Special Places: Eco-lessons from the National Parks in Atlantic Canada
Opinion Sheet: Prince Edward Island National Park
This park, located along the north shore of Prince Edward Island, was established in 1937 to protect an example of the Maritime Plain natural region – most notably for its coastal barrier beaches and sand dune systems. Encompassing just 18 square kilometres of land, it is one of the smallest national parks in Canada.
Approximately 750,000 visitors come to the park every year, mainly during the summer months, making it among the most heavily visited of all national parks in Canada. Growing tourism pressures add to the challenge of maintaining its ecological integrity.
In 1998 a new parcel of land on the Greenwich Peninsula was added to Prince Edward Island National Park. It contains unique sand dune formations, rare plants and animals, as well as very significant archaeological resources. These resources are very susceptible to damage by humans so the park has limited visitor access to this area.
Park Manager
© Parks Canada / Don Pentz
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“ My job is to protect a nationally significant natural area and to encourage public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of park heritage resources in such a way that they are left unimpaired for future generations.
I have been tasked with developing management guidelines for the new addition to Prince Edward Island National Park at Greenwich to protect its unique features while creating opportunities for visitor enjoyment and education.There is a great deal of pressure to allow people to continue to use a traditional route through the unique dune formations at Greenwich and to promote the area as a major tourist attraction. My challenge is to ensure overall protection of the nationally significant natural and cultural resources in the area.”
Local Resident
© Parks Canada / Don Pentz
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“ I have lived in this area all my life and I have always gone for walks along the path through the dunes at Greenwich. I guess the dunes are special. I have watched them grow and migrate inland over the years. I don’t think their movement had anything to do with us though. It was the storms that changed them. People used to let their cattle graze on the dunes to eat the grass that grows on them.They have hunted there and picked cranberries out there for a hundred years or more.There are a few footpaths and vehicle tracks over them now, but that won’t hurt them. I want to be able to continue to walk where I always have and I don’t want to be disturbed by all kinds of tourists either.”
Environmentalist
© Parks Canada / Don Pentz
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“ I believe that the only way to protect this important natural area at Greenwich is to leave it alone and to restrict the number of visitors to the area.There should be no visitor facilities put in place and the area should just be allowed to evolve naturally.
In other parts of the park there have been too many visitors and that has caused trampling of the dune vegetation and damage to the dunes. Despite the boardwalks and other visitor facilities that the park has constructed at main beach areas, visitors continue to create new footpaths over the dunes. I don’t want the same thing to happen at Greenwich, where the sand dunes are even more unique and where there are so many rare plants.The traditional access route through the dunes at Greenwich should be closed to visitors as there is no way to keep people from wandering off the path and the precious natural resources could be severely damaged.
I also believe that Greenwich should not be promoted to tourists. If fewer people know about the area, fewer people will visit.”
Tourism Operator
© Parks Canada / Don Pentz
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“ I have heard about the new addition to Prince Edward Island National Park and I think it is a wonderful business opportunity. I have an inn and restaurant in a neighbouring community and I think that Greenwich has the potential to be a major tourist attraction.This will help to create more jobs in the local community, something that is badly needed in this area. In anticipation of the demand, I have invested a lot of money to expand my business. I have increased the number of rooms for people to stay overnight as well as the number of seats in my restaurant.
I want as many people as possible to come to the area. In my promotional brochure, I plan to include a picture of the amazing dunes at Greenwich and to advertise how close my business is to them. I don’t believe that increased numbers of people will cause any damage to the dunes. I want people to be able to get as close to the unique dune features as possible so I can really promote that as an attraction, so I want Parks Canada to keep the existing path through the dunes open.”
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