Ontario Government preserves Algonquin Provincial Park

Minister of Natural Resources David Orazietti
News Release

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Ontario is reducing the ecological footprint of logging in Algonquin Provincial Park while still maintaining a healthy forestry sector.

The newly amended park management plan increases the amount of protected land within Algonquin Provincial Park by 96,000 hectares – one and a half times the size of the city of Toronto. The newly protected parkland includes:

•Almost 70,000 hectares along waterways, giving greater protection to naturally-sustaining Brook trout lakes, beautiful landscapes and backcountry recreation such as backpacking and canoeing

•More than 14,000 hectares of zoning to enhance and connect existing wilderness zones

•More than 12,000 hectares of nature reserve zones to protect natural wildlife habitats and outstanding landscapes

This amendment is part of the government's plan to keep Ontario's parks beautiful and improve wilderness recreation opportunities.

Quick Facts

•The amended park management plan follows extensive consultation with park stakeholders.

•Algonquin Provincial Park is known as the crown jewel of Ontario’s provincial park system and is the oldest provincial park in the province.

•Algonquin Provincial Park is 763,459 hectares in size – larger than Prince Edward Island.

•In 2012, Ontario’s provincial parks received more than nine million visits – 800,000 to Algonquin alone – and brought in $69 million in revenue, which supported jobs and businesses all across the province.

•Algonquin is the only provincial park to support forest management. The Logging Museum at the park’s east gate pays tribute to this important economic activity.

Quotes

"Algonquin Park is an incredible asset to our provincial park system and amending the management plan helps to ensure a balance between conservation and forest management. Our goal is to preserve this important ecosystem for all Ontarians while allowing the sustainable use of our natural resources to generate socio-economic benefits.”

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