Urban Conservation Policy

Question 1

How do cities affect biodiversity ?

Answer 1

• predator prey interactions

- urban adaptations

Question 2

How does biodiversity benefit cities?

Answer 2

• mental health
• urban forestry
• bio offset in cities to help minimize negative impact of urbanization

Question 3

What is a concerting issue with the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS)
L> Ontario Planing Act

Answer 3

• It explicitly calls for the protection of natural features and their long term ecological functions. It also provided an explanation for the term ecological function, whoever there is no mention of ecosystem services in the PPS, let alone working definitions.
• PPS lack of defining ecosystem services vs only explaining protection of natural features speaks to the importance of language in policy for when implementation is being applied

Question 4

How does urbanization affect plant and bird species?

Answer 4

• dramatic decline of density of bird and plant sp, explained via land cover change and city age. BUT despite the declines in sp density, cities still retain endemic native species, and remaining biodiversity provides opportunities for regional and global conservation, restoration and education

Question 5

Whats going on with pollinators in cities? (Hall et al 2016)

Answer 5

• abundance and diversity of active be species in urban landscapes that are absent in nearby rural lands evidence the biological value and ecological importance of cities and have implications for biodiversity conservation
• *basically we can create areas in the city, serving as rogue via niche opportunities since areas around the city are not beneficial to pollinators

Question 6

What key points did Hostetler, Allen and Meurk (2011) provide for conservation practitioners in urban regions?

Answer 6

• Ecosystem approach
• create incentives for developers to implement biodiversity friendly practices
• need for education programs that focus on urban biodiversity

Question 7

Give a little background on Rouge National Urban Park.

Answer 7

• Prior to PC moving forward with this initiative to create an urban park, Rouge was just a provincial park
• It is governed by Rouge Park Alliance (Est. 1995), prior to PC involvement
• Has a wide range of stakeholders (T.Zoo, City of T., Gov. Canada , Prov Ont. etc)
• TRCA plays a huge role in ecological components
• still a few areas of the park that need to eb transferred to the park
• Basically this was a decentralized arrangement, formalized when PC came in

Question 8

What is the break down of Rouge Park?

Answer 8

• crop and grazing land = 54%
• Natural cover = 21%
  L>forests, wetlands etc
• Built up areas = 20%
  L> infrastructure
• Urban green space = 4%
  L> golf courses and playing fields

Question 9

List the three main objectives of Rouge Park?

Answer 9

1. Natural resource conservation
2. Cultural Investment
3. Farmland Enhancement

Question 10

Objectives of Rouge Park:

1. Explain the Natural resource conservation objective

Answer 10

• control problematic invasive sp (ex DSV!)

- promote presence of beneficial wildlife like pollinators, birds and snakes

Question 11

Objectives of Rouge Park:

2. Explain the Cultural Investment objective

Answer 11

• visitors and stakeholders from inside and outside the GTA feel a new connection to the park
• planing underway for north-south trail network

Question 12

Objectives of Rouge Park:

3. Explain the farmland enhancement objective

Answer 12

• areas managed for sustainable farming and to celebrate the agricultural heritage fo the park
• agricultural land in production, natural buffers and experience based components

Question 13

Provide a little info on the idea of ecological integrity and policy involving this wrt Rouge.

Answer 13

• 10 year process at Rouge
• Bill C-40: Rouge National Urban Park Act
  L> prioritize ecological integrity in legislation to ensure that management is for that purpose BUT the draft federal legislation for Rouge just says the Minister shall have consideration for natural values.
  L> In practical terms, the concept of eco integrity as it applies to Canada’s National parks is simply unachievable in an urban setting…
  **basically this 10 year lag is bc of the lack of ecological integrity being mentioned
• BUT Bill C-18: amended the Rouge National Urban Park Act, the Parks panda Agency Act and the Canada National Parks Act, making maintenance or restoration one ecological integrity the first management priority for Rouge but also provides for the carrying out fo agricultural activities in the park

**Basically rouge is a good ex of how we formalized the protection of eco integrity

Question 14

Explain Canada’s 2020 Target 4.

Answer 14

• Biodiversity considerations should be integrated into municipal planning and activities of major municipalities across Canada
• Indicators:
  L> number of medium nd large population centres with developed biodiversity cons strategies
  L> number of medium and large pop centres that have biodiversity objectives in municipal planning documents
  **these are important bc 90% of Canadian population will live in urban areas by 2050

Question 15

What is the green belt plan?

Answer 15

• basically GRA has a green area, they are trying not to expand out into…

Question 16

Explain the objectives of the CBD at the local level.

