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Nova Scotia's protected areas laws given top marks

May 15, 2002

In a report card released today, Nova Scotia received a "B" for its laws protecting parks and wilderness areas. The mark was the highest in the country whereas most provinces got failing grades. The report by a BC environmental lawyer evaluated Canada's legislation governing protected areas and provided a blueprint for the future.

After assessing the country's protected areas legislation the author, David Boyd, found that "existing laws urgently need dramatic improvement to protect Canada's natural legacy from being irreparably tarnished". The author further states that "the federal and provincial laws intended to protect these priceless treasures for all time are, for the most part, grossly inadequate".

Nova Scotia's three pieces of law protecting nature, the Wilderness Areas Protection Act, Provincial Parks Act and Special Places Act, were commended in the report for prioritizing conservation, prohibiting industrial resource use, ensuring public participation, and suggesting management planning.

However, Nova Scotia fell short when it came to reporting on the state of its parks, recognizing aboriginal rights, deciding on a minimum amount of parks, and addressing regional activities threatening parks.

Martin Willison, President of the Nova Scotia chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), agrees with Boyd's findings. "Nova Scotia displays some progressive protected areas legislation. Effective conservation is hindered, though, by inadequate enforcement and management within parks and protected areas and by the slow rate of establishing new protected areas."

Nova Scotia got bonus points in the report for its emphasis of non-motorized recreation in legally protected wilderness areas. "Legislation is only effective when accompanied by proper management and enforcement. The complete lack of management plans in most of Nova Scotia's parks and wilderness areas allows their degradation by threats, such as those incurred by off-road vehicle use", says Darien Ure, a representative of CPAWS-Nova Scotia's ParkWatch committee.

"Effective legislation must also be accompanied by the establishment of new protected areas. There have been no new wilderness areas created since the Wilderness Areas Protection Act was passed in 1998" states Darien Ure. "Only 8% of Nova Scotia's land and none of its marine environment is included in the protected areas system. New protected areas must be established that represent all of the province's diverse landscapes and include protection of unique landforms and rare species."

Click here for the full report "Wild by Law"