December 16, 2019 RE:…

December 16, 2019

RE: Proposed amendments to the Rondeau Provincial Park Management Plan, ERO number: 019-0907

Dear Senior Project Coordinator,

Birds Canada (formerly “Bird Studies Canada”) is pleased to provide comments on the proposed amendments to the Rondeau Provincial Park Management Plan, and we thank Ontario Parks for the opportunity to provide input. Birds Canada strongly opposes the proposal to extend cottage leases at Rondeau Provincial Park for the reasons outlined below.

Birds Canada is the country’s leading non-governmental organization dedicated to the understanding, appreciation, and conservation of wild birds. A registered charity, Birds Canada’s mission is to conserve wild birds of Canada through sound science, on-the-ground actions, innovative partnerships, public engagement, and science-based advocacy. The organization is science based with dozens of research, conservation, and outreach programs operating across Canada. To advance its mission, Birds Canada is proud to collaborate with tens of thousands of volunteer Citizen Scientists, scores of conservation partners, and numerous governmental organizations and agencies. Given Birds Canada’s mandate, history, and programs, the Rondeau Provincial Park Management Plan is of great interest to the organization.

Rondeau Provincial Park (RPP) is one of the last remaining strongholds of Canadian Carolinian forests, rare and globally endangered tallgrass prairie, and oak savanna (1). RPP is part of the dynamic Lake Erie shoreline dune habitat and includes important wetlands which can be damaged by human activity. RPP acts as an important stopover habitat for migrating birds and insects, and is a prominent site along the north shore of Lake Erie that draws in large numbers of birds representing hundreds of species during migration (2). Additionally, the RPP webpage highlights the fact that the park provides habitat for more Species at Risk than any other Provincial Park, including the Five-lined Skink, Fowler’s Toad, Spotted Gar, and Prothonotary Warbler. RPP provides vital breeding habitat for some of the last remaining Prothonotary Warblers in Ontario. This endangered and declining species is threatened by habitat loss and parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbird (3), which increase in areas of human development.

Birds Canada believes that the amendments, as proposed, are a missed opportunity to advance Ontario’s commitments to the 2006 Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act, meant to “permanently protect representative ecosystems, biodiversity and provincially significant elements of Ontario’s natural and cultural heritage and to manage these areas to ensure that ecological integrity is maintained (4).” The continued presence of cottages at RPP reflects a missed opportunity to advance protections of the park’s ecologically significant areas, which includes an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area, a Provincially Significant Wetland, and an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest. The recurring extensions of cottage leases threaten the ecological integrity of the park ecosystem, contrary to the commitments and intentions of the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act. This is particularly concerning considering Ontario’s commitment to expand the Protected Areas Network, specifically in the Mixedwood Plains ecozone, where RPP is located (5). Such an action would also run contrary to efforts to expand protected areas nationally and internationally as part of Canada’s commitment to the Aichi Biodiversity Target 11, meant to conserve 17% of terrestrial and 10% of coastal and marine “areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services” by 2020 (6).

Birds Canada opposes the proposal to extend the current cottage leases at Rondeau Provincial Park. We encourage Ontario Parks and the Government of Ontario not to renew the private cottage leases in Rondeau Provincial Park, and to seek opportunities to uphold and strengthen measures which put ecological integrity at the forefront of management decisions at RPP – and all of Ontario’s protected areas. We understand the complexity of balancing natural resource protection with human enjoyment of public spaces, however, in Provincial Parks and Conserved Areas, we support the principle that “maintenance of ecological integrity shall be the first priority (4).”

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the proposed changes to the Rondeau Provincial Park Management Plan. We would be pleased to provide additional input or to answer any questions you may have regarding our submission.

Yours sincerely,

Senior Conservation Advisor and Ontario Director at Birds Canada

References:
1. Hecnar, S. J., Hecnar, D. R., Brazeau, D. J., Prisciak, J., MacKenzie, A., Berkers, T., … Dobbie, T. (2018). Structure of Coastal Zone Herpetofaunal Communities in the Southern Laurentian Great Lakes. Journal of Herpetology, 52(1), 19–27.

2. Diehl, R. H., & Larkin, R. P. (2003). Radar Observations of Bird Migration over the Great Lakes. The Auk, 120(2), 278–290.

3. Environment Canada. (2011). Recovery Strategy for the Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) in Canada. Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Ottawa, Ontario.

4. Government of Ontario. (2006). Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act.

5. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. (2019). Protected Areas System. Retrieved from https://www.ontario.ca/page/protected-areas-system.

6. Convention on Biological Diversity. (2010). The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-20, the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and National Implementation. Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.