What Does “Protected” Actually Mean? Key Takeaways from Our Parks and Protected Areas Webinar
When most people think of a provincial park or protected area, they assume a consistent, high level of environmental protection. The reality, as our recent Biodiversity in Focus webinar on Parks and Protected Areas revealed, is considerably more nuanced — and the differences matter more than most people realize.
Not All Protected Areas Are Created Equal
One of the session’s most important takeaways was that the designation of a protected area does not guarantee uniform protection. Under Alberta’s Provincial Parks Act alone, there are three distinct designations wildland provincial parks, provincial recreation areas, and provincial parks each with different rules around what industrial activity, development, and recreation is permitted. Add in the Wilderness Areas, Ecological Reserves, Natural Areas, and Heritage Rangelands Act, and the picture becomes even more complex. Protection levels range from wilderness areas, where restrictions are embedded directly in legislation, to natural areas, where ministerial discretion is broad and varied.
Kananaskis Country serves as a compelling real-world example of this complexity. A single visit to K-Country might take you through a provincial park, a wildland provincial park, an ecological reserve, and a public land use zone each governed by different rules, and each offering a different level of protection for the ecosystems within it.
Recreation vs. Conservation: A Growing Tension
A recurring theme throughout the session was the balance or imbalance between recreation and conservation in Alberta’s current policy direction. Both the newly released Plan for Parks and the Crown Land Recreation and Conservation Strategy place significant emphasis on expanding recreational access, with conservation appearing as a secondary consideration. The ELC has consistently argued that while recreation is an important and legitimate use of protected areas, ecosystem management and conservation must remain the foundation for all other decisions.
With 900 new campsites planned by 2033 and growing visitor numbers across the provincial park system, this tension is only set to intensify. The question of how Alberta navigates that balance will define the health of these landscapes for decades to come.
Indigenous Governance and Protected Areas
The session also touched on an often-overlooked dimension of parks management: the role of Indigenous peoples in the governance of protected lands. True Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) are defined by three core features they are Indigenous-led, represent a long-term commitment to conservation, and elevate Indigenous rights and responsibilities. Consultation, while important, falls short of this standard. As Alberta continues to update its parks framework, meaningful Indigenous co-governance remains a critical and unresolved question.
Questions From the Audience
The webinar generated a rich and wide-ranging Q&A. Here are the questions raised by attendees:
- Do any of the current policies set direction to expand the network of protected areas in Alberta?
- Are there natural areas that are subject to OHV (off-highway vehicle) use?
- How can you report inappropriate recreational use in protected areas?
- Why does Saskatchewan have the most federal wildlife areas?
- Can you speak to the difference between changing protected area status through Orders in Council versus under the All-Seasons Resort Act?
- Are there any lands in Canada that don’t allow any dispositions at all a pure preservation focus?
- Do UNESCO-designated areas fit into the parks and protected areas framework?
- Can you point us to a map of Alberta showing all the types of protected areas discussed?
- Does it seem like legislative frameworks are being set up to prioritize one type of recreation over others for example, ATVs over other recreational uses?
- Can you speak to how rivers fit into the system of parks and protected areas?
- What designation would protect a vulnerable wildlife community that has colonized a previously disturbed habitat?
Didn’t make it to the live session — or want to revisit the answers? Watch the full webinar recording here to hear our lawyers work through each of these questions in detail.
Interested in more? Our Biodiversity in Focus series continues this spring with upcoming sessions on Grasslands (April 9), Wetlands (May 14), and Forests (June 4). Register at elc.ab.ca.
Register Here