If you have a few seconds, read what the Nova Scotia Government tells the world on its official website about protected areas like Owls Head Provincial Park, site #694.
You will note at no point do they say ” we will secretly negotiate to remove selected protected areas in the plan when approached by lobbyists for wealthy American developers who feel they need golf courses instead of important ecological areas. “At no point do they say, ” we will lie about the history of any protected area we select, and sanitize our websites of any record of it to facilitate its sale for the profit and enjoyment of the few.”
No, this is what they say:
Our Parks and Protected Areas: A plan for Nova Scotia builds on extensive consultations and activities over the last several years that yielded the Colin Stewart Forest Forum final report, the Our Wild Spaces discussion paper, and The Path We Share, the Natural Resources Strategy. Through these consultations, members of the public, including Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq, helped to identify potential lands for protection, and provided input about our provincial parks.
Our parks and protected areas play an important role in conserving and protecting the diversity and complexity of life (biodiversity) in our part of the world. This includes wildlife, along with natural features and processes. Our protected lands lessen the effects of climate change by capturing and storing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. They maintain clean air and water, including drinking-water supply watersheds.
Identifying and protecting the best and most suitable lands now will help ensure that Nova Scotia’s parks and protected areas become even more relevant in coming years.
Updating parks and protected areas is about leaving a legacy.
So, what’s the real legacy going to be, Premier Rankin? Lies, deception and the destruction of an important protected area thanks to a secret, backroom deal? Or honouring the commitments and obligations made to the public by the government? If you really are the environmentalist you claim to be:
Stop the sale. Save Owls Head.
Our Parks and Protected Areas Plan is available in full, here.
