Thank you for having me here.
I am the staff person on the environment committee of the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association, so I am here representing industry. We really appreciate the opportunity to be here.
My presentation will basically go through those five questions, so I will start with the first one.
We believe that the national conservation plan should conserve the biodiversity of species and natural resources across the country. Doing this will promote the conservation and preservation of green space in urban areas. It should establish guidelines and policies that educate developers, companies, and the public about green space conservation.
We came up with four goals for the national conservation plan. The first one would be to establish policies to protect ecosystems in both urban and rural settings; second, to create networks of green spaces across Canada; third, to educate developers and the public about conservation practices and the benefits of preserving green spaces; and four, to encourage land reclamation and remediation.
The guiding principle that should govern the national conservation plan is sustainable development: meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations, and incorporating smart growth principles with that. The sustainable sites initiative is an initiative that says that any landscape has the potential to improve and regenerate ecosystem services. This looks further into the typical areas that may be reserved for conservation, and takes the more difficult step of regenerating the areas that have been damaged. A lot of our members are involved in working on former contaminated sites to restore those lands.
Another principle is living green infrastructure and low-impact development. This involves integrating plants and green spaces into the city planning process, and making plants a useful part of infrastructure. It's working with nature instead of covering it with concrete.
Conservation priorities that should be included in a national conservation plan should be placed on the survival of plant and animal species to maintain biodiversity in both rural and urban areas. This would include protecting habitats and preventing the deterioration of land, air, and water.
The Canadian Nursery Landscape Association believes that the national conservation plan should place a high degree of focus on urban areas. Urban areas are currently eliminating green spaces and reducing habitats for plants and animals. As more Canadians are living in urban areas, there is a growing disconnect that people have with nature. A focus on urban areas can restore degraded lands, create and maintain habitats, and bring people closer to nature, so they can see the value of the natural environment and appreciate those preserved areas that exist beyond the cities they live in. If the national conservation plan made living green infrastructure a priority, it would encourage more connections with nature, and would enable conservation and economic activities to coexist. Living green infrastructure can provide space for plants and animals to thrive within and move between urban boundaries.
Low-impact development can use plants and green space to reduce the strain on municipal infrastructure, and to manage storm water during rain events. It focuses on using plants to manage runoff before it flows into municipal systems. This can help recharge ground water aquifers to conserve our water resources while contributing to greening urban spaces. Low-impact development can involve using parks to harvest rainwater, or greening parking lots to provide more areas to catch water runoff and screen cars from pedestrians, creating more pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods.
Preserving green space in urban areas can also contribute to cleaning the air. And when properly placed, plants can reduce energy use in buildings. This can help us conserve our energy resources and also mitigate the effects we are already seeing from climate change, such as urban heat island effect and increased carbon emissions.
The national conservation plan should establish guidelines for no net tree loss and preserve Canada's tree canopy, particularly within cities. This has been implemented in some U.S. states. One example is New Jersey. Any tree that is removed has to be replaced.
Guidelines should also be set for minimum park space or green space per capita. All communities should have access to the same proportion of green space based on their population size. Any volumes of new buildings or new hard surfaces that are developed should be balanced by appropriate volumes of new vegetation or canopy cover.
To implement these priorities, we believe that research should be conducted to determine the sensitive and unique areas that should be conserved, protected, and restored in both urban and rural areas. Canada should establish a network of protected areas in the preservation of green space, which can include parks and urban spaces. Using green space in urban areas is a unique opportunity to fill the gaps between our current network of protected areas and those new ecosystems that we plan to protect with the national conservation plan. The restoration of degraded ecosystems, such as brownfield restoration and using the principles of sustainable sites initiative, is another way to implement the priorities.
A public education campaign can raise awareness of protection and conservation of green spaces. One example we have from our industry is the St. James Park cleanup in Toronto. This park was damaged from the occupy movement last fall. The community placed a high value on the park. Our industry stepped up and helped to restore it. This is an example of a managed green space, but it still has value to the community and should be protected.
In the consultation process, we believe that it should involve researchers, industry, and the public. We can engage in the tools and research that have already been conducted by Agriculture and Agri-food Canada's agri-environment services branch, who have looked at ways we need to adapt to climate change. They forecasted how our ecozones may change with the climate, which may shift our focus areas for the national conservation plan.
We should continue to engage organizations such as the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association, which have the tools and expertise in environmental horticulture. Our industry can help preserve and restore our land, and help Canadians continue to value nature, which is the best way for the national conservation plan to be effective.
Thank you very much.