Fwd: Ask the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to release the provincial protected areas strategy

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> Ask the Government of Newfoundland and

> Labrador to release the

> provincial protected areas strategy

>

 

 

 

March 22, 2006

 

Ask the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to

release the provincial protected areas strategy

 

It comes as a surprise to many people that the

province of Newfoundland and Labrador is three times

the size of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince

Edward Island put together. Although the Province is

known world-wide for its once-proud marine fish

stocks, many other globally significant natural

features occur there. These include seabirds (up to

40,000,000 every year), rare and endemic plants, and

the Province's spectacular geology and fossils. Yet,

many of these globally significant features remain

unprotected because the Provincial Government has not

released the protected areas strategy called the

" Natural Areas Plan " .

 

The Natural Areas Plan, or NAP, has been " sleeping "

for over 10 years. The candidate protected areas were

originally designed by a Government committee in

1995-1996. When the committee submitted its final

report in 1996, they recommended the immediate release

of the plan for public and industry review. As of

February 22, 2006 the plan and the candidate areas had

not been released. Unfortunately, this means that

Newfoundland and Labrador is the only Province in

Canada that has not released (let alone implement) its

protected areas strategy. More importantly, candidate

area boundaries are being revised or even eliminated

without public debate.

 

The current administration of the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador was elected in 2003. One of

their election platforms was the release of the

Natural Areas Plan. They have been in office now for

over two years, yet the plan remains hidden in the

halls of Government.

 

Please help CPAWS-NL by letting Premier Danny Williams

know that you support the release of the Natural Areas

Plan.

 

 

Image: Jim Cornish

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about CPAWS and the chapter nearest you, please visit

www.cpaws.org, or contact us at 1-800-333-9453 (WILD).

 

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