Protect Canada’s parks from being ‘loved to death’ says study co-author
VANCOUVER — Canada is a global leader in protecting its conserved land from human destruction, but its parks are in danger of being “loved to death” by thousands of people trekking through the backcountry, says a co-author of a study that details the degradation of one-third of the world’s protected areas.
Oscar Venter, associate professor of forestry in the ecosystems science and management department at the University of Northern British Columbia, said Banff and Jasper are examples iconic parks in Canada where a high number of visitors pose a challenge to maintaining healthy populations of some endangered species.
Economic pursuits, such as forestry, mining and oil and gas, are also part of the problem, Venter said.
“In Canada, we value our natural environment but we also put a lot of value on natural resource extraction,” he said.