The Success of Canadas National Parks System - Research Paper Example

The Success of Canada’s National Parks System Is the Canadian National Parks System a success? National parks of Canada enfold events related to the country’s natural initiation including the formation of landscapes. These also reflect human stories, right from the conventional aboriginals to the initial days of exploration leading to the European settlement and their modern status. They depict the natural ongoing processes like migration of species, floods and at the same time provide opportunities to the economy and connect people with places and stories which shape the country. Furthermore, Canadian national parks are controlled by the Federal government. According to history, the first national park was established in 1885 in Banff, AB (Nelson and Scace 38). As mentioned above, national parks are considered as scenic or historically importance portion of landscape. They are also considered as remarkable objects that have been created by either deities or nature. Whatever the story is, many people are visiting national parks from all over the world; people go to parks because these kinds of places have a special place in their hearts. Although there are some disadvantages, there are many advantages that make the Canadian’s national parks system the successful system it is today: economy, which is enriching people’s wealth; heritage, which is maintaining people’s cultures; and ecosystem, which is improving and preserving animals’ life Thesis: Although there are some disadvantages, there are many advantages that make the Canadian’s National Parks System the successful system it is today: economy, which is enriching people’s wallets; ecosystem, which is improving animals’ life; and heritage, which is preserving people’s cultures. The contribution of the National parks of Canada to the country’s economy is noteworthy in respect of tourism, investments and visitor spending for their all round development and improvement in living standards of people. The four key aspects governing the economy of the Canadian National Parks are tourists, tour operators, hotels, and developments. These are not only enriching Canada’s economy but also enriching people’s income and their standards of living within the National Parks. Tourism and recreational activities are key components of a nation’s economy and National Parks comprise attractive places of tourism activities. The experience of a tourist consists of detaching oneself from the daily life and desiring a different region. A tourist detaches himself from his familiar world and gets attached to a ‘centre-out-there’. The National parks provide that opportunity to the tourists and thus promotes betterment in living standards. Such activities also involve facilitating infrastructure and conveniences. The forest and nature managers need to face different tourists visiting the National Parks everyday and each of them asking for different experiences (Elands and Lengkeek, 31-32). Draper shows how the mountain tourism communities like that of Banff in Canada (associated for more than 100 years with the Banff National Park) can balance tourism development along with environmental protection. The town attempts towards becoming a sustainable national park community (Draper 408). There are different sources of income for the management that conserves resources – “societal taxes, user fees and charges and donations” (Eagles, 235). “Government grants based on taxes” form a majority of the income of the Canadian National Parks. The charges paid by tourists also contribute some extent to this income. However at times, financial efficiency from government finances is weak because the financial gains of aboriginal communities are often given priority compared to the effectiveness of the system of management. In fact legal and policy initiatives have been taken in Canada in order to ascertain the clarity and answerability of the authority governing the aboriginals. In Canada National Parks are managed by profit-making, non-profit making and even community based ownerships. The agencies of parks make use of the profit-making companies in order to provide recreation and tourism. Such services include “food stores, restaurants, equipment rentals, trip guiding, lodging, specialized recreation services and transport.” (Eagles, 239) For example, the visitors, who are coming from all over the world to see the beauty of Banff, AB, have been increasing every year. Banff National Park is located in the Canadian Rocky Mountains in the province of Alberta, and the park encompasses 6,641 square kilometers of valleys, mountains, glaciers, forests, meadows and rivers. The town of Banff, AB has 8,244 residents; 993 of them are temporary residents. Due to the park’s location, which is located in a very attractive area to people who are in British Columbia, Edmonton, Jasper, Calgary or even some states in the US like Washington, people find it very convenient to visit the park. According to the Town of Banff website, “Tourism is the town’s economic driver. More than 3 million people visit Banff National Park every year, and almost all of them visit the Town of Banff.” In addition, Cliff White states “Visitors to Banff have increased astronomically from less than 10,000 in 1900, to approximately 160,000 in 1930, and to over 5,000,000 in 1980” (17).This huge number of visitors can make people wonder about how great Banff is. In addition, Banff is considered as the third biggest national park in the world, and it is known for its beauty, hot springs, hiking, camping and skiing (Shannon, 3). Having such numbers of tourists that are heading to Banff from both Canada’s provinces and other countries over the world can be an effective factor as it is supporting the economy in Banff and in Canada as a whole. Also, the huge number of tourism led to big developments either in the city or in the country itself. Therefore, by having such developments in