A Way Forward for Protected Areas in the Yukon

March 2003

The Yukon Protected Areas Strategy has been suspended and

CPAWS does not support setting up a new protected areas strategy.

We have all the tools we need, including the terms of the Umbrella Final Agreement, a range of planning processes and the conservation standards outlined in YPAS.

Now, we just need leadership by all governments, mandated boards and councils, and communities, to apply them in a timely way that uses common sense in each situation. CPAWS supports a community-based planning approach, supported by partnerships and the expertise of a range of agencies, NGOs and other organizations.

Why Have Protected Areas

Our Responsibility

Protected Areas Suspended

Protected Areas and the Economy

The Available Tools

A Way Forward

Why Have Protected Areas

The initiative to complete a network of Yukon protected areas began in earnest in the late 1980s, following the principles set out in the visionary Yukon Conservation Strategy and the objectives of the agreement to settle land claims with Yukon First Nations. The Yukon, along with other territories and provinces, also supported the goals of the national Endangered Spaces project, which set out to establish protected areas in all of Canada's natural regions.

Today, the Yukon is committed by formal agreement to complete a network of protected areas, as is every other provincial and territorial jurisdiction, and Canada. The purpose of a network of Yukon protected areas is to:

Protect wildlife and fish, and the habitat they depend upon; protect wilderness areas and wetlands; protect representative examples of our natural regions; and conserve the variety of life, known as biodiversity;
Protect places and landscapes of cultural, spiritual, historical and aesthetic importance;
Provide direct long term economic and social benefits to communities, First Nations and the territory as a whole and, in turn foster a diverse and robust Yukon economy;
Provide protection and conservation of ecological services such as clean water and country foods, which in turn support our Yukon way of life.

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Our Responsibility

Our responsibility and opportunity to complete a network of protected areas is based on:

Umbrella Final Agreement (1992) and all First Nation Final Agreements;
International Convention on Biodiversity (1992) and the Canadian Biodiversity Strategy that stipulates completed a protected areas network;
Tri-Council Commitment on Protected Areas (1992), where federal, provincial and territorial Ministers agreed to complete a representative network of protected areas across Canada;
Yukon Protected Areas Strategy (1998);
North American Waterfowl Management Plan (1986; plus Yukon Plan, 1991);
Whitehorse Mining Initiative (1994), where governments, NGOs and the mining industry agreed to the legitimacy and importance of a network of representative protected areas free of industrial development;
National Parks Act (2000) and the National Park System Plan (1997), whereas Natural Region #7 in north-central BC and south-central Yukon does not yet have a national park and the Government of Canada has committed to completing the national park system in cooperation with local people.

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Protected Areas Suspended

By suspending work on the Yukon Protected Areas Strategy, the Yukon is the only jurisdiction in Canada to abandon its public protected areas planning process. Support for the fundamental principles of the Strategy remains strong, but the process stumbled due to a succession of government decisions that did not reflect the recommendations of the Public Advisory Committee.

YPAS was the result of 10 years of effort by governments, mandated boards and councils, the public and NGOs – we can’t afford to ignore the wealth of knowledge gained!

Although the current government has ceased work on YPAS, it has said it remains committed to establishing protected areas through a variety of means.

A successful protected areas program must begin with full consultation with First Nations, mandated boards and councils, and communities – much like the approach used in the Northwest Territories.

CPAWS-Yukon proposes a way forward using various available tools including the basic scientific, local knowledge, planning and assessment standards and principles that made up the 1998 version of YPAS.

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Protected Areas and the Economy

Conservation remains an important part of government responsibility and is widely supported by the Yukon public.

Protected areas and conservation are one of the foundations to a strong and diverse future economy in the territory. This lesson has been learned in many places in North America, including our neighbours in Alaska and more recently, in the Northwest Territories. The NWT continues to implement its Protected Areas Strategy, with many large areas set aside in the last two years. Yet the NWT economy is robust, and protected areas have not curtailed economic development.

Wilderness is a keystone of the Yukon economy, but also has enormous inherent value to the Yukon way of life. Tourism is one important sector that benefits directly from protected areas.

Other economic benefits include direct employment in protected areas and related resource management occupations, related service industries, cultural industries, research, education, a variety of local entrepreneurial activities, and direct benefits from ecological services by protected areas.

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The Available Tools

Special Management Areas

CPAWS fully supports the establishment of protected areas through land claims negotiations, know as Special Management Areas (SMAs). Most of these areas will be signed off once the next round of First Nation Final Agreements are ratified. The remainder will be achieved once the Kaska Nation has settled their claims. SMAs may also be established after land claims are settled.

The Yukon Protected Areas Strategy did not apply to regions where First Nations claims were not settled – YPAS was designed to proceed only where the traditional territory had a Final Agreement in place, and the First Nations agreed with the protected area proposal. Today there are still conservation gaps in the regions where land claims have been settled. It is not necessary to put all protected area planning on hold in these regions until all other land claims are settled. The remaining areas to be protected through negotiations are already known to the three levels of governments. We need to start addressing the major gaps in conservation now.

