Protected Areas Initiative
Continuing our Commitment
”Working with
stakeholders and First Nation communities, we are striving to create
a network of protected areas that will represent each of Manitoba’s
natural regions and protect our province’s unique features. “
Premier Gary
Doer, June 11, 2004
“We will
continue to work at expanding our vital protected areas network.”
Hon. Stan
Struthers, Minister of Conservation, September 21, 2005
In 1990, in
response to the World Wildlife Fund Canada’s Endangered
Spaces Campaign, Manitoba dedicated itself to establishing a
network of protected areas. Following extensive public
consultations, the Natural Lands and Special Places Strategy
was formulated and in the process became the policy foundation for
Manitoba’s Protected Areas Initiative.
This policy statement re-affirmed Manitoba’s objective to
permanently protect a representative example of all the province’s
diverse landscapes. As a result of this policy initiative, An
Action Plan for Manitoba’s Network of Protected Areas was
developed in 1993, updated in 1997 and revised again in 2000.
Since the last Action Plan was distributed in 2000, there have
been changes to the priorities and focus of the Protected Areas
Initiative. These changes affected the anticipated success in
meeting the initial targeted dates for completing various items in
the Action Plan. The extent of consultations required for
establishing new protected areas led to some delays. In some cases,
however, opportunities arose that led to the creation of new
protected areas and initiatives that had not been foreseen in 2000.
Today, broader
priority areas for protection have been established due to the fact
that we are now doing protected areas planning in high use areas
that have many competing interests. We take a conciliatory approach
to protected areas planning and adequate time must be allowed for
discussions with industry, First Nations, northern and rural
communities, and other interest groups prior to designation. The
challenge of working together with diverse groups and interests
makes it difficult to predict which site will become the next
protected area.
Future
Protected Areas
The Protected Areas Initiative has
recognized several priority areas that will be the focus of the
program’s work throughout the next few years (see
Priority Areas
Map).
These include Tembec’s Forest Management License #1 (FML-1) in
eastern Manitoba (Natural Region 4c), the Saskatchewan River Forest
Section (Natural Region 5a), the Manitoba Lowlands in the
southeastern corner of the province (Natural Region 5c), southern
Manitoba (Agro-Manitoba), the Arctic Tundra along Hudson Bay
(Natural Regions 2a and 2b), a number of smaller sites proposed as
ecological reserves, and park reserves expiring by 2008. It will be exciting to see which of
the fabulous sites in these regions will become the next addition to
Manitoba’s network of protected areas!
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