"The momentum is clearly building," said Harvey Locke, vice president of conservation for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, an environmental group that lobbies for more national parks and better protection of existing ones.
Locke's group has declared that the government isn't doing enough to protect the parks it already has.
The group cites Banff, established in 1885 as Canada's first national park, as an example of the government's inadequate protection of existing parks. Today, the group says, two large communities, three ski resorts, a four-lane expressway, and five million human visitors annually have put the future of the park's wildlife at risk.
New Sites Undetermined
"It is clear that parks will not be established, nor will the declining health of existing national parks be addressed without money committed to the cause," said Locke. "We will be expecting the government to allocate funds in the next budget to do this work."
The world's second largest country after Russia, Canada has 39 national parks and two marine conservation areas, one in Georgian Bay on the Great Lakes and one in the Saguenay region of Quebec, near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River.
Of the ten new national parks to be added, the federal government has already negotiated agreements for two, Ukkusiksalik National Park in the sparsely populated northern territory of Nunavut and Gulf Islands National Park Reserve on Canada's Pacific coast.
Ukkusiksalik, which shelters polar bears, caribou, peregrine falcons, and musk oxen, is in a remote region of the country few Canadians ever see. The Gulf Islands, however, are relatively close to both Vancouver, B.C., and Seattle, Washington. As a result, the area is popular for recreation, known more for its boating opportunities than for the fragile ecosystems of the 13 islands that will comprise the new marine park.
Details of the remaining eight national parks have yet to be worked out.
The government is negotiating with provincial and municipal governments, Aboriginal groups, and others to establish five of the new parks—two in Labrador and one each in Nunavut, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories.
Sites have yet to be chosen for the other three. Possibilities being considered by the government include the interior of British Columbia, a mountainous area that straddles the British Columbia-Yukon border, and southern Ontario.
Canada's New Parks
Negotiations have been completed to establish two new national parks:
Ukkusiksalik National Park
• Located in Nunavut territory
• Intended to protect a large, pristine watershed
• Home to polar bears, caribou, peregrine falcons, musk oxen
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve
• 13 islands at British Columbia's southwestern tip
• One of Canada's most biologically diverse and endangered natural areas
• Aim is to protect small island ecosystems and parts of the headlands, shorelines, and uplands of larger islands
Negotiations are underway to establish five more national parks in these areas:
Torngat Mountains
• Located in the eastern province of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Area's fjords are home to polar bears and caribou
Mealy Mountains
• Also located in Newfoundland and Labrador
• Would preserve mountain tundra, upland bogs, boreal forest, spectacular wild rivers
• Inhabited by caribou, moose, black bears
Lowlands
• Located in Manitoba, in central Canada
• Intended to protect large tracts of boreal forest as well as rare bat caves, fresh water marshes, and the longest sand spit in Canada
Bathurst Island
• Located in Nunavut
• A major calving ground for the endangered Peary caribou
East arm of Great Slave Lake
• Located in the rugged Northwest Territories
• Marked by dramatic cliffs and deep, clear waters
• Inhabited by moose, bears, and wolves
These areas are under consideration as possible new national parks:
British Columbia's interior dry plateau region
• Marked by flat, rolling plains, long lakes, and deep, narrow river valleys
Yukon and British Columbia's northern interior plateaus and mountains
• Region was shaped by volcanoes and glaciers
• Includes British Columbia's largest lakes
Southern Ontario's Great Lakes–St. Lawrence region
• A watery transition zone dominated by the rugged geology of the Canadian shield, a sheet of ancient rock that covers much of central Canada
Additional Resources on Canada from National Geographic:
National Geographic magazine's Resources on the Bay of Fundy's shorebirds
Driving Tour: Cape Breton, Canada
National Geographic magazine's Relicts of the Pleistocene: Canada's Musk Oxen
Photographer William DeKay: Down Home Canada
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