Protected Areas

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From our mountains, to boreal forests and grasslands, Alberta has an amazing number of wild spaces that we cherish and take pride in. Unfortunately, many of these areas are not protected and are at risk of being lost. Healthy, protected ecosystems provide us with food, clean water, safeguards from natural disaster, recreation opportunities and economic benefits.

The Porcupine Hills in spring. PHOTO: © K MIHALCHEON
Throughout the years, AWA has identified important landscapes containing key features, and rare or special landscapes. We have worked to maintain the ecological integrity of these areas, keeping them wild. Some of these Wild Spaces are essential, containing regions and ecosystems that have not yet been protected, and that require protection to complete the provincial protected areas network and sustain biodiversity in our province. Other Wild Spaces may function as corridors or transition zones for species between protected areas. Many Wild Spaces require sound management for working landscapes, where economic development can be sustainably integrated with conservation objectives.
See our Wild Alberta map to explore current protected areas (green) and areas AWA has identified for completing Alberta’s protected areas network (gold).
The following principles guide AWA’s vision for protected areas:
• A complete protected areas network includes representation of all Natural Regions, landscape features, and rare and special landscapes.
• Core areas need to be set aside as the foundation of the system. These must be large, natural, and interconnected.
• Corridors are needed to provide connections among the cores. These must allow for the movement of wildlife and natural processes.
• Buffer zones should surround the cores to insulate them from the negative effects of nearby development.
• Working landscapes throughout the province should incorporate management objectives for the maintenance of natural values. Because protected areas alone are not enough, environmental protection should be at the forefront of all land-use planning initiatives.
• Free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples in the creation and management of protected areas provides inherent value as well as significant opportunities to meet conservation objectives. We must uphold reconciliation commitments and meet Target 18 under the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, so that “traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous  and local communities relevant for the  conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and their customary use  of biological resources are respected,  subject to national legislation and  relevant international obligations, and  fully integrated and reflected in the  implementation of the Convention  with the full and effective participation  of indigenous and local communities,  at all relevant levels”.
• It is appropriate for government to be the primary responsible body for achieving Aichi Target 11; however, Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs) such as private land conservation easements can play an important role in complementing and enhancing government established protected areas network, provided they meet IUCN protection requirements for OECMs. Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) will also play a central role in the completion of Alberta’s protected areas network.
Meeting international biodiversity commitments
In 2015, Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments committed to conserving at least 17 percent of Canada’s lands and inland waters by 2020, otherwise known as Canada Target 1, established under the Aichi Biodiversity Targets:
By 2020, at least 17% of terrestrial areas and inland water, and 10% of marine and coastal areas of Canada are conserved through networks of protected areas and other effective area-based measures.
In keeping with this national and international commitment, the Government of Alberta has also committed to protecting 17 percent of Alberta’s landscape.
At the end of 2016, 10.6 percent of Canada’s terrestrial areas and only 0.96 percent of its marine territory are protected. As Canada’s National Advisory Panel Report noted this is “an increase of only 1 percent since 2010; therefore, much needs to be done to achieve 17 percent by 2020.”
As of June 2018, 14.6 percent of Alberta is protected:
• 8.2 percent as National Parks
• 6.4 percent as provincial protected areas
In order to meet the Canada Target 1, protected area systems must protect each Natural Region, include areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystems, and be well-connected.
Many of Alberta’s protected areas allow industrial development, which undermines their protection value. In addition, most provincial protected areas are small and isolated within a highly developed landscape. These areas will not support wildlife, viable ecosystems, or landscape-scale natural disturbances over time.
AWA is requesting that the federal and provincial governments keep moving forward with their commitment to biodiversity. You can help by sending a letter requesting that:
• By 2020, 17 percent of Alberta’s overall land base will be protected, with additions to the protected areas network focusing on landscapes which are currently underrepresented and provide habitat for species at risk.
• By 2020, the Alberta government will have identified and committed to the protection of specific areas that will achieve 17 percent protection in each of our six natural regions. In regions that are heavily developed, such as the Parkland Natural Region, Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) will need to play an important role in enhancing a government established protected areas network.
Representative protection
While some of Alberta’s Natural Regions, like the Rocky Mountains, are relatively well protected, many of Alberta’s other Natural Regions – such as Grasslands, Parkland and Foothills – are poorly represented in the current network. A lack of representative protection has led to widespread declines in wildlife. The Grasslands Natural Region is less than 2 percent protected and more than three quarters of Alberta’s species at risk rely on prairie habitats (Alberta Environmental Protection 1997).
Insufficient management and enforcement
Many of Alberta’s protected areas lack formal management plans, without which the cumulative effects of individual land-uses can diminish the wilderness values that the protected areas intended to protect.
A lack of enforcement in protected areas can cause extensive damages from activities such as poaching, garbage dumping and illegal off-highway vehicle (OHV) use.
Recreation and Commercialization
Although recreation, and specifically non‐motorized recreation is indeed “critical to the quality of life we experience as Albertans” (Questions and Answers on the Proposed New Parks Legislation, 2010), Albertans also recognize that recreation is not, and should not be, the top priority within protected areas. The 2008 public survey found that 70.8% of Albertans believe the top priority for Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation should be to set aside more land and leaving it in an undisturbed state.
Threats to protected areas from recreation include:
• Overdevelopment of facilities leading to urbanization of wilderness environments.
• Permitting activities which are incompatible with conservation objectives, such as the introduction of off-highway vehicles (OHVs) in areas where such use was historically prohibited.
• Inappropriate developments such as commercial recreation, including downhill ski operations, golf courses, and alpine villages.
• Overuse and overcrowding – when protected areas reach visitor carrying capacity and it is effectively impossible to manage human-wildlife conflicts.
February 1, 2006
Report: Water Quality Study of Waiparous Creek, Fallentimber Creek and Ghost River
Read the report prepared for Alberta Environment, Water Quality Study of Waiparous Creek, Fallentimber Creek…
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• Headwaters
• Protected Areas
• Rivers
• South Ghost
March 1, 2004
Transcript from the Legislature: Black Creek Heritage Rangeland Trails Act
20040301_doc_black_creek_heritage_rangeland_trails_act_hansard Discussion in the Committee of the Whole for Bill 2, Black Creek Heritage Rangeland…
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• Livingstone-Porcupine
• Protected Areas
• Whaleback
November 5, 2003
DRAFT Management Plan for Bob Creek Wildland and Black Creek Heritage Rangeland
Draft Alberta government management plan for Bob Creek Wildland and Black Creek Heritage Rangeland, made…
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• Protected Areas
• Whaleback
January 1, 2001
Plateau Mountain Management Plan
The Government of Alberta’s management plan for Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve 20000100_rp_plateau_mtn_mgmt_plan_ae.pdf
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• Protected Areas