Some of the SMAs that have been negotiated, however, may not meet the basic national and territorial standards of full protection – some areas will permit a variety of industrial developments. These areas are very important to conservation, but they would not count towards permanent legal protection for wildlife or biodiversity, unless they are withdrawn from industrial development by Order-in-Council or agreement with the First Nation.

See also: A Conservation Gap Analysis for Southeast Yukon

Land Use Planning

The Yukon government’s own scientific research and mapping shows that Special Management Areas, while making a very important contribution, will not on their own be enough to complete Yukon's network of protected areas and other conservation lands. Large gaps in conservation areas will remain after land claims are settled, for example in the Peel watershed and central Yukon regions.

Land use planning now getting under way in four regions will result in recommendations for more conservation areas, such as wetlands, wilderness areas, or ecologically sensitive lands. However, each new protected area plan still needs to meet basic standards for the use of scientific and traditional knowledge. Planning of candidates for protection must also meet standards to maintain ecological integrity, complete fair resource assessments, and provide for community economic benefits – these basic conditions are what YPAS was all about. Planning Commissions do not have the tools for authority to legally designate protected areas, they can only recommend such sites. We need clear steps to formally designate protected areas within regional plans.

Habitat Protection Areas

Other initiatives will also lead to more protected areas. For example, Habitat Protection Areas (HPA) may be created through the Wildlife Act, and moved forward by Renewable Resource Councils and the Fish and Wildlife Management Board. Examples of HPAs include Horseshoe Slough in the Mayo area. The fifty or so critical wetlands in the Yukon are well suited to HPA designation. HPAs do not necessarily provide for protection from industrial development, but are a useful conservation tool for wildlife habitat protection, in those areas where full protection may not be needed. National Wildlife Areas, such as the Nisutlin Delta near Teslin, are also a very useful conservation tool, not yet used to its full potential in the Yukon.

Forest Management Planning

Forest management planning, especially in the Southeast Yukon will also lead to nominations for new protected areas and wildlife habitat conservation. Yukon Government-First Nation bilateral agreements could also result in various planning protocols. In these cases, an assessment of conservation and protected area values, resources, and economic benefits will be needed, just as they will be for Regional Land Use Planning Commissions established under Final Agreements.

National Parks

Other tools for conservation in the Yukon include National Parks. For example, Prime Minister Chretien announced an action and funding plan to complete the system of national parks. Natural Region #7, spanning north-central BC and south-central Yukon, does not yet have a national park. The Prime Minister committed to assessing where such a park may be feasible and would be supported by local communities and First Nations. Assessment of national park options will respect all provisions of First Nation Final Agreements. If the Yukon does not support a new national park, it will end up in northern or central BC, along with all of the accompanying conservation and economic benefits.

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A Way Forward

Regardless which approach to conservation is used, many of the key principles and basic assessment steps of YPAS will still be needed to help plan protected areas – it doesn’t matter what we call the process. There is no need for a new strategy, just leadership in applying the tools and conservation principles we already have in place.

CPAWS calls on all levels of government, Renewable Resource Councils, Planning Commissions, and Non-government Organizations, in consultation with Yukoners, to move forward with completion of the Yukon protected areas network, using the full range of available tools:

	Support First Nations proposals for Special Management Areas including fully protected Territorial Parks, Habitat Protection Areas, National Wildlife Areas, Wilderness Management Zones, and National Parks, as provided for in the Umbrella Final Agreement.
	Ensure terms of reference for all four Regional Land Use Planning Commissions include identification of proposed protected areas and other conservation lands. Provide the ecological studies, traditional ecological knowledge, resource assessments and planning scrutiny to design the best boundaries for ecological integrity, reduce potential land use conflicts, and maximize the economic and social benefits from conservation. Develop the steps needed to legally designate protected areas within regional land use plans.
	Support proposals by Renewable Resource Councils and the Fish and Wildlife Management Board for Habitat Protection Areas, including completion of a territorial wetland protection plan.
	Ensure that economic development agreements between the Yukon Government and First Nations, as well as any bilateral agreements on land use planning, hydrocarbon development, or forest management, include provisions for the identification and designation of protected areas and conservation lands in advance of, or concurrent with, resource development.
	Open discussions with Parks Canada and affected First Nations to determine the viability of a new national park in Natural Region #7, which includes south central and SE Yukon and northern British Columbia. Enter into discussions with the Government of Canada and First Nations on the economic benefits that a national park would bring to the Yukon, including the study stage, planning and development, regional economic benefits, local employment and infrastructure.
	Use the conservation values, ecological and traditional knowledge principles, scientific and resource assessment standards already developed for YPAS to support protected areas planning and designation through a variety of land use negotiations and other processes as described above.
	Ensure full consultation and partnership with First Nations, mandated boards and councils such as Renewable Resource Councils and Land Use Planning Commissions, NGOs, communities, business groups and public at large in all of the land use planning and other processes that will lead to protected areas.

We need leadership by all governments, mandated boards and councils and communities.

CPAWS supports a community-based planning approach, supported by partnerships and the knowledge and expertise of a range of agencies, NGOs and other organizations.

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