Parks Canada is calling on the public to have their say on the future of Point Pelee National Park!
National parks are gateways to nature, adventure and discovery that hold special places in the hearts of Canadians and visitors from around the world.
On June 1st, Parks Canada officially launched public consultation to renew the management plan for Point Pelee National Park. Once completed, the new plan will guide management decisions for the park over the next ten years and will be a key tool to engage Indigenous communities, local communities, stakeholders and partners.
In 2019 and 2020, Parks Canada held discussion sessions with First Nations, partners, key stakeholders, and park staff, which fed into the development of the draft management plan. Follow-up engagement sessions were then postponed due to the global pandemic and will now be conducted virtually in order to ensure the health and safety of participants and staff.
Parks Canada is inviting the public to share their views on the draft management plan for Point Pelee National Park and help shape its future. The draft management plan for Point Pelee National Park is available on the park’s website at parkscanada.gc.ca/pelee-plan.
We invite the public to provide their thoughts on priorities for Point Pelee National Park, such as:
· regional collaboration to address landscape scale challenges;
· further collaboration with Indigenous partners;
· continued investments in sustainable assets;
· improving the understanding of cultural resources;
· improvements in the health of the marsh ecosystem; and
· addressing specific aspects of visitor experience, such as better information prior to arrival.
How can the public have their say?
From June 1st through July 12th, we encourage the public to provide their thoughts and feedback about this draft 10-year plan for the park, either by:
· Completing the online Point Pelee Management Plan comment card
· Emailing comments to pc.pelee.consultation.pc@canada.ca
· Attending a virtual consultation session in French on June 22 or in English on June 23
· Mailing your comments to: 407 Monarch Lane, RR1, Leamington, ON N8H 3V4
The draft management plan for Point Pelee National Park is available on the park’s website at parkscanada.gc.ca/pelee-plan. To request a paper copy of the draft plan, newsletter, and/or feedback survey – contact us at: pc.pelee.consultation.pc@canada.ca.
We encourage everyone to read the draft plan and tell us what they think!
What will virtual consultation sessions entail?
The virtual public consultation sessions are a great way for the public to learn more about the draft management plan and have their say on the future of Point Pelee National Park. Sessions will be offered in both English and French to reach as many Canadians as possible. Each session will last about 2 hours and include an overview of the draft management plan. Participants must register in advance at parkscanada.gc.ca/pelee-plan.
What is a Management Plan?
Canada’s national parks, national historic sites, and national marine conservation areas belong to all Canadians. A Parks Canada management plan guides management decisions and actions at a heritage place, and serves as a key accountability document to the public. Management planning and reporting provides timely and focused guidance that meets legal and policy obligations and supports decision-making for heritage places. Management plans are strategic in nature, based on a long-term vision, with clear direction for a 10-year period, including measurable objectives and targets to achieve results.
Why is Point Pelee National Park important?
Point Pelee National Park was established in 1918 to protect the nationally and internationally significant Carolinian ecozone of the St. Lawrence Lowlands natural region. Though the park was the very first national park established for conservation purposes, it also has a rich cultural history dating back at least 6,000 years and is within the traditional territory of Caldwell First Nation and Walpole Island First Nation.
Point Pelee National Park consists of approximately 420 hectares of dry land and 1,070 hectares of freshwater marsh that sits within a ten-kilometre-long sandspit and marsh complex extending into Lake Erie. Currently Canada’s second smallest national park, Parks Canada has been constantly adapting and evolving to protect Point Pelee National Park’s rich natural and cultural heritage.
Point Pelee National Park continues to be a leader in adaptive management within the national park system. For example, in 1971, it became the first national park to integrate needs for resource protection and visitor experience by reducing private vehicle access to the fragile Tip area and providing a shuttle service for visitors. A year later, in 1972, Point Pelee became the first national park in Canada to have a park management plan, which placed a renewed focus on conservation. Point Pelee also became the first national park to be designated as a Dark Sky Preserve in 2006.
The national park supports a high diversity of flora and fauna including many species at risk, which is why it is recognized as an important ecological site at the regional, national, and international level. Point Pelee is located at the crossroads of two major North American migratory flyways, providing habitat for more than 390 species of migrating birds. This has led to its international designation as an Important Bird Area, which attracts tens of thousands of birding enthusiasts to the national park every year.
In addition, the southern Great Lakes freshwater marsh is recognized as a Wetland of International Significance by the Ramsar Convention of UNESCO. In 2000, Middle Island in Lake Erie became part of Point Pelee National Park. The island is the southernmost land mass in Canada and provincially designated as an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest due to its unique and rare assemblage of plants and animals.
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay