Thank you. Thank you for inviting me to participate in this study.
The City of Winnipeg, as an organization, recognizes the importance of conserving urban natural areas, takes a very active role in managing these areas, and works closely with the local community to improve them. Natural area management in Winnipeg ranges from significant areas such as Assiniboine Forest and the Living Prairie Museum to small stands of forest, creeks, and riverbank areas.
For us, urban conservation is tied to natural heritage. This would be loosely defined as plant and animal communities historically found in Winnipeg, with intact remnants of these communities being the most valuable. Our goal is not just to protect these areas against destruction but also to ensure they are managed in a way that both protects their biodiversity and makes them accessible for people to enjoy.
We also have a focus on environmental education and we work with local community or stewardship groups to enhance and maintain natural areas. Many natural areas have the ability to be focal points in their communities and a place where people walking the trails will actually greet one another. They can be a place not just of natural values but also of cultural connection. From our experience, we have found that working closely with community groups can be mutually beneficial. We provide ecological expertise and technical assistance, while they provide community desire for a project, volunteer muscle to get the project done, and the ability to raise additional funds.
Working hand in hand with community groups on local area maintenance or habitat restoration projects works well, but there are also challenges. One challenge that I would like to note is the type of funding normally associated with environmental stewardship projects. This is often short-term, project-related funding. While this is an incredibly useful source of funding at times, at times it does little to ensure the long-term success of a project, since most habitat restoration projects take more than one or two years to establish. Longer-term project funding that considers maintenance following the project would greatly benefit success of most restoration-type habitat projects.
As a goal of connecting with nature, I think every community should have access to nature, if not within their own neighbourhood, then at least through school programming. We have worked closely with a program called “bridging the gap” here in Winnipeg, which provides opportunities for inner-city kids to experience a hike in a natural area or do some gardening at their school. When I was growing up as a rural kid, we regularly took school field trips into the city for cultural events; it would be a great start if every urban child at least got a field trip to a local natural area at some point in their schooling. For some inner-city kids we have worked with, just seeing a large urban nature park can be a huge experience.
Another significant story I would like to include is that restoration has increased natural areas in Winnipeg's park spaces by over 100 hectares. Along with numerous funded and compensation projects, most new housing developments in Winnipeg have incorporated naturalized wetlands surrounded by native grasses and prairie restoration areas.
I would like to note that the economic value of natural areas is readily visible in these new development areas. There is generally no requirement that the landscape in these areas be naturalized, but local developers themselves have become proponents of this landscape and readily incorporate it within their marketing information.
In addition, these natural areas form ideal locations for nature trails and active transportation. This benefits both health, environment, and social interaction within the neighbourhood. Naturalized wetlands in these areas also have the ability to uptake nutrients, effectively reducing nutrient loads that eventually head downstream into Lake Winnipeg. The guiding mandate for our work is our city’s official plan document, titled “Our Winnipeg”. More specifically, the City of Winnipeg has an approved strategy, the ecologically significant natural lands strategy and policy.
Protection of land within Winnipeg generally takes two forms: the first is the designation as a city park, which requires two-thirds council majority to be disposed of; the second is the use of conservation easements on parcels of land still privately held, but with mutually agreed upon protection clauses.
Winnipeg's tree removal guideline also provides an avenue of protection by applying a value to trees needing to be removed for various reasons. This value is then used for replanting. As such, this method of natural capital calculation provides an incentive for protection, as well as a no-net-loss concept for reparation damage. Compensation requirements to meet no-net-loss principles have been used numerous times when natural areas have been damaged on City of Winnipeg parkland.
Our experience would suggest that urban conservation does not always mean it can simply be called protected and still maintain its quality as habitat and its biodiversity. Due to their generally small size and disturbance pressures, maintenance, management, and restoration requirements are often associated with ensuring protected areas do not become overwhelmed by other disturbance factors.
From our perspective, the federal government can and does play a valuable role in conservation of urban natural areas. One thing is a provision of youth internship employment funding and EcoAction grants. These are incredibly valuable. Providing support on numerous local issues through agencies like the Canadian Wildlife Service also greatly benefits our operations. Providing a level of habitat protection through acts such as the Fisheries Act and the Environmental Assessment Act is also important.
Some more thoughts for how the federal government can stay engaged and effective: consider opening a version of EcoAction funding to local municipal government and relaxing some of the reporting requirements and deadlines of EcoAction funding for local community groups. Many community groups experience burnout after completing the current EcoAction process.
Consider setting up a community stewardship funding program that is less project-based and more based on annual support for maintenance of conservation areas and general conservation-based activities.
Ensure funding for youth employment in conservation doesn’t get overlooked. Young Canada Works and HRSDC grants are very important. These grant programs are used to get work done and get young people recruited into future positions. Please keep these grants coming.
Don’t take away the big enforcement that a federal act provides. It can be a valuable tool at a local level when federal authorities work together with local authorities to protect habitat. Encourage the use of local level no-net-loss guidelines when it comes to habitat conservation. Support the setting up of local level habitat banking and natural capital protection through means such as Winnipeg's tree removal guidelines. Foster ways to keep staff in federal departments engaged with local conservation-related workers. Finally, mandate that educational opportunity should exist for every child to take a field trip to a conservation area.
Thanks a lot for letting me speak on this.