Stretching across more than 361 square kilometres of rich and diverse habitats, the Gatineau Park is one of the largest and most ecologically important parks in the Ottawa Valley. Lying in the transition zone between the Boreal Forest of the Canadian Shield to the North and the eastern temperate forest of the St. Laurence Lowlands to the south, it provides a unique opportunity for plants and animals which would not normally co-exist, to find a common home. This rare ecosystem also means the Gatineau Park is home to the greatest number of endangered species of any park in the province of Quebec.
Easily accessible from both Ottawa and Gatineau, the Gatineau Park offers a wide range of recreational activities, including hiking, skiing, biking and camping as well as the many benefits of simply spending time in nature to visitors and to the local community.
Sadly, this well-love and ecologically significant park is under threat of development and industrialisation.
Without the proper legislative protections afforded to national parks, the Gatineau Park is already seeing many areas being lost to housing projects, road creation and the expansion of recreational areas, threatening it’s ecological viability and unique biodiversity.
This is why CPAWS-OV are fighting to have the Gatineau Park granted full legislative protection, including boundaries set in an act of parliament. We are also pushing for an in depth and sustainable management plan that puts the incredible nature here at it’s core.
We want a thriving and resilient ecosystem, for both nature and people, that will stand the test of time.
The lack of a comprehensive land-use strategy for the surrounding lands and a buffer zone between the Gatineau Park and adjacent development is one of the greatest urbanization and development threats facing the park. This means when development is allowed to take place right next to the park boundary, species avoid the outer edges due to habitat fragmentation and human presence, effectively shrinking the size of the park in terms of its value to species. Urbanization and development threaten to destroy this vital habitat for close to 90 endangered plant and 60 endangered animal species.
The Gatineau Park provides habitats for 27% of all plant and vertebrate animals found in Canada, and more than 40% of those found in Quebec and Ontario. These species depend on protected biodiversity to survive long-term.
We are calling on Parliament to:
We are calling on bordering municipalities to:
We are calling on the National Capital Commission to:
For more information on Gatineau Park’s incredible ecology and our thoughts on how it should be cared for to ensure it’s viability please read our Gatineau Park report.
It has been over 15 years since the National Capital Commission published their Gatineau Park Ecological Conservation Plan outlining how they will conserve and protect the rich biodiversity present here, specifying how it is to be managed first of all for nature conservation.
We are now calling for the NCC to review and renew their plan and have sent in comments and suggestions to help ensure a future plan would work harder to look nature in the Gatineau Park.