Special Places: Eco-lessons from the National Parks in Atlantic Canada

Grade 10

Cumulative Effects Assessment – What If?

Table of Contents:

• Summary
• Learning Outcomes
• Activity Information
• Teacher Background
• Procedure
• Evaluation
• Extension
• References
• Resources

Summary

Students will learn about Environmental Impact Assessment, Environmental Impact Statements and Cumulative Environmental Effects as they relate to the national parks in Atlantic Canada through the preparation and presentation of a community open house information session.

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Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

• describe and discuss various environmental impacts in light of resource management activities;
• recognize potential conflicts between resource use and the environment;
• analyze the cumulative impacts on an ecosystem and explain anticipated changes over time;
• assess human impacts on a specific environment;
• defend a certain point of view in a simulated public meeting;
• communicate questions, ideas and intentions and receive, interpret, understand, support and respond to the ideas of others.

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Activity Information

Grade level: 10

Subject: Science 10 (Atlantic)– Sustainability of Ecosystems

Curriculum linkages: 212-4; 213-7; 214-3; 215-1; 318-4; 331-6 (Students will analyze the impact of external factors on an ecosystem and select, compile and display evidence and information from various sources in different formats to support a given view in a presentation about ecosystem change.)

Duration: Approximately 80 minutes

Setting: Classroom

Materials: Flip charts, markers, Park Backgrounders on Prince Edward Island National Park and Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and additional presentation materials as needed.

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Teacher Background

The development and operation of any national park result in cumulative environmental changes. So, too, can land use – historical and current – in and around the park. Some of these changes are positive for park visitors, but less so for the natural environment of the park. Cumulative environmental effects can be defined as accumulated impacts of human activity on ecosystems. This concept grew out of the realization that many insignificant impacts can incrementally result in significant cumulative impacts.

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is normally a project-oriented activity whereby a particular project (for example trail development) is considered and its environmental impacts are assessed. The resulting report generated from the assessment is titled an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This has meant that the assessments have focused on a relatively narrow scale of space and time. Changes over a longer time frame, or those from activities other than the specific project being assessed, are not considered.

A Cumulative Environmental Assessment (CEA), as opposed to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), considers the effects of all previous, existing and foreseeable future developments in a given area or resource. It considers both the progressive addition of materials to and the progressive removal of materials from the environment. So when we investigate the cumulative effects on a park, we have to assess not only the potential environmental impacts of a specific activity, but also those impacts from other developments – previous, existing and foreseeable future.

Both natural and human influences contribute to environmental change. Those influences require long-term monitoring in order to assess their full impact. For example, monitoring the degree and rate of habitat change for a particular species can be an indicator of the ecological integrity of the local region.

Ecological integrity has been defined by Parks Canada as: a condition where the structure and function of an ecosystem are unimpaired by human activity and are likely to persist. Ecosystems have integrity when their plants, animals and processes such as growth and reproduction are intact.

Monitoring of aquatic systems can be useful in investigating impact from landfills and aquaculture.

Future development must also be projected and defining an acceptable level of change can be challenging. However, in order to assess the potential impact on a habitat, those future projections must be determined.

The first CEA study conducted for Parks Canada in Atlantic Canada assessed the effects of development and land use at Prince Edward Island National Park. The study focused on documenting all known and potential sources of stress acting on the park ecosystems, and then considered the combined effect of those stressors on specific park resources.

Sources of stress, or stressors, were identified both within and outside the park boundaries, and included such activities as the development of the park administration complex, the removal of the Cavendish Sandspit Road and parking access, highway access and upgrades.

The following activity will explore some of those stressors in Prince Edward Island National Park as well as Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and how their cumulative impact may affect the parks.

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Procedure

1. Explain to the students that they will be doing an activity that looks at potential human and environmental impacts inside and external to a national park. They will research those impacts and present their findings and recommendations regarding park management at a mock community open house (public meeting).
2. Discuss both natural and human influences that may affect the ecological integrity of the parks, both within and adjacent to park boundaries. Consider coastal fragmentation, ATV use, increased visitation, etc. What are some examples of how changes to the ecosystems within park boundaries have a direct impact on the parks? What are some examples of how changes to the ecosystems outside the park boundaries have a direct impact on the parks?
3. Introduce the concepts of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and then Cumulative Effects Assessment (CEA). Why are these activities carried out and what information do they give the park managers?
4. Discuss various “stressors” to a park ecosystem, both natural and human.
5. Divide the class into two groups. Group One will focus on Prince Edward Island National Park and the potential impacts and changes inside the park boundaries, given a particular study situation. Group Two will focus on Cape Breton Highlands National Park and the potential changes to the park based on external stressors. Hand out copies of the appropriate Park Backgrounders. Explain to the students that they will be discussing their park’s situation and will be asked to present their findings and recommendations at a mock community open house.
   • Prince Edward Island National Park – You will be subdividing this group into two separate sub-groups and ask them to consider the following statement:
     
     What happens if the number of park visitors doubles in the next five years?
     
   • One group will consider necessary changes to visitor facilities, infrastructure, etc. (e.g. increase in staffing, roads, garbage removal, boardwalk construction, trail management).
   • The other group will consider natural resource management, park ecology and ecological integrity impacts (e.g. natural habitat impacts, coastal fragmentation, nesting behaviour, dune ecology, flora and fauna).
   • Cape Breton Highlands National Park – You may choose to do this with three smaller groups, each group considering one of the topic areas, or have the students work as a single group discussing the matter collectively. Ask the students to consider the following statement:
     
     What will happen to the ecological integrity of the park if there is a significant increase in ATV use and trail construction, prospecting and mining activity and cutting of Acadian hardwood forests on the edge of the park?
   
   
   Students can work in three groups or in one large group to consider the impacts on the park due to external mining activity, increased ATV usage, and harvesting of Acadian hardwood forests.
6. Each group must discuss ways to diminish the cumulative impacts and develop a series of recommendations.
7. Students will then prepare a presentation of their discussions at a mock community open house designed to address the cumulative effects of external and internal impacts on the two national parks. This can be conducted during a second class period. Alternatively, extend invitations to other classes and local environmental group representatives to participate in the open house, and to pose questions regarding the recommendations put forth by both park groups.

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Evaluation

As a result of their research and the discussions generated by the open house activity, students will each write a letter to the provincial agency responsible for natural resources management as a representative of a particular stakeholder group (Fish & Wildlife, prospector & developer, environmentalist, private woodlot owner, ATV enthusiast, etc.). They will discuss their personal recommendations regarding external impacts on their chosen park.

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Extension

Students can contact each of the two parks and submit their cumulative effects report as well as their ideas for improvement.

Students can invite a park representative to attend the mock open house and provide their input and comments regarding the cumulative impacts on the two parks.

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References

• Keith, Todd. Parks Canada. A Cumulative Effects Study at Cape Breton Highlands National Park, 1997.
• Keith, Todd. Parks Canada. A Cumulative Effects Study at Prince Edward Island National Park, 1994.
• Parks Canada Web site: www.parkscanada.gc.ca

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Resources

• Park Backgrounder - Cape Breton Highlands National Park
• Park Backgrounder - Prince Edward Island National Park