Protecting Biodiversity: A Network of Parks and Reserves
There are six national parks, one national urban park and one Parks Canada national marine area in Ontario, which are designed to protect the country's representative natural environments and remarkable biodiversity. In addition, there are some 340 provincial parks and nearly 300 conservation reserves, as well as 4 UNESCO World Biosphere Reserves (Frontenac Arch, Niagara Escarpment, Georgian Bay, Long Point). Here are a few of the highlights:
Bruce Peninsula National Park: between lake and forest, it invites you to discover sumptuous landscapes and limestone environments. It is accessible for swimming and strolling. The Georgian Bay Trail is a beautiful immersion between forest and marsh to a cave with turquoise waters. Thepark is adjacent to Fathom Five National Marine Park, a popular dive site.
Point Pelee National Park The Golden Horseshoe: located in southwestern Ontario, on the shores of Lake Erie, it is home to a high level of biodiversity. The Tip Trail invites you to discover the flora and fauna of these ecosystems (nearly 350 birds).
Thousand Islands National Park The St. Lawrence River: These granite islands are located in the St. Lawrence River. It is easy to discover them on foot or by paddle: an absolute change of scenery! The Lookout Trail, as its name suggests, allows you to admire the view of London Bay in the St. Lawrence and the Adirondack Mountains.
Pukaskwa National Park The Lookout Trail is located on the shores of Lake Superior and is home to remarkable ecosystems of boreal forests, granite massifs and beaches. The magnificent White River Suspension Bridge Trail leads through these exceptional landscapes to Chigamiwinigum Falls.
Rouge National Urban Park The Chigamiwinigum Falls Trail: located in Scarborough (east of the City of Toronto), it protects remarkable and varied ecosystems including the Carolinian forest. The Mast Trail allows you to discover the logging forests, dedicated more than two centuries ago to the construction of ships.
Algonquin Provincial Park The Mast Trail: has more than 770,000 hectares of dense uninhabited forest, unspoiled lakes, deep gorges and impressive plateaus. It is THE destination for hiking and canoeing, the backcountry being accessible only on foot, by kayak or canoe.
Killarney Provincial Park is the pearl of Ontario's provincial parks, located on the north shore of Georgian Bay and near Manitoulin Island. It is characterized by the white quartzite ridges of the La Cloche Mountains and some fifty crystalline lakes dotted among the jack pine hills.
Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park: located in northeastern Ontario, it is characterized by its rugged topography, clear lakes and rugged rivers. Ishpatina dominates at 693 m, making it the highest point in the province
Ontario also benefits from two protected areas, known as greenbelts, which are home to farmland, forests, green spaces, wetlands, watersheds and communities. The first is in Canada's Capital Region and covers 20,000 hectares. The second, also known as the Golden Horseshoe, encompasses more than 800,000 hectares in the Greater Toronto Area and the Niagara Peninsula
Towards better waste management
Ontario is a major producer of waste, most of which ends up in landfills (only 25% of household waste is recycled and more than 8 million tonnes goes to landfill). Legislation enacted in 2016 aims to transition Ontario to a circular economy. Selective collection efforts have been put in place, particularly in Toronto, often referred to as the "garbage capital", with, among other things, a system for bio-waste. Many actions remain to be taken, particularly for plastics (despite a Canada-wide "zero plastic waste" strategy launched at the end of 2018).
The challenge of protecting the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes ecosystem is threatened by human activities (agriculture, urban planning, industries). In concrete terms, both aqueous and atmospheric effluents (from acid rain) are deposited in the waters of the lakes and contribute to the contamination of the entire food chain: heavy metals including mercury, micro-plastics, nitrogen, cyanobacteria, persistent organic pollutants, etc. Since 1978, agreements between Canada and the United States have been aimed at improving water quality in the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River and have resulted in multi-partner action programs to reduce pollution. The results are still uneven and need to be continued. The Swim Drink Fish project is part of a participatory approach in which residents contribute to water quality monitoring. A 2015 Canadian Protection Act also incorporates the resilience of lakes to climate change.
Actions still insufficient in the face of climate change
A report commissioned by the Canadian government points to an annual temperature increase since 1948 that is twice as great in Canada (1.7°C) as the global average (0.8°C). This translates into an increase in the frequency of extreme events: floods, heat waves, forest fires. The Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, defended the Made in Ontario environmental plan at the end of 2019, aiming for a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. This plan relies in part on public transit and electric vehicles. However, the effectiveness of this plan has been clearly questioned by the Auditor General of Ontario. At the same time, Doug Ford was fighting in court against the carbon tax imposed in Ontario by Justin Trudeau. Urban sprawl, budgetary pressure on environmental agencies, the elimination of subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles: these are all measures that do not go in the direction of environmental protection. But youth are watching. In November 2019, 7 young women aged 12 to 24 took their case to the Ontario Superior Court. Their goal: to force the Ford government to introduce more stringent greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
