Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada

Ecosystem Conservation Plan

The park's Ecosystem Conservation Plan (ECP) forms the basis for evaluating our success in restoring and maintaining the ecosystem of Waterton Lakes National Park and serves as a basis for focusing research activities.

Waterton's location has produced a very diverse collection of plant and animal communities. As a protected area, the park helps western North America to maintain viable populations of large carnivores, rare and unique plant communities, and the flow and evolution of genetic material. Originally produced in 1998, the ECP was incorporated into the Park Management Plan in 2000. As one of the most accessible and heavily used parks in western Canada, obtaining a balance between human use and conservation is a delicate balancing act.

The ecological integrity objectives for the park are:

1. Viable populations of native species maintain their full range of genetic diversity.
2. Primary producers, herbivores, predators and decomposers are fully represented in the regional ecosystem.
3. Restore populations of native species which have lost significant genetic diversity, or which are threatened or endangered.
4. The landscape contains its full range of terrestrial and aquatic community types and the ecological processes that sustain them.
5. Ecological processes that have been reduced or eliminated from ecosystems (e.g. fire, floods) function again within their natural range of variation.
6. Ecological connections function in the larger regional landscape to allow gene flow among populations.
7. Sufficient unfragmented habitat exists to allow populations of native species to endure.
8. Human influences are at levels where native plant and animal populations are healthy and natural processes continue.
9. Quality services of appropriate types enable park visitors and residents of the area to enjoy and understand the park's ecosystem and its regional importance.

The challenges related to these objectives which are outlined in the Ecosystem Conservation Plan, and addressed in the Park Management Plan are:

• The park's vegetation is becoming less diverse and more artificial because of fire suppression and invasion of non-native species.
• Wildlife habitat is being lost or fragmented and wildlife are being displaced in areas in the park and on regional public and private lands.
• Non-native organisms have become established in and around the park due to deliberate introductions or accidental releases e.g. rainbow trout, forage grasses, white pine blister rust.
• The conservation of wide-ranging carnivores such as grizzly bear, wolf, wolverine is threatened. These animals require larger home ranges and more habitat diversity than the park can provide.
• Fish stocking, some forms of recreational angling and streambed manipulation have resulted in extensive changes to park aquatic ecosystems.
• Many park management practices contribute directly to the well-being of park ecosystems; others may work against ecological objectives. The park is making significant efforts to reduce its footprint on the landscape and maintain natural features and processes .
• Waterton's abrupt meeting of mountain and prairie landscapes produces rapid climate and vegetation gradients over a very short distance, from moist maritime-influenced subalpine forest to wind-blasted grassland. This means sustained changes in climate trends may significantly affect the park. Many plant and animal species are at the limits of their natural ranges, so may experience either range expansions or local extinctions.

Many of these problems cannot be remedied by Parks Canada alone. Their solution lies in collaboration - Park staff working with staff of neighbouring agencies, landowners, researchers, scientists, community members and various other interest groups to meet broader conservation objectives. Monitoring will demonstrate the success of these efforts.

The ecosystem conservation portion of the Park Management Plan is dynamic. It is updated as new information becomes available and as experience is gained. The ultimate measure of its success will be a healthy park ecosystem together with the opportunities for discovery and inspiration that Waterton Lakes National Park was set aside to provide.