Recommendations

The recommendations for Alberta's parks and protected areas are divided into three main categories: Funding, legislation and network design and management. Each of these categories are subdivided into short and long term proposals for the province. The final recommendation, found at the end of the list, is independent of the other three categories yet all four rely heavily on the others success.

Funding

Main Recommendation 

Increase funding for the management of protected areas at levels required to enable park management initiatives to be implemented and applicable
legislation to be enforced.

Short and long-term (1-5 years):

Funding is required for...

• Developing and updating management plans with public consultation.
• Ensuring that managers and planners can apply adaptive management especially in regards to permitted commercial use for management practices (e.g. grazing, hunting, etc.).
• Research, monitoring, and public reporting of management practices.
• Enforcement staff and equipment to ensure that the Alberta Parks Division has the ability to enforce rules, ensure public safety and control access to parks and protected areas.
• Heritage appreciation programs, infrastructure and materials.
• Where designated trails have been established in Provincial Recreation Areas, ensure that resources are provided for proper management (e.g. enforcement, education, bridges and access reclamation).
  
  

Legislation

Main Recommendation

Strengthen existing legislation and introduce new legislation to ensure that the maintenance of ecological integrity is the primary mandate of the network and that the necessary regulatory tools are available to achieve this. The legislation should:

Short-term (1-2 years):

• Review current designations of Provincial Recreation Areas and Natural Areas to ensure that the appropriate level of protection and intensity of management is consistent with their ecological value.
• Ensure that protected areas management planning is mandatory and conducted within a timely manner (i.e. within a 5-year
  completion/update cycle). Principles of ecosystem-based management should
  be applied.
• Prohibit activities that threaten ecological integrity in parks and protected areas (e.g. industrial resource use, roads,
  unmanaged OHV use, new OHV access).

Long-term (3-5 years):

• Strengthen legislation to limit cumulative impacts of multiple uses in parks and protected areas.
• Legally protect boundaries of parks and protected areas, using natural features wherever possible.
  
  

Network design and land management

Main Recommendation

Strengthen Alberta’s network of protected areas to better conserve Alberta’s ecological diversity and to ensure that the integrity of protected areas is not compromised by adjacent activities.

Short-term (1-2 years):

• Establish new protected areas and expand existing ones with priority to be given to sufficiently large, intact areas in natural
  regions and sub regions currently under- represented (e.g. parkland, grasslands and foothills).
• Ensure that policy and planning initiatives such as the Integrated Land Management Program and the Land Use Framework take account of requirements for maintaining the ecological integrity of protected areas and establishing new ones.
• Make the Alberta Parks Division an official partner in SREM (Sustainable Resource and Environmental Management).
  

Long-term (3-5 years):

• Continue work on establishing new parks and protected areas and expanding existing ones.
• Enhance connectivity of the protected areas network by identifying functional corridors between areas and managing
  them appropriately.
• Establish policy for both government and industries in order to mitigate impacts on park boundaries, both on private and public
• Adopt legislative buffer zones.
  

Final Recommendation

Establish an independent Alberta Parks Council

Given a poor record for the Alberta government in preserving the natural legacy of this province, changes must be made in the government’s "everything, everywhere for everyone" land management practices. To ensure government accountability for maintaining the ecological integrity of Alberta’s protected areas, we recommend that a broad-based Alberta Parks Council be established. The Council, which would be independent and at
arms-length from the government, would monitor progress of the successful implementation of an updated Parks Strategy, evaluate the program’s efficacy in maintaining ecological integrity, and report on the state of the protected areas network to the public at least every five years.