There are currently five dedicated protected areas which have been regulated under the PPCRA. Several community based land use planning initiatives are currently underway. It is expected that as a result, more dedicated protected areas will be added to the system in the near future.
In 2008, the government committed to protect the Far North Boreal region of Ontario by setting aside at least half of the area in an interconnected network of conservation lands. Through community based land use planning, First Nations and Ontario are working together to decide what areas are open for development and what areas should be protected.
To date, five First Nation communities have completed community land use plans in the Far North of Ontario, adding 1.2 million hectares of protected area to the Far North. Including existing provincial parks and conservation reserves (e.g., Polar Bear Provincial Park) the cumulative total protected area in the Far North is now 10.41% (or more than 4,709,000 hectares).
Under the Far North Act, First Nation communities may choose to regulate dedicated protected areas established through community based land use plans, under the Far North Act, or under the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserve Act (PPCRA), 2006. They may also choose to leave them as unregulated designated protected areas. Pikangikum First Nation completed its community based land use plan in 2006, and has since regulated the majority of their DPAs as provincial parks under the PPCRA.
When developed, the Far North Land Use Strategy may contain policies related to categories of protected areas in the Far North. For more information, visit the MNR’s Far North website
www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/FarNorth
