The land transfer of…

The land transfer of provincial park area out of the provincial park is a bad idea - Beach Area 1 is a well known nesting ground for the Endangered Piping Plover.

As a former Piping Plover Technician working at Sauble Beach (a public beach) and Wasaga and Darlington Provincial Parks, I saw first hand the effect of the different protections available at Public beaches vs. Provincial park. They do not compare in protections, and the data we have about Piping Plovers shows this - Wasaga beach has been a lot more successful in long term chick survival.

At the provincial parks, there are clear rules about dogs on the beach, and those rules are enforced. Park staff probably also work to ensure there are no feral cat populations within the park. There is no guarantee about dog rules, and no enforcement of these rules on public beaches. I know this because I frequent Sauble Beach, where there is constantly dog walkers, and off-leash dogs running down the beach. It is very obvious to see how Piping Plovers react to dogs versus how they react to people - they give dogs a much wider bubble, and won't feel comfortable nesting on the beach if there is a constant predator nearby. (This is known as the ecology of fear - "ecology of fear is a conceptual framework describing the psychological impact that predator-induced stress experienced by animals has on populations and ecosystems")

The second aspect of protection that Provincial Parks offers to Piping Plovers is a larger protected space for their nest, and critically - a closed down shoreline. The best place for Piping Plovers to forage is at the shore, and this is essential for chicks that need to bulk up fast, to be able to fly and avoid predators. With better access to food, more chicks are able to survive at the provincial parks, and they also fledge much faster. The Provincial Parks can extend their fencing down into the water and direct traffic behind the nest, while the public beaches had to leave the shoreline open for people walking along the shore.

If Ontario is committed to protecting Endangered Species, protecting our biodiversity for years to come, and for future generations then this plan is a bad decision, and will have a severely negative impact the small but steady increases in the Great Lakes Piping Plover Populations.