Let's demystify protected areas

What are we talking about?

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the global authority on the status of the natural world and measures to safeguard it, defines protected areas as follows:

“A clearly defined geographic space, recognized, dedicated and managed, by any effective legal or other means, in order to ensure the long-term conservation of nature and associated ecosystem services and cultural values.”

Protected areas are often created to protect rare, threatened, or endangered ecosystems, as well as to preserve important cultural and historical sites. IUCN has developed a globally recognized system for the classification of protected areas into six categories. These are important tools for planning, creating, and managing protected areas. Next, each state defines a legal or administrative designation compatible with the objectives of the protected area.

In Quebec, for example, the network of protected areas is regulated and managed according to 32 legal or administrative designations recognized under the responsibility of various governmental authorities, legal entities or individuals.

E.g.: Quebec national park, biological refuge, biodiversity reserve, etc.

What is the purpose of a protected area?

By contributing to the conservation of nature and the maintenance of biological diversity, protected areas provide a wide range of environmental, ecological, scientific, socio-cultural and economic benefits. Here is a non-exhaustive list:

● Biodiversity conservation;

● Sources of ecosystem services (e.g.: oxygen production, soil regeneration, stream purification, air filtration);

● Essential tools for adapting to climate change;

● Laboratories in natural environments that advance science, research, and education;

● Protected areas accessible to the public contribute to the improvement and maintenance of the physical and mental health of citizens;

● Economic diversification opportunities for regions through tourism and recreational tourism;

● Preservation of the cultural values of a territory.

When the protection of biodiversity rhymes with the protection of traditions

Since February 2021, the Government of Quebec has introduced a new concept: protected areas from indigenous initiatives. This concept allows indigenous communities to propose projects on their territory in order to preserve elements of biodiversity and their culture.

This is the case of the Innu community of Pessamit on the North Shore, which is calling for the creation of a protected area on their ancestral territory in order to save the habitat of the last forest caribou. A sacred animal for the community, the forest caribou is at the heart of the language, culture and traditions of the Innu of Pessamit. More than the protection of forest caribou, they therefore demand the preservation of a territory where they can continue their traditional practices.
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The regulation of activities in a protected area

Not all protected areas are synonymous with a “glass bell.” In fact, most categories allow “low impact” commercial activities as long as monitoring or management measures prevent impacts on biodiversity. Examples of authorized uses include:

✔ Scientific research and explorations aimed at better understanding the environment;

✔ Construction of non-motorized trails, river crossings, or backcountry infrastructure to mitigate the effects of recreational activities;

✔ Minor structures in support of education and nature-based tourism.

However, nature conservation remains a priority:

“Any activity carried out in a protected area must preserve the essential biological character of the protected area. If there is a conflict between different management objectives, nature conservation is a priority.” IUCN

While people can continue to enjoy activities such as hiking, camping, and hunting in these protected areas, industrial activities such as wood cutting, mineral exploration, quarrying, and land development are prohibited.

State of play: a thorny and topical subject

Today where are we in terms of protected areas? Overview of the targets and challenges for the creation of protected areas in Canada, Quebec and New Brunswick.

Ambitious targets

In Canada, at the end of 2021, 13.5% of Canada's land areas and inland waters were recognized as being conserved through protected area networks (12.6%) and other effective area-based conservation measures. This was below its target of 17% by 2020.

Today, Canada's main goal is to achieve 25% of the country's land and 25% of its oceans conserved by 2025, and 30% by 2030 in line with the international goals set at COP15 through the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Same ambition at the provincial level for the quebec which is clearly committed to achieving 30% of protected areas by 2030. In December 2020, however, Quebec narrowly reached its previous conservation objective of 17%. In particular, the objective was achieved through the designation of several dozen territorial reserves for the purposes of protected areas (RTFAP), a step prior to their legal status being confirmed.

However, Quebec faces a major challenge: the distribution of its protected areas on its territory. Indeed, the majority of new protected areas are north of the 49th parallel, which hampers the achievement of the objective of a network representative of the biodiversity of the territory. At the same time, 83 protected area projects, most of them in southern Quebec, were not selected in December 2020. Since then, things have changed a bit with the announcement in February 2022 of 10 new protected areas in the south of the province.

Au New Brunswick, the 10% target for 2023 was achieved in particular thanks to the designation by the provincial government of more than 270,000 additional hectares of new protected areas.

The obstacles and challenges to the creation of protected areas

Several factors hinder the creation of protected areas and the achievement of set targets. Here are some of the most frequent challenges that project leaders face:

● Extractive industries lobbying. Extractive industries, such as forestry or mining, can have significant economic interests in protected area areas. As a result, they can influence policy decisions to prevent the creation of protected areas. In Quebec, this resistance is strong, especially south of the 49^E parallel with the forest industry, which raises fears of loss of income and jobs.

●  Local communities that are also committed... how resistant! The creation of protected areas can lead to the relocation of local populations, the limitation of their economic activities and the expropriation of their land, which can generate resistance from the local community. At the same time, the vast majority of protected area projects are initiated by the community.

● The process is long: 10-15 years on average and can lead to projects running out of steam” by “The process is long, 10 to 15 years on average, which can lead to projects running out of steam.

Conclusion

The creation of protected areas in Canada is therefore a current hot issue and a priority in a context of resilience to climate change. In order to achieve these ambitious goals, many stakeholders are mobilizing and funding is available. La Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (SNAP) and its regional branches is in particular an organization that plays a leadership role in conservation in Canada through its expertise, public awareness and advocacy activities.

And tourism in all of this?

Stay tuned for our next article that will deepen the link between protected areas and tourism and present some good management practices for sustainable tourism in protected areas!

How can Touriscope help you?

A project to create protected areas? Touriscope and its partners can help you!

✔ Market research

✔ (pre) feasibility study

✔ Study of opportunities and development potentials

✔ Impact study