CLOCA assessing future needs for conservation lands

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

A surging population and a changing climate are putting pressure on CLOCA’s sensitive land holdings like never before seen. Now, they’re looking to set a plan in place to be prepared for whatever the future holds for Durham Region.

The development of the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (CLOCA) Conservation Lands Master Plan is now underway and will look to create a framework for ensuring the health, access and sustainability of Durham’s most sensitive ecosystems in the years ahead.

“The goal is to make sure that we’re managing our lands and developing programs and services that will meet the demands of our area going forward, recognizing that we’re in the midst of significant population growth that’s challenging both our greenspace, our nature heritage system, it’s putting lots of pressure on our lands as well from a recreational and active transportation point of view,” says Jamie Davidson, the conservation areas coordinator with CLOCA.

In total, CLOCA manages 16 different conservation area complexes. Of those, eight are popular Durham attractions, including Purple Woods in Oshawa, Lynde Shores and Heber Down in Whitby, the Bowmanville/Westside Marshes, Long Sault in Bowmanville, and Enniskillen Conservation Area in Clarington.

As it stands, the last time a comprehensive look at the conservation authority’s land holdings was completed was over 20 years ago. Davidson says CLOCA is overdue for a new look as current use numbers at these greenspaces are far beyond estimates made 20 years ago. Currently, CLOCA sees approximately 80,000 people visit their conservation lands on an annual basis, and with Durham’s population set to grow to around 970,000 within the next 12 years, those numbers are only going to continue to rise.

The growth in population highlights a precarious balancing act for CLOCA.

While the organization is seeking to maintain public access to educate residents and create an appreciation for nature and wildlife, it can sometimes abut against their primary goal of protecting these sensitive lands.

“The public access piece is sort of secondary to our primary mandate which is the restoration, protection and conservation of the natural resources within those properties,” Davidson says, noting that about 90 per cent of CLOCA’s land holdings were acquired due to their sensitive natural features. “We also recognize the importance of providing opportunities for the public to visit these areas to kind of create that circular loop. You need to experience something to appreciate it. The more you appreciate it, the more likely you are to protect it, and understand it.”

The complete assessment will also dive into threats from climate change and ensuring the sensitive areas are maintained to protect drinking water, and terrestrial and wildlife habitats. Studies will also be done to assess the needs for programming, as well as the needs of visitors and local municipalities.

The two-phase plan is set to begin this year with the hiring of a consultant to undertake consultations with the public and municipalities. Phase 1 is funded by $10,000 approved in CLOCA’s 2018 budget. According to a report, these funds were generated from conservation area and parking fees, while the conservation authority plans to approach the Region of Durham to assist in funding Phase 2 in 2019.

“We are overdue and we feel that by taking a really strategic approach, looking at all the business units and areas that relate to our conservation lands programs internally, looking at all of that together, we hope to have a really robust master plan that will guide us in developing appropriate programs, completely appropriate projects and adding public use infrastructure that’s appropriate, recognizing population trends in the future,” Davidson says.

Current plans have parts of the public engagement process rolling out near the end of 2018 or early 2019, with CLOCA currently in the process of finalizing a visitor survey that will be available this summer.