2023-Oct-30
GBA Urges MECP to Protect More Natural Areas in Ontario
GBA joined 124 concerned organizations to urge Andrea Khanjin, Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP), to follow through on recommendations made to protect and conserve more natural areas in Ontario.
In 2021 the Ontario government established a Protected Areas Working Group that made recommendations and identified opportunities to protect and conserve natural areas in the province. Key recommendations from the report include:
- Committing to work with First Nations, the public, municipalities and conservation organizations to protect 30 percent of the province’s land and waters by 2023
- Establishing funding to support the implementation
The report, that recently became available through a Freedom of Information request, notes that the total amount of protected land in Ontario, including national and provincial parks, conservation reserves and lands held in private trust, amounts to less than 11 percent. Ontario increased its protected lands by 3,007 hectares between 2016 and 2021 compared to 20 million hectares across the rest of the country.
Read the letter here.