The Road Ecology program aims to engage citizens to maintain and restore connections across landscapes, between parks and protected areas. Ensuring ecological integrity of natural ecosystems and preventing the decline of any species in the Ottawa Valley from road constructions and operations is one of our biggest goals.
It’s hard not to fall in love with the extraordinary biodiversity of Gatineau Park. This beautiful wilderness has 118 rare or endangered species, numerous wetlands, and 50 lakes!
Did you know? Gatineau Park is at risk!
You may be surprised to find out that Gatineau Park is a park in name only.
It’s hard not to fall in love with Gatineau Park. Rich in biodiversity, Gatineau Park is comprised of 361 square kilometers of wilderness, 118 rare or endangered species, and 50 lakes! Outdoor enthusiasts enjoy the opportunities that Gatineau Park provides for all sorts of activities, including hiking, cross-country skiing, cam
ping, paddling, and rock climbing.
Most of Gatineau Park belongs to the federal government and the National Capital Commission (NCC) manages the land, but it does not have the permanent legal protection provided to “real” national parks.
Without governing legislation and full parliamentary oversight, the same oversight given to all our Canadian national parks under the National Parks Act, portions of the park will continue to be subjected to use for housing development, the construction of shopping centres, and the creation of new roads as in the past.
Gatineau Park has the potential to become a core protected area within a much larger region that protects natural ecosystems and maintains viable populations of all native species. It is important that the lands surrounding the Park are properly managed to allow for corridors and connections with other natural areas.
CPAWS-OV is beginning a new project this winter to connect new Canadians and their families to nature. We will be doing a series of local activities such as hikes but will also organize a day trip to a sugar bush and other wilderness areas.
Let our knowledgeable guides and experienced staff and volunteers help your class or group learn about our spectacular local natural heritage through one of our education programs! We offer curriculum-linked education programs for elementary level students as well as lectures and presentations for other groups, including seniors, new Canadians, corporate groups and even universities. Contact us today to learn more!
CPAWS Ottawa Valley is pleased to offer you the opportunity to join us for a fascinating nature walk in a park near you! Our experienced guides will tailor a hike to suit your class or group’s needs and abilities. Whether it is an all-day hike in Gatineau Park or a short stroll along the boardwalks at Stony Swamp, our guides will be happy to provide a tour in which everyone learns something new!
Our programs are linked to the Environmental section of the Ontario School Curriculum and are perfect for school groups that are looking to learn more about our natural heritage while enjoying some of the region’s spectacular hiking trails. These excursions are also great opportunities for your group members to get to know each other even better and to improve group dynamics.
Our aim is to introduce outdoor ecological education (including biology, ecology, and geography) into elementary schools. We also would like to facilitate learning aspects about the environment in the outdoors to school students. This could easily be achieved by visiting interesting habitats and going on outings all in the Ottawa Valley.
We believe that it is impossible to truly grasp all the concepts of biology, ecology and geography just by staying in an indoor environment. The best way for students to understand those subjects is by giving them opportunities to explore and be hands on with the environment. By studying landscapes, minerals, plants and animals students will start to feel that the wildlife and wilderness are needed for us to live in harmony and are our responsibility to protect.
We support the Ontario School Curriculum by organizing hikes in various areas of Ottawa for school groups of up to 30 students. During our trips we don’t just teach students to understand life systems, but also give them opportunities to see, touch, taste, listen and interact with the wildlife (absolutely safe!!!) of the Ottawa Valley.
Our programs are available year-round. During the winter months we offer snowshoe excursions or winter hiking. Some of our favourite places include Green’s Creek, Mer Bleue, Stony Swamp, Mud Lake (a part of Lac Deschenes Important Bird Area), Petrie Island, Mac Skimming Outdoor Education Center, Foret-la-Blanche Ecological Reserve and of course Gatineau Park.
In addition to providing a knowledgeable local guide that is certified in wilderness first aid, we can also help organize transportation for your group and even provide a picnic lunch!
You can find more information on how each grade is linked to Ontario School Curriculum in the following links:
Please contact Elena Kreuzberg at 819-778-3355 or at ekreuzberg@cpaws.org for information on rates and availabilities. Be sure to visit our Facebook page to see photos from our latest hikes!
This project has been implemented by CPAWS Ottawa Valley with the financial support of the Telus Foundation and the Community Foundation of Ottawa
The international Two Countries, One Forest network recognizes the Restigouche as one of 5 critical ecological linkages in the northern New England / southern Quebec / Maritimes region. Yet, government has protected from development less than 3{763dcb28def876e1c302065d9d30c175c0542fc775c911caa33bb43751f04a6c} of the watershed in New Brunswick, leaving most areas open for mining, logging or new development proposals. Forest management plans show that most of the wildest areas of forest on Crown land will be logged within 5 to 10 years. This will remove habitat around salmon streams and for wildlife that need old forests.
