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These ecosystems also confer erosion control along coasts and river
systems, protecting communities from storms and extreme weather.
Taken together, these services have tremendous value to First
Nations, Ontarians, and the world (Anielski and Wilson 2009).
4
In 1977, the Royal Commission
on the Northern Environment
was established by an Order-in-
Council of the Ontario Cabinet
to “inquire into any beneficial
and adverse effects on the
environment for the people of
Ontario of any public or private
enterprise north of the 50th
parallel of north latitude relating
to harvesting, supply and use of
timber resources, mining, milling,
smelting, oil and gas extraction,
hydroelectric development,
nuclear power development, water
use, tourism and recreation,
transportation, communications
or pipelines.” Their reports, atlas
and recommendations issued in
1985 stressed the vulnerability of
resident people and communities
to impacts of large scale resource
development, documented the
physical and social environment
of the region, and issued recommendations
for development,
particularly of forest resources.
5
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/
html/source/statutes/english/2010/elaws_src_s10018_e.
htm
6
The Far North Science Panel
was convened by the Ontario
Government to obtain advice on
broad-scale conservation for the
Far North.
1.2 The Far North’s Future
Ontario’s Far North contains an abundance of natural resources,
including rich mineral deposits, hydropower potential, and timber.
While these resources remain largely undeveloped, pressure to open
the region to development is building. Development south of the Far
North has generally caused ecosystem degradation, including loss of
species (e.g., Schaefer 2003), degradation of aquatic ecosystems (e.g.,
Magurran 2009, Revenga et al. 2000), and changes in land cover.
Exploitation of the Far North’s natural resources could likewise
impact regional ecological integrity, and the Royal Commission on
the Northern Environment 4 stressed the vulnerability of First Nation
communities in the region to the impacts of large-scale resource
development such as forestry. In 2010, the Government of Ontario
passed the Far North Act 5 . The objectives state that First Nations
communities and Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR)
will work together to create community-based land-use plans that
identify areas for future development and protection (at least 50% of
the region), with the goal of securing sustainable development in the
Far North and ensuring a role and benefit for First Nations.
Identifying land-use approaches that achieve the desired balance
between resource use and ecological integrity requires consideration
of ecosystem response to potential land-use trajectories (DeFries et al.
2004). Assessment of ecosystem response requires an understanding
of the ecological effects, or response to a change to the environment,
as well as the impact, or consequences of these changes (Wärnbäck
and Hilding-Rydevik 2009). The need to proactively consider the
consequences of land-use options was a key recommendation of the
Far North Science Advisory Panel (2010) 6 . The Panel recommended
that land-use planning follow the Conservation Matrix Model
(Schmiegelow et al. 2006, Krawchuck et al. 2012 – see Appendix
2), whereby conservation planning is integrated with renewable and
non-renewable resource use through adaptive management with
attention to managing “islands” of development. Further, the Panel
identified cumulative effects assessment as a necessary component of
proactive land-use planning in the region.
2 Canadian Boreal Initiative | Wildlife Conservation Society Canada