The Importance of Protected Areas:

Each of our 35 natural regions is home to a unique group of plants and animals whose survival is closely linked to one another. All components within an ecoregion must be protected if the biodiversity of that ecoregion is to survive. Not surprisingly, habitat loss is the greatest factor causing plant and animal populations to become at risk.

Unfortunately, developments such as logging, mining, hydro flooding, agriculture, cabin developments and urban sprawl all cause habitat loss. These actions have far reaching impacts on our land, water and air. Often these impacts occur in ways that we cannot manage, predict or even understand.

To preserve our province's biodiversity we must establish a network of protected areas that includes a portion of each of our 35 natural regions. Protected areas are vital for numerous reasons. For example, they can:

Specific Information on Wilderness Reserves:

Wilderness reserves are large, undisturbed natural areas that preserve important wide-ranging wildlife populations and their ecosystems. They are protected from human activities such as forestry, mining, hydro flooding, new roads, cabins and transmission lines. These are places where people can enjoy abundant wildlife and pristine wilderness. In reserves such as Avalon and the Bay Du Nord Wilderness Reserves people can camp, hike, kayak, hunt and fish. Wilderness reserves support significant populations of plants and animals, so are best able to withstand regional catastrophes and protect the diversity of life within a region against external disturbances. Their forests and bogs are also valuable carbon sinks that absorb and hold carbon dioxide, a major culprit in climate change.

Summary of Science Regarding the Snowmobile Activity in Gros Morne National Park of Canada

Snowmobiles and Caribou 11th NA Caribou Conference - Girdwood, Alaska - May 2004