Moose, black bears, American marten, fisher, bald eagles, barred owls, scarlet tanagers and numerous interior forest birds thrive amidst forest-covered hills, deep gorges and some of the most pristine rivers and streams in Eastern Canada.
Atlantic salmon – The Restigouche River and its tributaries support one of the most productive wild Atlantic salmon populations, with some of the largest salmon, in eastern Canada.
Canada lynx – Restigouche natural areas are home to critical populations of Canada lynx. The area provides a natural corridor for lynx to disperse for feeding and breeding between the Gaspé and northern Maine.
The provincial government created new Protected Natural Areas in 2014. This brought New Brunswick’s proportion of protected land up to 4.7{763dcb28def876e1c302065d9d30c175c0542fc775c911caa33bb43751f04a6c} of the province. The national average is 10{763dcb28def876e1c302065d9d30c175c0542fc775c911caa33bb43751f04a6c}.
At the same time, government removed conservation from more than one-quarter of our public land they used to manage to conserve fish, wildlife habitat and our rivers. The forestry industry has access to these previously conserved habitats for increased logging and clear-cutting. Researchers are very concerned that it will be difficult to conserve viable populations of all our wildlife under this plan.
The strategy puts at risk our cold-water rivers and their wild Atlantic salmon populations. Old forests in the headwaters of the Restigouche and Miramichi Rivers used to provide shady habitat, but now are open for increased clear-cutting.
At the same time, government will allow industry to double the amount of tree plantations, to occupy one-quarter of Crown forests. Tree plantations are NOT the same as old growth mixed forests, and take away habitat vital for the survival of native wildlife such as barred owls, flying squirrels and American marten.
For our forests to be resilient to climate change, we need to conserve diversity and natural forests. The current strategy is reducing natural diversity in forests and along waterways. This increases the risk new or increased pests and diseases, droughts, floods and fires will degrade our forests.
Fredericton – In its latest annual report on the state of protected areas in Canada, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is calling upon New Brunswick to step up efforts to protect more land by 2020. CPAWS’ 2017 report “From Laggard to Leader? Canada’s renewed focus on protecting nature could deliver results” calls Canada out for ranking last among G7 countries in the percentage of land and freshwater protected for conservation purposes, and encourages governments to conserve Canada’s natural heritage, starting by delivering on their international commitment. New Brunswick ranks 2nd to last among the Canadian provinces and territories.
With only 10.6{763dcb28def876e1c302065d9d30c175c0542fc775c911caa33bb43751f04a6c} of its landscape currently protected, Canada lags behind the global average of 15{763dcb28def876e1c302065d9d30c175c0542fc775c911caa33bb43751f04a6c}, and also trails other large countries such as China, Brazil, and Australia. In 2010, as part of a worldwide effort to stem the tide of biodiversity loss, Canada committed under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity to protecting at least 17{763dcb28def876e1c302065d9d30c175c0542fc775c911caa33bb43751f04a6c} of land and inland waters by 2020 and improving the quality of their protected area systems to more effectively conserve nature.
The report recognizes that Canadian governments are finally starting to take this commitment seriously after years of inaction. In February 2017, federal, provincial and territorial Ministers responsible for parks and protected areas publicly announced their commitment to work together to achieve this target. A new Pathway to 2020 process was initiated, and the Indigenous Circle of Experts and National Advisory Panel appointed to advise Ministers on this work.
“In New Brunswick, there has been no progress on working towards the national protected areas targets,” says Roberta Clowater, Executive Director of CPAWS New Brunswick. “There are steps that can be taken by the province immediately to help Canada reach our goals, including setting a target to increase protected areas, developing an action plan to 2020 and beyond, and protecting the Restigouche Wilderness Waterway.”
“With less than 3 years to fulfill our 2020 commitment, we need to get going now,” adds Hébert-Daly. “In the report we identify places across Canada where a considerable amount of work has already been done on proposed protected areas. By acting now to permanently protect these sites, while also planning for what’s needed to conserve nature in the long term, Canada has a chance to move from laggard to leader.”
Clowater adds, “The New Brunswick government could create a world-class wilderness tourism destination by establishing the Restigouche Wilderness Waterway – a wide protected corridor along the river, on Crown land. Currently, 97{763dcb28def876e1c302065d9d30c175c0542fc775c911caa33bb43751f04a6c} of the New Brunswick portion of the Restigouche watershed is open to development, and industrial development is eating away at the region’s wild forests and rivers year by year. By conserving this area’s special nature, promising ecotourism businesses could reliably promote a quality wilderness destination to nature-seeking tourists around the world.”
