a comprehensive approach to make private landowners full partners in Carolinian conservation?

Peter Wallace, Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of Natural Resources

Ron Reid, Bobolink Enterprises

C – The Threats of Climate Change and Invasive Species

Moderator: Jim Oliver, Long Point Region Conservation Authority

Natural systems are dynamic and conservation planning must cope with challenges to our goal of restoration. This session examines threats of invasive, non-native species and climate change. These factors not only affect existing natural areas but present special challenges to restoration and rehabilitation projects.

Beth McEwen, Urban Forestry Coordinator, City of Toronto

Don MacIver, Senior Science Advisor on Climate Change, Environment Canada

What Next? Action for Tools to Conserve and Restore Carolinian Ecosystems

Moderator, Paul Smith, Chair, Carolinian Canada Coalition

(4:15 – 4:45 pm)

(Community Centre) (A)

Summary of Today’s Discussions

Ron Reid provided a brief summary of discussions in the concurrent sessions and recommendations outlined during the day.

The Last Word: What Next?

Jim Faught, Executive Director, FON outlined key issues for the FON in promoting new and improved tools for conserving and restoring Carolinian Canada. Conference participants were challenged to identify for themselves, the role that they can play in making the Big Picture a reality.

[View Power Point presentation]