Use conflicts in Canada's National Marine Park Policy

✍ Scribed by Peter J. Ricketts

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1988
• Weight: 968 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0951-8312
• DOI: 10.1016/0951-8312(88)90010-0

✦ Synopsis

Canada has one of the longest coastlines in the world and one of the oldest national parks systems; and yet the protection of nationally significant marine environments has received relatively little attention in comparison with terrestrial environments. In recognition of this inconsistency, the federal government issued a National Marine Parks Policy in 1986. This paper analyses the new policy and its potential for successful implementation. In an attempt to recognise the dynamic nature of the marine environment, the policy proposes some significant and imaginative changes from Canada's traditional approach to park management. However, potential resource-use conflicts make it unlikely for the policy to be implemented successfully in coastal and marine areas that support commercial fishing. This paper proposes that a Marine Biosphere Reserve Programme should be developed alongside the Marine Parks Policy in order to provide a more comprehensive approach to managing Canada's coastal and marine heritage.