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Indicator Type: Stewardship
This indicator shows the total area of parks and protected areas in Alberta
in recent years. It includes a recent breakdown, by area, of the numerous categories
of parks and protected areas.
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Trend: Improving
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What does the indicator show?
The indicator shows that the area set aside for parks and protected areas has grown in recent years,
exceeding 83,000 square km, an area larger than the province of New Brunswick. The total land base of
Alberta is 661,000 sq. km. This means that 12% of Alberta's land base is classified as a park or a
protected area. A second chart
shows the breakdown of the parks and protected areas. Wood Buffalo
National Park makes up a large proportion of the land base. The other national parks and the wildland
parks also make up a large proportion of the land mass associated with parks and protected areas. The
remaining categories are smaller. They consist of land parcels that are ecologically unique within a
local area, or within Alberta.
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Why is this indicator important?
Parks and protected areas are an important component in the retention of native landscapes, natural
habitats, and biodiversity. Protecting these areas from development and the impacts of human activities
will enable future generations to enjoy Alberta's natural diversity of plants, animals and landscapes.
One of the key components of protection efforts is to ensure that all 167 representative landscapes within
Alberta's six natural regions are in protected areas.
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What actions are being taken?
The Special Places Program of Alberta Community Development has completed its mandate to complete
a network of protected areas to preserve the province's environmental diversity. The focus has shifted
from creating new protected areas to protection and maintenance of existing ones. Work is being done
to include representation of all natural landscapes under the parks and protected areas network. To
date (2003-2004), there are now representative protected areas within the six natural regions and 20
sub-regions. One of the key components of the protection efforts is to ensure that there are protected
areas for all 167 representative landscapes within the natural regions. Other work on habitat preservation
is being done by organizations such as the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Ducks Unlimited.
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Links to additional information
Alberta's Parks & Protected Areas: http://www.cd.gov.ab.ca/preserving/parks/index.asp
Nature Conservancy of Canada: http://www.natureconservancy.ca/files/index.asp
Ducks Unlimited: http://www.ducks.ca/index.html
Parks Canada: http://www.pc.gc.ca/
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Feedback
E-mail the SOE Coordinator: SOE.Coordinator@gov.ab.ca or complete this short on-line questionnaire to provide your feedback: http://www.zoomerang.com/
survey.zgi?p=WEB224DW6P3E2K.
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