the city, there are many opportunities for people to get jobs such as lifeguards, work in hotels, in shops, and in gas stations. As a result, the development in Banff led for many people to have opportunities to have jobs, and led for Canada to have an income through taxes. For instance, if the 5 million tourists that are visiting Banff every year would pay a 10-dollar fee for entering Banff, that would come to a total of 50,000,000 million dollars, which is not a very common annual income for one city (Jeff Gailus). The ecosystem of the Canadian National Parks needs to be preserved for their biodiversity and this has made them important for the natural habitat of several living forms. A probable threat to the national parks of Canada is fragmentation of forests which may be defined as the breaking up of the habitat in parts. This is brought about by several aspects such as fires, infestation by insects and anthropogenic functions (logging and constructing roads). Such fragmentation is most likely to harm the habitat of a majority of mammals, reptile, birds and amphibian species. Climate changes, over use and alien species have also threatened the health of these parks in Canada. The Canada’s National Parks Act was revisited in 2011 and more stress was laid on the ecological reliability of the management. This would entail each management body to have a long run “ecological vision for the park, a set of ecological integrity objectives and indicators and provisions for resource protection and restoration, zoning, visitor use, public awareness and performance evaluation, which shall be tables in each House of Parliament” (Soverel et al 482). Such plans are reviewed on 5 yearly basis. Given the current threats to biodiversity the nation has taken big steps to conserve and protect the same and ensure long term benefits in terms of food security and well being (Hutchings et al 353). A case study of Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Sotia shows that the epiphytic lichens, a rare species have reduced in numbers in certain regions. The study of Gibson et al reveals the concentration of different gasses like nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide in the summer and winter seasons. The average concentration is not found phytotoxic to lichens. The concentration of sulfur dioxide was found to be highest at higher regions. In fact the research showed that at places the air quality or composition of gasses in adversely associated with the diversity of lichen species and ne might conclude that the quality of air can cause ecological detriment. In a study assessing four national parks, (Gwaii Hanas, Pacific Rim, Kluane and Waterton Lakes), it was concluded that ecological reliability was not well managed there and this was mainly because park managers did not properly maintain and look into the indicators they had identified. In Pacific Rim Park the population of marbled murrelet came down by 68 percent between mid 1990s and mid 2000s. Several bears die in the Banff National Park every year. Despite the official claims of successful ecosystem management, the ecosystem is under threat owing to the “intense human footprint” (Gailus, 13). Sometimes, the parks management aim towards increasing the visitors by two percent on annual basis for economic reasons but this often has adverse effect on the ecological balance. In fact several new activities were permitted such as ziplining and canopy tours. The budget spent towards conservation declined from $214 million in 2007 by 10 percent in 2010 (Gailus 13). In fact sometimes interference is caused to the natural population of certain life forms in the parks. An example can be drawn from the mountain pine beetle population which has rapidly spread in the parks and beyond the boundaries (McFarlane and Witson, 340). Naturally occurring insects of the forests bring less danger to the sustainable health of an ecosystem. When the population breaks a certain level or an outburst is caused in their “historical levels of variation” then one might predict a negative health of the ecosystem owing to this unnatural occurrence (McFarlane and Witson, 204). In Banff National Park, “Parks Canada has adopted an ecosystem based management approach that fulfills its mandate to preserve ecological integrity in the park ecosystems’ and provide for visitor enjoyment and benefit. Ecosystem based management is a holistic approach in which decisions are made based on an understanding of the whole ecosystem rather than individual species or communities”(Parks Canada website). The ecosystem, which secures both animals’ and plants’ life, is a factor that has been administered very well by the government to preserve and maintain animals’ and plants’ existence. Rumor has it that Banff national park has more than 990 different kinds of trees. Moreover, Banff national park has many different species of animals. According to Parks Canada website, Banff national park contains both small and big animals, which are Columbian Ground Squirrels, Hoary Marmots, Porcupines, Beavers, Pika (Rock Rabbits), Moose, Elks, Mule Deer and White-tailed Deer, Woodland Caribous, Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat, Bison, Weasels, Coyotes, Wolves, Cat Family, Black Bears and Grizzly Bears. “The government of Canada is protecting such areas to ensure that wildlife species do not become at risk” (Environment Canada). For example, the government allows and observes hunters to practice hunting in special areas and special seasons with a certain amount of animals as well as ensuring them to be aware of the endangered species. As a result, by protecting these areas, they sustain the health and beauty of each national park and its essence on earth; therefore, this includes the evolutionary processes that lead to reproduction new species and genetic diversity that exists within species (Parks Canada website). In brief, there are many national parks that are observed by a regime system all over