Answer 16

1. Increase the engagement of subnational governments and local authorities
2. improve regional and global coordination and exchange of lessons learned on ways to encourage and support local authorities to manage biodiversity, provide ecosystem services and incorporate biodiversity concerns in urban planning
3. Identify, enhance and disseminate policy tools, guidelines and programs to facilitate local action
4. Develop awareness raising programs on biodiversity for local residents
5. The use of the Singapore Index on Cities BIdoversity, and local biodiversity surveys and assessments or similar mech
   L> it is a self assessment tool for cities to monitor their progress against their own individual baselines
   L> profile of the city AND 23 indicator that measure native biodiversity, ecosystem services provided and governance / management of biodiversity

** basically at the international level there is an emphasis on quantification

Question 17

What are the key messages from the Cities and Biodiversity Outlook: Action and Policy ?

Answer 17

• Urbanization is both a challenge and an opportunity to manage ecosystem services globally
• Ecosystem services must be integrated into urban policy and planning
• Urban ecosystem services and biodiversity can help contrite to climate change mitigation and adaptation
• Successful management of biodiversity and ES must be based on multi scale, multi sectoral and multi stakeholder involvement
• *basically hits home the idea that ES is part of BD management

**ES can be delivered even if the ecosystem is degraded or has low BD BUT pristine ecosystems provide a greater number of ES

Question 18

What are the two relevant ON policies for CB in urban /rural regions?

Answer 18

1. Ontario Planning Act, 1990

2. Provincial Policy Statement, 2005

Question 19

What is the Ontario Planning Act, 1990?

Answer 19

• requires the municipal master plans contain goals, objectives and policies established primarily to manage and direct physical change and the effects on the social, economic and natural environment.

Question 20

What is the Provincial Policy Statement, 2005?

Answer 20

• guidance on terminology and scope of municipal plans
• proves the recognition and policy development for Green Infrastructure: “natural heritage system (NHS)” , parklands, stormwater management systems, street trees, urban forests, natural channels, permeable surfaces, and green roofs
• NHS = a system made of natural heritage features and areas, and linkages intended to provide connectivity at the regional or site level, and support natural processes that are necessary to maintain biological and geological diversity, natural functions, viable pops of indigenous species and ecosystems

Question 21

What are the overall findings of Lam and Conway (2018) for ecosystem service sin urban land use planning policies in Ontario?

Answer 21

• limited empirical assessment of planning policies
• lack of guidance on what info is required to inform decision
• often ecosystem service sis referenced implicitly
• not a lot on biodiversity - linked with supporting ESs
• highlighted in a table that as land cover in metropolitan areas increase we lose ES in urban cores
• in most municipal plans, recreational services dominate
  L> habitat and biodiversity were more on the low end

Question 22

What are some things cities and local governments can do for biodiversity in urban areas?

Answer 22

• green roofs
• bird friendly glass
• sustaining and expanding the urban forest (Torontos strategic forest management plan)
• release guidelines and best practices

Question 23

What are the goals of Toronto’s Strategic Forest Management Plan (2012-2022)?

Answer 23

• Increase canopy cover
  L> >40% for forest health…currently the greatest cover is 60% on private property
• achieve equitable distribution
  L>increase canopy where most needed
• increase biodiversity
  L>increase forest resilience via this
• increase awareness
  L> gain public interest *
  L> environmental, community and economic value
• promote stewardship *
• done via engagement from NGOs and Unis, like Live Green Toronto, Bees of Toronto
• improve monitoring
  L> inventory monitor and analyze
  L> a quantitative tool was released by the city that is open source, to track age of trees, active biodiversity etc for progress over time.

** Also realize this isn’t Toronto’s only urban plan….there are various policies under Toronto’s Master Plane

Question 24

Explain the Conservation Authorities Act, 1990. (this was on his review slides*)

Answer 24

• formal creation of conservation authorities
• Criteria :
  1. A conservation authority must be a local initiative stab at the request of a watershed’s municipalities
  2. Each CA operates independently in a cooperative, cost sharing partnership between member municipalities and the province of Ontario
  3. Each CA must have jurisdiction over one or more watersheds and the ability to enforce regulations in order to ensure a complete and rational approach to issues such s flood control and erosion

Question 25

What do Conservation Authorities do?

Answer 25

• study watersheds
• acquire or sell land in their jurisdiction (usually watercourse or wetland focused)
• build structures and conduct eco restoration work
• enforce regulations and standards with a focus now wetlands, watercourse and conservation area

Question 26

What is the TRCA?

Answer 26

• Toronto Region Conservation Authority
• monitoring and natural heritage inventory since 1990s
• main management target is natural cover but is moving towards ecosystem services
• Has policies on green infrastructure and for ecological design – for planning sustainable communities

Question 27

What is the Greenbelt Act, 2005?

Answer 27

• enables the GOv to identify and establish greenbelt areas and a Greenbelt plan to protect about 1.8million acres of environmental sensitive and agricultural land in the golden horseshoe form urban development and sprawl
• prevents municipalities from re-zoning areas identified as “prime agricultural areas”, “speciality crops areas”, and “rural areas” identified by the province for other uses.