The following letter to Honourable Mike Holland was sent to Connecting Albert County in response to articles in this issue (posted at ConnectingAlbertCounty.org/environment). We have invited Mr. Holland to reply in our March issue.
Honourable Mike Holland,
Congratulations on the Government's Legacy Project of which I only recently became aware. I feel, however, that the Government has to be careful lest this initiative and the selection process relative to Protected Natural Areas be seen as based on purely political motives, rather than genuine ecological concerns. To my mind, the process itself is flawed since it mixes several different objectives and criteria which may or may not be compatible, i.e. what have culture and recreation, or indigenous reconciliation got to do with protecting biodiversity? It seems designed to permit the Government to claim, for political purposes, that the maximum amount of land has been "protected." Your announcing that Shepody Mountain would be protected long before the deadline for PNA site nominations and prior to the conclusion of the selection process lends credence to the belief that political concerns trump ecological ones.
Congratulations on the Government's Legacy Project of which I only recently became aware. I feel, however, that the Government has to be careful lest this initiative and the selection process relative to Protected Natural Areas be seen as based on purely political motives, rather than genuine ecological concerns. To my mind, the process itself is flawed since it mixes several different objectives and criteria which may or may not be compatible, i.e. what have culture and recreation, or indigenous reconciliation got to do with protecting biodiversity? It seems designed to permit the Government to claim, for political purposes, that the maximum amount of land has been "protected." Your announcing that Shepody Mountain would be protected long before the deadline for PNA site nominations and prior to the conclusion of the selection process lends credence to the belief that political concerns trump ecological ones.
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