the world, and they are considered as a significant part of the landscape. The aim of such places is to preserve animals and plants as well as to offer the atmosphere for both people’s enjoyment and maintaining the great wildlife. The National Parks of Canada have been heritage sites since the nineteenth century and have been attracting people as tourists and funds for their maintenance. Heritage sites refer to public places which represent some particular cultural group in formal way. These sites also represent informal social meets where community membership is demonstrated by tourists. But in case of a nation like Canada where there is always an inflow of immigrants from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, retaining heritage sites in the same way is impossible (Ashley 478). Many people go to parks in order to enjoy and see the beauty of the objects that have been created by either deities or nature. As history tells, Banff national park is the most attractive area in Canada due to its age as well as its heritage, which has meaning to Canada’s history. Moreover, despite people having differences in wealth, age, or gender they still seek a place to enjoy and see the vision of nature. Therefore, by enriching people’s economy standards, maintaining animals’ lives, and upholding people’s culture, Canada has a successful National Parks System that has been running for over a century. As a result, the three main points have proven a value in terms of how successful the system is. According to the Town of Banff website, “Banff National Park is one of four national parks in Canada that are considered as heritage places under the United Nation Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.”Therefore, according to Cecile who works for the park, “Banff national park has four museums, which are Whyte, Buffalo Nations, Banff Park, and Cave and Basin, and each one of them represents individual characteristic about Canadian history. For instance, the first museum, which is called Whyte, was established in 1968. The museum is exploring the Canadian Rockies art, artifacts, culture, and history. The Buffalo Nations museum is presenting the history of the first nation people by showing their clothes and symbols that were used by them. As a result, the government has been running and protecting these heritage sites not only to attract tourists but also to display the real history of Canadian people. As mentioned earlier, Banff is a 125-year old, and it is considered as the oldest national park in Canada, which means that it has its own part of being as a historical place (Jeff Gailus). In fact the Parks Canada Agency spent beyond $1million for advertisements, books, movies and TV shows in order to develop public relations. In fact “Parks Canada’s network of national parks, …..has become symbolic of our national identity and is recognized internationally as the greatest among the great” (Gailus 10). The beauty of the parks found place in the media reports of Canadian Geographic, the travelogues of The Globe and Mail and Canadian Geographic Travel. However there is a conflict with the ecosystem which gets disturbed by more visitors while getting more people in the parks in important to the management not just for the collection of funds but to get the parks known internationally as the nation’s heritage sites. By enriching people’s standards, improving animals’ survival, and upholding people’s culture, Canada has the successful National Parks System. Therefore, the three main points have exposed a value in terms of how successful the system is. Though important steps in terms of policy making and management of the parks have been undertaken in order to bring about ecological balance, yet there are goals yet to be achieved and objectives to be fulfilled in terms of bringing about ecological sustainability. Economic goals might often clash with those concerning the ecosystems owing to anthropogenic activities, yet a balance needs to be struck in order to make the parks a success. What is most important, the parks have brought to the world the history and tradition of Canada. Better management of the parks might be ensured if proper strategies are introduced in the management and the funds are ensured for their maintenance form the Federal. In that case tourist activities might be restricted to some extent to bring about healthy ecosystem. Otherwise, the beauty and freshness of the parks which are reassures to the people’s livelihood at present might be endangered in the long run. From the current scenario however one can say that the parks are a success in Canada. References Ashley, Susan. The Changing Face of Heritage at Canada's National Historic Sites. International Journal of Heritage Studies, (2007)13.6, 478-488 Draper, Dianne. Toward Sustainable Mountain Communities, A Journal of the Human Environment, (2000) 29.7, 408-415 Eagles, P.F.J. Governance of recreation and tourism partnerships in parks and protected areas, Journal of Sustainable Tourism (2009) 17.2, 231-248 Elands et al. The tourist experience of out-there-ness: theory and empirical research, Forest Policy and Economics19, (2012) 31-38 Gibson et al The spatial and seasonal variation of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide in Cape Breton Highlands National Park,Canada, and the association with lichen abundance. Atmospheric Environment (2013) 64, 303-311 Gailus, Jeff, All Sizzle, No Stake. Alternatives Journal, (2012) 38.1 Hutchings et al, Is Canada fulfilling its obligations to sustain marine biodiversity? A summary review, conclusions, and recommendations, Environmental Reviews, 20.4, p353-361 McFarlane et al, Perceptions of Ecological Risk Associated with Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) Infestations in Banff and Kootenay National Parks of Canada, Risk Analysis (2008) 28.1 Soverel et al. Characterizing the forest fragmentation of Canada’s national parks, Environ Monit Assess (2010) 164:481–499 Read More