I am concerned about the…

I am concerned about the endangered piping plover's habitat being affected by the proposed removal of Nancy Island from Wasaga Beach Provincial Park and removal of all of Beach Areas 1, 2, New Wasaga and Allenwood Beach. With the sale of Crown-owned lands within Beach Areas 1, 2, New Wasaga and Allenwood Beach to the Town of Wasaga Beach how does the municipality plan to safeguard the nesting grounds? The piping plover’s nest is called a scrape where the birds use their bodies to make a small depression in the sand and then line them with pebbles. Increased traffic on the beach will destroy these scrapes. More visitors unaware of the birds' presence will have dire consequences for their meager population of 85 pairs this year. People and pets unaware of hatchlings at the water’s edge will scare them off their search for food. They rely on natural features like dunes, beach debris and wrack lines. Beach development will remove the old bits of aquatic vegetation that shelter the invertebrates they eat. While the record number of nesting pairs is being celebrated, the Great Lakes piping plover population needs to nearly double to be taken off the Endangered Species Act list. The new Species At Risk Act does not have protections in place for surrounding habitat, only the animals themselves. Population growth has been uneven due to an increase in males over females affecting reproduction rates. Other challenges to their growth include unpredictable weather from climate change along with development along beaches. The new growth will be undone much more quickly then it was achieved if the preservation of their habitat is not prioritized.

Plovers are an indicator species so when they disappear, it’s a red flag that the entire beach ecosystem is in grave danger. They are a natural warning system and while the Great Lakes are nontidal, declining ice cover and changes in precipitation have led to increasingly dramatic swings in annual lake levels. In some years high water submerges the wide beaches plovers need, leaving them with only marginal areas for nesting. Losing natural beach habitat is a death sentence. By bulldozing the beaches flat to "groom them" and creating more accommodations and infrastructure nearby, we destroy the very ecosystem that the plovers and many other species depend on to survive. Ontario’s own experts state once dune systems are lost it will take decades to recover. Plovers can’t wait that long and need us to speak up for them! Protecting biodiversity will benefit us all so that we can continue to enjoy the natural beauty of Wasaga beach areas including Nancy Island for generations to come. Will the increase in revenue be worth it if we get another storm like the one in August 2023 that produced a tornadic waterspout over Lake Huron near Wasaga Beach? What if the fluctuating water levels rise high enough to cause flooding and the provincial park's beach dunes are no longer there to as a buffer for flooding? I visit the town every summer and their tourism industry is already thriving! The 38 million invested would be better spent on emergency preparedness or supporting environmental conservation efforts.