2005 September Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Responding to the Panel on Ecological Integrity

2.21 In addition to the update it expects to release later this year, Parks Canada should periodically report to the public on the progress it is making on any outstanding commitments from its 2000 action plan, as contained in Part 1 of First Priority . For these commitments, Parks Canada should clearly indicate what it expects to achieve in terms of results, who will be responsible for contributing to these results, and what the related timelines are. (2.18-2.20)

Agreed. Parks Canada will release an update to the First Priority report in the fall of 2005, which will provide a status report on progress concerning the Parks Canada EI Action Plan, as well as the 127 recommendations of the Panel on the Ecological Integrity of Canada's National Parks. Future reports on the Parks Canada EI Action Plan will occur through the Parks Canada Agency annual report, the biennial state of protected heritage areas reports, and the Minister's Round Table, as well as periodic public interest reports (for example, Action on the Ground—Ecological Integrity in Canada's National Parks, Parks Canada 2005 ).

Reporting to Parliament on the state of protected areas

2.25 Based on the strengths and weaknesses of prior reports, Parks Canada should improve future state of protected heritage areas reports in the following ways:

• Provide more continuity between reports by using baselines and benchmarks more consistently.
• Better explain its long-term reporting strategy.
• Include more information on results and outcomes being achieved, especially with respect to case studies.
• Provide more financial information.
• Include more concrete examples of the contributions of other parties to maintaining and restoring ecological integrity. (2.24)

Agreed. Parks Canada will improve future state of protected heritage areas (SOPHA) reports using the results of this audit and a recently completed internal review. With new funding received in budgets 2003 and 2005, Parks Canada is implementing a system-wide ecological integrity monitoring and reporting program focussed on six to eight key indicators that will be monitored consistently in each national park over time. This program will be fully functional by March 2009. This will improve the ability of Parks Canada to report on a consistent basis, building on site-specific state of parks reports and the experience of previous reports.

Based on a review of internal and external stakeholders' information needs and communications priorities, Parks Canada will focus on producing significantly shorter, more concise, and consistent SOPHA reports in the future with an emphasis on high-level scientifically credible indicators of the state of heritage resources and results of efforts to maintain or improve those resources. Case studies will not be used to the same extent as previous SOPHA reports, and contributions of partners will be highlighted in other documents including the annual report and specialized publications, such as the recent Action on the Ground—Ecological Integrity in Canada's National Parks (Parks Canada, 2005). While some summary financial information may appear in the state of protected heritage areas report, the Agency will continue to report on planned and actual expenditures through the corporate plan and annual report, as required by the Parks Canada Agency Act .

Monitoring and restoration

2.39 Given that new standards are in place for park management plans, Parks Canada needs to ensure that updating these plans is a priority. To ensure that potential gaps in active management and restoration are understood, individual parks should assess their active management and restoration needs, establish clear objectives and key actions based on these needs, and identify gaps. This information, along with similar information for monitoring, should be included in future park management plans. (2.33-2.38)

Agreed. The Parks Canada Corporate Plan 2005-06–2009-10 confirms that updating park management plans is an Agency priority and identifies March 2010 as the target to have national park management plans up-to-date and consistent with the latest management guidelines. Parks Canada is currently revising its Guide to Management Planning to reflect new legislative and policy directions. The revised guidelines will include greater emphasis on managing for results and will require that national park management plans clearly define objectives and key actions for both monitoring and restoration.

2.54 Given the importance of monitoring, restoration, and enhancing public education and visitor experience; and in order to maximize its ability to successfully implement its initiatives in a consistent and sustainable manner,Parks Canada should do the following:

• Ensure that the measures it is taking to improve monitoring and restoration are completed and consistently implemented at the park level. This includes improvements to monitoring programs, and implementation of its data management system, and guidelines for monitoring and restoration.
• Ensure individual parks establish clear and concrete objectives and key actions for integrating public education and visitor experience with monitoring and restoration activities.
• Take necessary, corrective actions on a timely basis to ensure that the measures it is implementing are successful and consistently applied across individual parks.
• Publicly report on an annual basis, both at the national and individual park level, on the measures being taken to improve monitoring and restoration and on any issues that may affect the successful implementation and sustainability of its initiatives. Reporting at the individual park level should be part of an annual park management plan implementation report. (2.50-2.53)

Agreed. As stated in the Parks Canada Corporate Plan 2005-06–2009-10, the Agency is committed to improving its ecological integrity monitoring and reporting, restoration, and public education programs, as well as the provision of opportunities for quality visitor experiences. With new funding received in budgets 2003 and 2005, Parks Canada is implementing a system-wide ecological integrity monitoring and reporting program focussed on six to eight key indicators that will be monitored consistently in each national park over time. This program will be fully functional by March 2009. Improved data management will be a key component of this program initiative. Parks Canada is developing an Intranet-based information management system that will document all monitoring protocols, standards and baselines, and will archive monitoring data under agreed metadata standards. Parks Canada has also hired seven bioregional monitoring specialists to support the implementation of the monitoring and reporting program in each part of the country. This will greatly improve the ability of Parks Canada to report on a consistent basis.

Parks Canada recognizes the ecological restoration of ecosystem structure and function is an ongoing challenge. The full need for restoration will only be known when EI monitoring programs are completed in 2009. The restoration need will also be a moving target as conditions change. Parks may be impacted by regional land-use changes or climate change. Guidelines for restoration activities are under development and will be finalized in 2006.

The revised guidelines for management planning will include greater emphasis on managing for results, will require that national park management plans clearly define objectives and key actions for both monitoring and restoration, and will promote the integration of monitoring and restoration activities with public education and visitor experience objectives and actions.

Recognizing that increased understanding through public education is fundamental to maintaining and restoring ecological integrity, Parks Canada will develop, over the next few years, learning strategies for each national park that will outline objectives for enhancing public education, including the integration of monitoring and restoration activities.

As required by legislation, Parks Canada will continue to report publicly through the Parks Canada Agency Corporate Plan, the annual report, as well as the biennial state of parks reports, and the Minister's Round Table. As required by the revised guide to management planning, field unit superintendents are accountable for ensuring that park management plan implementation reports are completed on an annual basis, as well as state of parks reports every five years, as a prelude to revising the park management plan.