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2003, new legislation in New Brunswick, the Protected Natural Areas
Act, legally designated ten new Protected Natural Areas (PNAs), and
consolidated protection for 20 existing ecological reserves and
conservation areas. Persistent encouragement and scientific work over
at least two decades, with a strong push to mobilize public support
during the Endangered Spaces Campaign of the 1990s, had resulted in a
doubling of the amount of public land protected from development. The
question in many minds is, "What do we do with these protected
areas now?!"
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
took a big leap of faith by partially answering that question, as they
established three levels of public advisory committees to help with
management plans and public awareness for the ten new Protected
Natural Areas. These are a Provincial Advisory Committee, a Scientific
Advisory Committee, and ten Local Advisory Committees. DNR recognized
there was a daunting task ahead to ensure that management and use of
the new protected areas was consistent with the mandate of the Act,
which is to protect biodiversity in the PNAs, while providing public
recreational access that has minimal environmental impact. It made
good sense to harness the knowledge and enthusiasm of members of the
public to help with this task.
Members of the public and members of the Grand Lake PNA Local Advisory
Committee walking in the Grand Lake PNA.
(photo: Roberta Clowater)
The public advisory committees are a
bit of an experiment in direct public involvement with public land
management in our province. Members of committees have a wide range of
values, experiences, and backgrounds. Since the committees were
established in 2005, hundreds of volunteer hours of service have been
donated to this work, and the DNR has allocated part of the time of
five to 10 staff members to guide and sustain this process. The
management plans DNR and committees are working on should be ready in
a year.
The PNA Management Plans can be key
accountability tools between government and the public - a way to
prove that protected natural areas are being well managed to conserve
the nature within them. The process government has put in place to
develop management plans with public involvement is a very good step
in the right direction.
What's next? The advice of the
Scientific Advisory Committee will be critical to ensuring that a
program of ecological research and monitoring is implemented, and
linked to measurable objectives set in management plans. It is
important that DNR supports the protected areas program with enough
funds to allow staff to do management plan monitoring, enforcement,
ecological surveys, and public awareness activities. It appears the
program will need more funding than is currently being allocated.
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness
Society - New Brunswick Chapter believes the next steps in protected
natural area planning in our province should include:
- establishing and providing
resources for a Protected Natural Area Trust Fund to support
planning, research, and public engagement; and
- developing a strategy for the entire
protected natural area network, including targets and timeframes
for adding new PNAs to the network, connectivity conservation, and
research to make sure that lands surrounding protected areas are
managed in a way that helps meet ecosystem conservation objectives
of the protected areas network.
For more information on the protected
natural areas of New Brunswick, please visit the CPAWS NB web site:
www.cpawsnb.org and click on "NB Parks and Protected Areas".
For more information on the protected areas advisory committees,
please visit the DNR website: http://www.gnb.ca/0399/index-e.asp.
