CARTS is Live!
Posted November 13, 2008
Thanks to the support of CCEA jurisdictional representatives, GeoConnections, the CPC (Canada Parks Council), the CCRM (Canadian Council of Resources Ministers), ENGOs, and the technical team at Environment Canada, a major milestone has been reached. Canadian protected areas data have been brought together as a comprehensive collection for viewing and reporting from a single location on the Internet. The CARTS section of the CCEA web site now allows the general public to view the boundaries and attributes of protected areas from participating CCEA jurisdictions via links to Google Earth or other map viewers.

The data you will see in your map viewer are provided by the individual managing agencies. They have done their best to make their portion of the data as current and complete as possible, and take responsibility for maintaining it at that level of quality.
As usual, please note that standard disclaimers apply to the use of the portal and data. Users are required to click an "I agree" button before accessing the data. Note also that translation of certain pages into French is still ongoing.

Work on the CARTS portal is continuing in order to make the following improvements:

• loading the data into Google Earth requires patience as the databases are very large. We are investigating methods and technology that will improve the speed of the user interface.
• it is not yet possible to create national reports from the data shown on CARTS as not all jurisdictions have yet submitted their data. However, we anticipate to see results by jurisdiction shortly, hopefully by mid-November.
• data are now served and managed centrally, but work continues on technical and administrative solutions that will allow the datasets to be served directly from participating jurisdictions.

If you have any questions or comments on CARTS, the process, and your jurisdiction’s data, please contact Rob Vanderkam or Robert Helie.

Implementation of Principles and Guidelines for Ecological Restoration in Canada’s Protected Natural Areas

Building on the recommendations of last October’s joint meeting, the Canadian Parks Council agreed in June 2008 that jurisdictions should work together to share best practices in ecological restoration and contribute to the development of a web-based compendium of ecological restoration case studies. Case studies that illustrate the application of the Principles and Guidelines are currently being compiled. For additional information, or to contribute a case study, please contact Karen.Keenleyside@pc.gc.ca.

New Legislation to Encourage Land Conservation in Nova Scotia
Posted November 5, 2008
New legislation introduced today, Nov. 5, calls for a property tax exemption on private property used for conservation.

Through the Conservation Property Tax Exemption Act, landowners opting to protect their land will be eligible for a property tax exemption. The act means that landowners can protect their land without being placed at a financial disadvantage from a property tax perspective. More...

A series of e-lectures and tele-roundtables
Posted October 17, 2008
This series is hosted by the Sustainable Forest Management Network and will deal with the theme of the relationship between protected areas and sustainable forest management. All the lectures will take place at 1:30 ET and require registration. Please have a look at the poster for the dates of the e-lectures. More...

BC Protected Areas Research Forum
Closing the Loop: Putting research into action
Posted October 17, 2008
The focus of BCPARF is to promote parks and protected areas research in British Columbia and to forge links between researchers and protected areas managers and advocates. Our focus is both marine and terrestrial and our geographic scope is centered in BC but extends to include our neighbours in Yukon, NWT, Alaska, Alberta and Washington. The Forum will take place December 1-3, 2008 at the University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC. More...

Changing Climate, Challenging Choices: Ontario Parks and Climate Change Adaptation
Posted September 19, 2008
For over a decade, the international scientific community and protected areas professionals have recognized that climate change will have critical implications for protected areas policy, planning and management. In Canada, a recent Canadian Council on Ecological Areas (CCEA) and University of Waterloo survey on protected areas and climate change revealed that climate change was perceived by practitioners to be an issue that will substantially alter protected areas policy within the next 25 years. However, the survey also revealed very low capacity within the sector to respond to the issue, primarily due to a lack of adequate resources (e.g., financial resources, internal staffing and scientific expertise). This report builds on previous work of the authors and others on climate change adaptation in the Canadian protected areas sector (i.e., Scott and Lemieux, 2005 and Welch, 2005) and works towards facilitating climate change adaptation within the Canadian protected areas community. Specifically, the report: 1) provides an overview of the policy and planning implications of climate change for protected areas in Canada; 2) presents a climate change adaptation framework that other protected areas agencies could use to help facilitate the climate change adaptation process within their own institutional contexts; and, 3) evaluates a portfolio of climate change adaptation options for their perceived level of desirability and feasibility using four criteria (e.g., affordability, ease of implementation, institutional capacity and capacity to sustain) within the context of a specific Canadian protected areas jurisdiction, Ontario Parks. The report concludes with a perspective on what is needed for the Canadian conservation community to move forward on responding to the challenges posed by climate change. Download the Report.

The following journal publications may also be of interest:

Scott, D.J. and C.J. Lemieux. 2005. Climate change and protected areas policy and planning in Canada. The Forestry Chronicle, 81(5): 696-703.

Welch, D. 2005. What should protected areas managers do in the face of climate change? The George Wright Forum, 22(1): 75-93.

Celebrating the successful conservation of Sandy Island
Posted September 10, 2008
Nearly 100 people gathered on a gorgeous August 16th at Sandy Island in Parry Sound to attend a picnic celebrating the successful purchase of 450 acres of the island for conservation. More...

Marilou Bourdages, Université Laval - Winner of the 2007/08 Stan Rowe Home Place Graduate Award
Posted June 18, 2008
CCEA is pleased to announce that Marilou Bourdages, a Master's candidate with l'École supérieure d'aménagement du territoire et de développement régionalde l'Université Laval (Québec) is the second recipient of the Stan Rowe Home Place Graduate Award. More...