As a wildlife biology…

As a wildlife biology student, I am alarmed by the proposal to consolidate Ontario’s conservation authorities. This plan ignores the ecological purpose of existing boundaries, which were designed around watersheds and decades of local expertise. Collapsing these regions will leave professionals trained on very specific and niche environments responsible for unfamiliar landscapes, increasing the risk of flawed development decisions, habitat loss, and preventable flooding all while climate change amplifies every one of these threats.

This restructuring undermines the scientists, conservationists, and Indigenous peoples who have worked tirelessly to fight for the protection of these niche ecosystems. Your government speaks of partnership with Indigenous peoples, yet dismisses the place-based knowledge that has long safeguarded our lands and waters. We have seen this place-based knowledge be used effectively, where Indigenous on the west coast were allowed to continue their cultural practice of controlled burns and it lessened the damage caused by forest fires.

Weakening conservation authorities in the face of record wildfires, extreme weather, and collapsing biodiversity is not efficiency, it is negligence. These authorities are our frontline defense against environmental degradation and community level disasters. Furthermore, they are trained in these niches, allowing for areas to more efficiently be signed off on for building. By stretching these authorized out over great swathes of land, it increases the amount of time required to sign off as it requires careful discussion amongst numerous members in order to come to the same conclusion.

As a young Ontarian dedicating my future to protecting our wildlife and natural spaces, I cannot accept policies that erode the very systems meant to keep our ecosystems, and our communities, safe. Our watersheds are not administrative inconveniences. They are essential to our survival.