Years of Hard Work by Province and Local Groups Saves Vulnerable Wetland says Environmental Commissioner of Ontario
TORONTO, February 09, 2006 – The 20-year effort to save one of the most significant wetlands in Canada, the Alfred Bog near Ottawa, is being celebrated today in a ceremony held at Queen’s Park by Gord Miller, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO). Commissioner Miller presented his 2004/2005 ECO Recognition Award to 45 staff of the Ministries of Natural Resources, Environment, and Municipal Affairs and Housing in recognition of their concerted efforts to preserve the Bog’s vulnerable ecosystem.
“I’m happy to say that the long battle to protect the Alfred Bog has had an excellent outcome,” Miller said at the ceremony. “This very important wetland has been vulnerable to ecological degradation for more than a 100 years, but now the Bog will be protected for generations to come.”
The Alfred Bog is home to rare species such as the bog elfin butterfly, found in only three other places in the world, and the pink-flowering shrub, Rhodora, found nowhere else in Ontario. The Bog’s moose population – the most southerly moose population in Ontario – is large enough to support hunting. However, the extent of the Bog has been cut in half since the 1800s due to agriculture and peat harvesting.
Years of work and fundraising by local groups has protected sections of the Bog, but the involvement of provincial ministries was needed to protect those parts that were privately owned. Staff from the Ministry of Natural Resources used their extensive wetland mapping resources to assess the ecological significance of the Bog and the effects of peat harvesting on its ecosystem. The Ministry of the Environment attempted to control the amount of water peat harvesters could take from the Bog through the ministry’s Permits to Take Water. But when peat harvesters appealed both the Permits and the Official Plan of the local municipality that had banned the harvesting operations, it became apparent to ministry staff that they had to use their combined expertise to take the lead in land use planning and in negotiating for the purchase of the lands.
A settlement was finally reached in which the peat harvesters agreed to minimize their impact on the Bog and, eventually, to turn their lands over to public ownership. At the same time, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing amended the Municipal Act to give municipalities the authority to regulate peat harvesting.
“Local environmental groups and municipalities worked hard to preserve the Alfred Bog,” Commissioner Miller said. “ But much credit is also due to the dedication of the staff from provincial ministries. After 20 years, their combined efforts have led to the protection of over 90 per cent of the Alfred Bog.”
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