Greenbelt of the future

by Amber Cowie

Ontario Nature and the other member groups that together form the Greenbelt Alliance celebrated the fourth anniversary of Ontario’s Greenbelt with a collective eye to future conservation efforts. Buoyed by the success of the Greenbelt, the alliance proposes expanding this protected landscape by 60 percent, the equivalent of 485,000 hectares.

“Growing the Greenbelt is an important step for regions in the Greater Toronto Area that are facing extreme pressure from development,” says Anne Bell, Ontario Nature’s senior director of conservation and education. “Protecting the natural heritage system in these areas is crucial to the survival of species and the integrity of our agricultural economy.”

The areas slated for what the alliance is calling the “Greenbelt 2.0” were selected according to three criteria: areas where natural heritage protection is still a possibility; areas that are increasingly vulnerable to “leapfrog” development as a result of the original Greenbelt; and areas that contain natural heritage features, such as wetlands or woodlands, that are key to maintaining the ecological integrity in the Greenbelt’s more sensitive habitats.

“The Greenbelt 2.0 is a very sophisticated product that reflects careful scientific and planning research and is based on saving critical disappearing species and habitats,” says environmental lawyer David Donnelly.

A number of at-risk species, such as the spotted turtle, Blanding’s turtle, western chorus frog and eastern milksnake, inhabit those areas that the Greenbelt Alliance believes should be protected. Because habitat fragmentation is a major threat to most southern Ontario species, an increase in protected lands is a key step toward conserving biodiversity in the province.

A map showing where the newly protected places can best be accommodated illustrates the importance of thoughtful and careful planning in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The map reveals, for instance, that not all natural areas allocated for development need to be built up. Instead, greater intensification in housing, retail and industrial development should be encouraged where significant habitat loss has already taken place. The Greenbelt 2.0 can also be a buffer against the leapfrog development inadvertently caused by the creation of the Greenbelt, whereby developers purchased land outside the boundaries of the Greenbelt intending to build there once urban sprawl extends past the protected landscape.

As the next step in its campaign, the Greenbelt Alliance will produce a report card on the Greenbelt and will continue its public awareness efforts about the Greenbelt 2.0. For more information about the Greenbelt Alliance and the Greenbelt 2.0 campaign, visit the alliance’s website, www.greenbeltalliance.ca.