The Partnership for Public Lands was formed in 1997 as a joint effort of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, the Wilderness League, and World Wildlife Fund Canada. The partnership was instrumental in the establishment of 378 protected areas in the Lands for Life process and continues to work for completion and proper management of the protected areas system. PPL would like to respond to an editorial (T.N.M., Dec. 16-22/02) that misrepresented the current extent of protected areas in Ontario.
The editorial stated that “protected areas under the province’s Lands for Life program make up 460,000 sq. km, or 43%, of the province.” In reality, the 378 Ontario’s Living Legacy (OLL) sites comprise approximately 24,000 sq. km. Thus the area occupied by the 378 sites is, in fact, equivalent to 2.5% of the total provincial land base. These figures are based on readily available government statistics.
Furthermore, the total area in Ontario now occupied by protected areas, including pre-existing areas and OLL sites, represents about 9% of the entire provincial land base, as opposed to the 43% stated in your newspaper.
It is not PPL’s intention to preclude all opportunities for sustainable resource development in the province, and we are currently working co-operatively with the government, the forest industry, and the mining sector to oversee the fair implementation of the OLL commitment in Ontario.
However, we do have the goal of ensuring that all three of the objectives of sustainable development — environmental, economic, and social — receive equal consideration in land-use planning in Ontario.
Riki Burkhardt
Protected Areas Co-ordinator
Partnership for Public Lands
Don Mills, Ont.
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