Zoning in national parks: are Canadian zoning practices outdated?

Abstract

Zoning is a common tool in protected areas, especially for visitor management purposes. Parks Canada has a long-established national zoning framework for all national parks. At the operational level, planners use this framework to spatially delineate each park into areas with varying levels of ecological integrity and human activity. After Parks Canada's recent major restructuring, and a new streamlined management planning process embedded in ecosystem management, it is important to examine if, or to what extent, zoning is effective in advancing the agency's goals. We interviewed Parks Canada employees about their perspectives on zoning. In their perception, the rigid definition of zones, fundamental differences between southern and northern parks, and the coexistence of the historical zoning framework with modern management policies constituted major challenges at the national or constitutive level. At the operational level, they were concerned about a status quo bias in zoning, purposeful delays in implementing zoning, and the absence of explicit evaluation of park zoning processes and outcomes. Zoning remains a necessary, albeit not central, component of the management planning process, but provides only crude spatial direction for core management activities. The relevance of zoning for other parks, and for sustainable tourism strategies is discussed.

国家公园的分区：加拿大分区实践已经过时了吗？

分区时在保护区域里的一个经常用的方法，特别是为了参观者管理的目的。加拿大公园管理机构有着对所有国家公园的建立了很长时间的国家分区框架。在运营层面，规划者使用该框架来空间上将每个公园根据不同生态和人类活动的层面来划分成不同分区。在加拿大公园管理机构最近的重大重组后，一个新的简化管理规划过程融合入生态系统管理，于是对于检验或者，对于到什么程度，分区对于加强机构的目标是有效的这样的讨论是非常重要的。我们面访了加拿大公园管理机构的雇员关于他们对分区的观点。在他们的看法，区域的硬性定义，在南方和北方公园中的根本区别，在国家或组成层面重大挑战下的现代管理政策和历史分区框架同时存在。在运营层面，他们考虑现状分区的偏见，实施分区时的有目的性拖延，和缺少公园分区过程和结果的明确评估。分区成为一个对管理规划过程来说重要的，尽管不是最中心的部分，但是对主要的管理活动提供了空间方向。为其他的公园的分区和为可持续性旅游战略的相关性都有被讨论到。

Keywords:

• national parks
• zoning
• visitor management
• ecosystem-based management
• policy layering

关键词:

• 国家公园
• 分区
• 参观者管理
• 生态系统管理
• 政策分层

Notes

1. In the Canadian national park system, a Park Reserve is managed in accordance with the Canada National Parks Act. The term “reserve” acknowledges that all or part of the land is still under land claim from a First Nation. For simplicity, in the remainder of this article we will not acknowledge this distinction as it is not relevant for the arguments forwarded here.

2. Parks Canada has also authorized more traditional urban zoning schemes for some in-park towns such as Banff and Jasper, but our focus here is on the broad regional park zoning scheme.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amy K. Thede

Amy Kathryn Thede took her undergraduate degree in geography and environmental studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada. She completed her masters in resource management (planning) at Simon Fraser University in 2011, focusing on land use planning, protected areas planning and management, and environmental policy. Her research project examined the use of zoning in Canada's National Parks. She has work experience in land use planning, parks planning and management, and federal Species at Risk policy development. Amy is currently working for the Government of Alberta's Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development on Regional Plans and the development of Biodiversity Management Frameworks.

Wolfgang Haider

Wolfgang Haider is professor at the School of Resource and Environmental Management (REM) at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada. His research focuses on several aspects of human dimensions research in resource management and planning, including protected areas planning and management, nature conservation, outdoor recreation and tourism, the human dimensions of recreational fishing and wildlife, and landscape perception. Prior to joining REM in 1998 he worked as social research scientist at the Centre for Northern Forest Ecosystem Research in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Murray B. Rutherford

Murray Rutherford is associate professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management (REM) at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada. He is a member of the Society of Policy Scientists and a Registered Professional Planner with the Planning Institute of British Columbia. His research focuses on the human dimensions of environmental policy and planning, and he has studied ecosystem-based management, landscape-scale planning, environmental impact assessment, and large carnivore conservation policy. Prior to joining Simon Fraser University he was a partner with a major law firm in Vancouver, Canada.