Environment Committee on April 24th, 2012

[Stephen Woodworth, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Actually, talking about land-use models makes it clear to me that the minister is going to need to consult heavily with provinces, because much of that is in a provincial jurisdiction.

I wanted to ask you, Mr. Davidson, about a comment in your presentation about reporting mechanisms and the “existing data management system like NatureServe”, because I've heard from other witnesses that we don't even know what our privately conserved lands are. Certainly, from past experiences on the committee, I know there's a great lack of data when it comes to SARA, for example, and knowing where critical habitat is.

I would love it if we had a comprehensive way of coming up with a national reporting system that could comprehensively look at our inventory of existing natural areas. What can you tell me about NatureServe? Is that what it purports to do or is that something else altogether?

[Ian Davidson]

I'm certainly not an expert on NatureServe. It's an organization unto its own, I think. There are folks who would know more about it, but I guess from my perspective—and I'm not an expert on information management—it strikes me as an organization that is trying to work towards the conservation of nature and wildlife.

We need one place where we can actually go for information. Right now, we have to go to four, five, or six institutions when we need to find information to make the right decisions. If we had one place that we could actually go to—a repository or a clearing house mechanism—that would facilitate tremendously our abilities.

[Stephen Woodworth, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Your paper says “an existing data management system like NatureServe”.

[Ian Davidson]

As an example—

[Stephen Woodworth, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

But you're telling me that NatureServe is an organization. It's not a system.

Perhaps we could hear from Mr. Bradstreet on that.

[Michael Bradstreet]

NatureServe is a partnership between the federal and the provincial and territorial governments. It is set up to track elements of biodiversity across Canada, and it's part of a western hemisphere partnership that does roll up and report on these biodiversity statuses. It has a capacity to track natural areas.

Indeed, I am engaged with the NatureServe world right now to try to establish a one-stop place where people can get information on protected areas of various status. The thing that NatureServe is still leaving out is private lands, and they are significant contributors to biodiversity conservation. So we're talking about how we can incorporate private lands into a software system that already exists.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mark Warawa]

Your time has expired.

[Stephen Woodworth, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

If I had time, I'd ask you another question, but I'll catch you later.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mark Warawa]

I want to thank the witnesses so much for being here.

Before we close and move to an in camera meeting, Mr. Lounds, you're aware of the travel by members of the committee. I'm going to give you an opportunity to give us a commercial for north of Calgary. Could you describe what might be a possible consideration for the committee to come up and see?

[John Lounds]

Certainly. The Nature Conservancy of Canada has done quite a bit of work along the eastern slopes of the Rockies in and around Calgary. We understand you're visiting a couple of places in the Calgary area in mid-May.

One of them that we would suggest is to visit the Providence Ranch. It's not maybe as good a name as Happy Valley Forest, but the Providence Ranch is a 1,000-acre conservation easement with the Kerfoot family. It's in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

We would be pleased to have the committee meet with the owner of the land. We would have some science and stewardship staff on hand to answer questions and show you around the property. You could hear from the landowner about what exactly this has meant for them and how it works.

We could also provide you with a brief presentation on other properties and the work that's going on both north and south of Calgary.

We would expect to be about three hours at the property, which is a great thing if you decide you want to have a boxed lunch. It's a wonderful place to have your lunch, sit outside—hopefully it won't be snowing that day in May—and have a great time. So wear your hiking boots.

There are different areas we can go to. Some of it could be a rigorous hike; there are some quite high ridges there, where you can see the Rockies from one side and Calgary on the other. Also, there are some lower areas for those who would rather have a more gentle visit.

I think it would be a great way for committee members to get an understanding of how these things work on the ground. We can talk about it here, but until you're actually there seeing it work, it's not quite the same thing.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mark Warawa]

Well, thank you again, to each of the witnesses, for being here. This is very important as we consider all the testimony and in the near future work on a report.

Colleagues, we are going to suspend for a few minutes and then we will go in camera.

[Proceedings continue in camera]