Action on the Ground: II (2008)

Working with Canadians to improve ecological integrity in Canada’s national parks

Purpose

Action on the Ground II (PDF, 4.29MB)

Parks Canada’s mandate is to protect and present nationally significant examples of Canada’s natural and cultural heritage and to foster public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of these areas in ways that ensure their ecological and commemorative integrity for present and future generations. In order to fulfill this mandate, the Agency has made a commitment to Canadians to maintain and improve the state of ecological integrity (ei) in Canada’s national parks. The path to meeting this commitment has evolved over the past ten years in light of a new understanding and appreciation of the complexity of maintaining or improving the state of ecological integrity as well as a growing recognition of the importance of integrating protection, public education and visitor experience in the delivery of the Parks Canada mandate. Parks Canada’s work will continue to respond to these challenges and to other drivers of change over the coming decades.

The purpose of this report is to highlight progress made by Parks Canada in improving ecological integrity, with particular emphasis on actions taken on the ground that engage Canadians in a range of activities across the national parks system. Several of the stories report on progress since they were initially reported in the 2005 Action on the Ground report. The majority, however, are new stories that highlight recent Agency successes in maintaining or improving the state of ecological integrity in Canada’s national parks. In addition, this report fulfills the Agency’s 2005 commitment to the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (cesd Chapter 2: Ecological Integrity in Canada’s National Parks, section 2.21) to periodically produce public interest documents that report on improving or maintaining ecological integrity.