Protected areas are important to conserve wildlife and wilderness, as well as provide clean air and water for all Canadians, store carbon, and play a major role in improving our health and well-being. They also make economic sense. Protected areas around the world generate US$600 billion per year in direct spending, while costing less than US$10 billion per year to manage.
For over 50 years, CPAWS has been working with all levels of government, and other partners across the country to protect more of Canada’s public lands. As the only nationwide charity dedicated to the protection of our public lands and water, we are uniquely positioned to help governments protect what nature really needs.
For interviews, contact: Roberta Clowater, rclowater@cpaws.org; 506-452-9902
Read the full report. http://cpaws.org/uploads/CPAWS-Parks-Report-2017.pdf
Read the Executive Summary with recommendations. http://cpaws.org/uploads/CPAWS-Parks-Report-Executive-Summary-2017.pdf
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) today responded to Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s announcement about Fisheries and Oceans Canada policy and sites regarding Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs).
“While we appreciate the efforts that Minister LeBlanc and his department have made to be the first government in the world to develop explicit policy on marine OECMs, we are concerned that neither the policy nor the sites announced today meet the test set out by the Convention on Biological Diversity to protect biodiversity as a whole”, said Sabine Jessen, CPAWS National Ocean Program Director. “As long as other industrial activities are being allowed in these areas, it is difficult to see them as ‘marine refuges’, as DFO has labeled them.”
Signatory countries, including Canada, to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), have agreed to meet Aichi Target 11, which commits governments to:
By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.
Under the CBD convention, in-situ conservation of biological diversity means that the areas counted towards Aichi Target 11 should be managed to achieve the conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings. With only 3 years left to meet these ambitious targets, countries around the world are racing against the clock to put new protection measures in place. In Canada, only 1{763dcb28def876e1c302065d9d30c175c0542fc775c911caa33bb43751f04a6c} of our ocean territory is currently protected.
“In Canada, the Canadian Council on Ecological Areas (www.ccea.org) has been working for the past 5 years with the protected areas community of practice to develop science-based guidance for the identification and reporting of OECMs on land and in the sea. We are concerned that DFO’s approach is not consistent with emerging guidance from the CCEA and could also undermine efforts to define OECMs on land”, said Alison Woodley, CPAWS National Parks Program Director.
“The DFO policy is also not consistent with the emerging international consensus on OECM guidance being developed for the CBD by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)”, noted Jessen. “The draft IUCN guidance and the CCEA guidance are clear that any sites contributing toward the CBD Aichi Target 11, should be effective at conserving biodiversity. That cannot happen if these areas are left vulnerable to industrial-scale fishing, oil and gas exploration and development, and other industrial uses, which should be expressly prohibited.”
“In reviewing the sites that are being counted, we are concerned that the ancient and globally unique Strait of Georgia glass sponge reefs in BC, while protected from all bottom contact fishing, remain vulnerable to anchoring and cable laying and fail to consider the ecosystem linkages between the surface waters and seafloor ecosystem,” said Jessen.
“In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, based upon the information provided so far, the scallop buffer zones only restrict scallop fishing, and all other activities would be allowed to continue,” noted Roberta Clowater, Executive Director of CPAWS-New Brunswick. “This single restriction is not likely to contribute much to protecting overall biodiversity in these zones from current or future industrial activity.”
“In the case of the 3O coral closure, we are concerned that scientific advice that the closure should include areas within the 400m to 800m depth contour, has not been addressed,” noted Tanya Edwards, Co-Executive Director, CPAWS Newfoundland and Labrador Chapter. “In addition, while corals and sponges are being protected through the prohibition of bottom contact fishing, the other ecological values and linkages within the pelagic realm are being completely ignored.”
“While these sites each have some interim steps toward protection of specific elements of biodiversity, CPAWS believes that they all need additional measures to provide long-term protection for all elements of biodiversity, before they can count towards meeting the CBD target”, said Jessen.
Contacts:
Sabine Jessen, 604-657-2813 sabine@cpawsbc.org
Roberta Clowater, 506-452-9902 rclowater@cpaws.org
Tanya Edwards, 709-726-5800 tedwards@cpaws.org
For further information about the CCEA guidance on OECMs see: http://www.ccea.org/aichi-target-11-guidance/
For further information about the IUCN guidance on OECMs see: https://www.iucn.org/theme/protected-areas/wcpa/what-we-do/other-effective-area-based-conservation-measures-oecms
Enjoy People Power Day at the park. Try your hand at sailing, canoeing and kayaking, and enjoy a barbecue.There’s fun for the whole family. For further information, contact Ian Smith, parks Officer, at (506) 363-4912.
A world-class destination for ecotourism, outdoor adventures, and angling, with plenty of economic tourism potential yet untapped.