CPAWS view of the Draft Land Use Framework:
1) About the draft Framework
2) A step in the right direction
CPAWS provides guarded support for the Draft Land Use Framework
3) A new system of land-use planning requires fundamental change.
Fundamental changes to law, policy and ‘on the ground’ decision-making are needed to correct current deficiencies in the framework. These include:
a) Addressing the importance of Parks and Protected areas in conservation
b) Assigning interim measures
c) Implementation strategy, secured funding and integration plan
d) Creating new legislation
e) Ensuring accountability for monitoring, enforcement and revisions to plans
f) Setting thresholds that drive permit decisions and local planning
4) CPAWS Publications on the Land Use Framework
1) About the draft Framework
The Draft Land-use Framework (LUF) proposes principles and a process for making land use decisions in the future. It recognizes that there are ecological and social limits which should guide our development. It proposes the development of 6 regional land-use plans based on 6 new land-use regions. A Cabinet Committee, supported by a Land-Use Secretariat, will be responsible for the development of the regional plans with input from other government departments and appointed Regional Advisory Councils. The regional plans will set land-use objectives to manage the impacts of development on land, water and air. Local officials will retain decision-making authority over local land-use management; however, their decisions have to be consistent with the regional land-use plan and the overall objectives of the framework.
2) A step in the right direction
- The draft Framework acknowledges that bold action is needed to provide solutions to the pressing problems arising from the existing system for land and resource management.
- The draft Land Use Framework recognizes that land use planning and decisions must occur within the limits of ecological conditions
- The draft Framework commits to ‘outcome-based management’ and consideration of cumulative effects reflecting the full spectrum of economic, environmental and social values held by Albertans.
- While not specified in the draft document, the Government of Alberta acknowledges the need for new land-use planning legislation to implement these changes.
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3) A new system of land-use planning requires fundamental change.
We cannot simply tinker with the status quo. Alberta ’s current system for land and resource management is incapable of meeting current and future challenges. The dominant objective has been to maximize economic growth, despite evidence that many indicators of environmental quality and quality of life are moving in the wrong direction. The Government of Alberta lacks the capacity to manage cumulative impacts. Fundamental changes to law, policy and ‘on the ground’ decision-making are needed to correct these deficiencies.
A) The importance of Parks and Protected areas in conservation:
The most important conservation strategy missing in the DLUF is the awareness that a completed and fully networked Parks and Protected Areas system in Alberta is central to land use planning. Legislated Protected Areas should not be considered as afterthoughts or merely areas for recreation (as is currently outlined in the DLUF) but the very foundation and source of healthy thriving landscapes. The commitment to parks and protected areas should go beyond the need to address gaps associated with conserving Alberta’s land base (p. 26 DLUF) but rather include recognition of the need to conserve fully functioning ecosystems on large pieces of landscape with ecological connectivity, such that large wide-ranging species (such as caribou and grizzly bears) can be sustained and thrive.
The fundamental importance of protected areas, and their high vulnerability, compounded by the urgent need to secure the dwindling intact areas that remain should be prominently outlined in strategy 4 (Conservation on public lands). It is important that within each planning region the amount of protected area be maximized. A current working example of this is that CEMA’s management framework recommends 20-40% protection for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (excluding Wood Buffalo National Park ). This increase in protected area is supported by indigenous peoples, industry and conservation groups. Similar requirements should be strived for in each planning region.
B) Interim measures
The Government of Alberta must establish interim measures in order to maintain planning options and avoid a development rush while regional plans are developed in areas of the province where important environmental and social values are at imminent risk (e.g., northeastern Alberta , southern east slopes).
These measures could include:
- Adjustments to land and resource tenures to alter the timing of development
- Incentives and requirements to minimize new disturbance and other impacts
- Restrictions on land re-zoning during the planning process
- Temporary moratoria on new land and resource dispositions and on project approvals.
C) Implementation strategy, secured funding and integration plan
While the draft Framework proposes some broad desired principles and outcomes and describes a process for developing regional plans, it contains few details concerning implementation. There is a real risk that the positive policy directions will not be carried forward to achieve meaningful changes to Alberta ’s ‘business as usual’ approach to land and resource management. The draft Framework should therefore be strengthened to include the following:
- A detailed implementation strategy including timetables for introducing new legislation
- Funding to ensure satisfactory policy development, public involvement and government capacity
- A plan to integrate other provincial initiatives such as Water for Life, the Parks Strategy, the Clean Air Strategy and the forthcoming Comprehensive Energy Strategy with the LUF.
- An outline of how local communities and concerned Albertans will have meaningful input into setting land-use and landscape objectives.
D) New legislation
Improving the way land-use decisions are made in the future will require fixing the problems in the current system. The Framework must explicitly commit to the adoption of new land-use legislation that establishes an effective, transparent and inclusive process, and ensures that regional land-use plans are legally binding on other land-use decisions.
E) Accountability for monitoring, enforcement and revisions to plans
The Government of Alberta must establish effective mechanisms for monitoring, evaluation and reporting to ensure that land-use decisions comply with regional plans and the LUF vision and desired outcomes. This accountability is necessary to fulfill the goals of the LUF. Defined actions for revising land-use plans should be required if desired outcomes are not being achieved.
F) Setting thresholds that drive permit decisions and local planning
An important part of the LUF is the commitment to using quantitative limits that will drive land-use decisions and reflect the finite carry capacity of the landscape. This process should allow for setting limits to growth for a particular land use. These limits should be informed by the values of local communities and by independent science. Land-use zoning (including protected areas) and other regulatory and market-based instruments will also be needed to manage cumulative impacts and to ensure that land-use plans meet the specific environmental, social and economic objectives that are identified in land-use plans.
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4) CPAWS Land Use Framework Publications
A) CPAWS June 20, 2008 Survey Response to the Draft Land Use Framework
• Co-authored by the two Alberta CPAWS Chapters: Northern Alberta and CPAWS Calgary/Banff
• This Report Card evaluates the Draft LUF using the Alberta by Design Checklist (see below).
B) Draft Land Use Framework Fact Sheet
C) Land-Use Framework Report Card: A Checklist-Based Evaluation of Alberta’s Draft Land-Use Framework
• Co-authored by the Pembina Institute and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Northern Alberta
• This Report Card evaluates the Draft LUF using the Alberta by Design Checklist (see below).
D) Alberta by Design: Checklist
• Co-authored by the Pembina Institute and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Northern Alberta
• The checklist is endorsed by 11 organizations in Alberta presenting a core principles and a list of the key elements that can be used to objectively assess the Alberta government's Land-Use Framework
E) Alberta by Design: Blueprint for an Effective Land-Use Framework
• Co-authored by the Pembina Institute and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Northern Alberta
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