ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — "We love thee smiling land."
It’s written in our anthem, but how much do we actually love our land? Enough to ensure the hills remain pine-clad and not razed ridges reaching up to the sky, clinging to the last lines, “God guard thee, Newfoundland”?
The Wilderness and Ecological Reserves Advisory Council (WERAC) — an expert group that advises government on the establishment and management of protected areas — said we've now reached a point where only timely intervention can ensure the protection and survival of our wildlife and remaining intact ecosystems.
“To protect these remaining intact ecosystems, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador must implement a system of protected areas now,” WERAC told Environment and Climate Change Minister Bernard Davis in 2021.
Yet the provincial government continues to drag its feet. If the Confederation Building had skin, by now it’d be scrubbed down to the calcaneus.
It was 32 years ago when then-Premier Clyde Wells said, “The government will make every effort to complete a system of protected areas by the year 2000.”
Not bad; only 23 years behind schedule (and counting).
Third-last in country
In 2017, the House of Assembly unanimously agreed to designate more protected areas.
Federally, Canada is a signatory to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, a commitment to protect at least 17 per cent of the country’s land and inland waters by 2020.
So far, this province has reached 6.9 per cent — the third-lowest amount in the country.
We love thee, Newfoundland. Not 17 per cent, but 6.9 per cent, for sure.
Those targets have since increased to 30 per cent by 2030.
Why? As the federal government’s website says, “because science shows that nature needs our help in order to reverse the decline in biodiversity, better fight climate change, and maintain a strong, sustainable economy.”
Related stories
No mention
In the province’s last climate change action plan in 2011, there were several references to protected areas, including a key action to “complete” the Natural Areas Systems Plan — a provincewide system of reserves first drafted in 1995 but not yet implemented.
In the most recent climate change action plan for 2019-2024, any mention of protected areas was completely dropped.
In fact, a search of the document for the word “protect” brings up only one result: a line about reducing greenhouse gases “while protecting the competitiveness of large industry.”
Even Premier Andrew Furey’s mandate letter to Davis in 2021 said Davis will “advance” the plan — which carries a very different meaning from “complete”.
The most important land use
On the Department of Environment and Climate Change website, there’s a document that explains government’s protected areas strategy framework, titled "Caring for our Special Places."
It was published in 2004. The only current Liberal MHA around at that time was Tom Osborne.
If the rest need a refresher on the framework’s raison d'être, the following excerpt provides the Coles Notes:
“Our economic future will no doubt always rely on and benefit from using our natural resources. But our natural environment — and all the species and processes it supports — needs protection to be able to sustain us, now and into the future. This protection should be considered one of the most important land uses of all, and establishing and maintaining a sound network of protected areas must be the foundation for future sustainable and responsible development in the province.”
What's next?
On May 20, 2021, WERAC submitted recommendations on protected areas to the government.
The current proposed protected areas plan, "A Home for Nature," would increase the amount of protected land in the province to 8.7 per cent (still putting this province third-last in the country).
It’s now up to the government to decide on whether, or how, to implement the plan.
Last July, after months of delay in reappointing experts to WERAC (it took so long, some experts worried the council was “dead in the water”), Davis finally announced the members of the council.
“The province’s natural areas, ecological reserves and protected areas are a priority for our government,” Davis said in the press release at the time.
Given the province’s track record, it might be wise to stand and sing: “God guard thee, Newfoundland,” in case the legislators do not.
