ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — On Friday, Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources Gerry Byrne held a conference call with some members of the Wilderness and Ecological Reserves Advisory Council (WERAC), setting a course to potentially see movement on protecting the province’s land and inland waters.
The call came five days after The Telegram broke news that two members of WERAC — seabird expert Bill Montevecchi and World Wildlife Fund marine fisheries and ecosystems senior specialist Victoria Neville — resigned in protest due to a lack of action on protected areas.
They said they resigned because the Natural Areas System Plan (NASP) first drafted in 1995 is yet to be released.
Byrne said he’s giving WERAC an opportunity to release their version of the NASP, after which he will wait 30 days to gauge public feedback, and then go to cabinet.
Byrne said if there’s overwhelming support for WERAC’s plan, he could initiate “a direct legislated enactment of the plan.”
Or, if there’s some areas that aren’t contentious, they could get approved individually. And if there’s a wide range of views on the plan, there would be more formal public engagement.
“At the end of 30 days, I don’t believe for one second that we’re going to have a definitive conclusion about all of this, but we will be able to say we’ve got a better understanding of public appetites and attitudes,” said Byrne.
“I think attitudes towards conservation are much stronger than most politicians give credit for, but I do understand as well that there is legitimacy and room for criticisms and alternatives. And so, getting this out there is the wise thing to do.”
Byrne said the 30 days will give time for communities and stakeholders to provide their thoughts on WERAC’s plan.
WERAC chair Graham Wood said members are planning an in-person meeting in St. John’s as soon as possible to review and finalize the plan. He said Byrne is allowing them to make changes to the roughly 165-page document so it reflects what they think is an appropriate plan.
“There was some horse-trading going on there over the last number of years, and there’s some areas — in fact, one area like Indian Arm Brook, has already had two public meetings and that’s been kind of stalled, so … we may want to add that into the plan,” said Wood.
He said the committee will try to release it as quickly as possible.
"... at the end of the day, we need to protect our precious areas before they’re totally disturbed.” — Graham Wood
Wood said WERAC’s plan involves doing public consultations because there are often misconceptions about what is and isn’t permitted in protected areas. For example, an area might permit snowmobiling, but prohibit building cabins — each area would have a separate plan with such stipulations, created after public engagement.
Even with the current iteration of the plan, Wood said it would not bring the province’s protected areas up to the 17 per cent target.
“We’re still far behind meeting those goals that other provinces have done.”
However, he said WERAC members are optimistic.
“We’ve worked tirelessly for years to try to move this file ahead, and hopefully now we can move it ahead. But we’ll see how it goes, and we’ll see the type of support we get in Newfoundland and Labrador from the general public. And there’s people who are going to have their say, well, that’s fine, but at the end of the day, we need to protect our precious areas before they’re totally disturbed.”
Wood said he told Byrne the government has to “be bold” and “leave a legacy.”
The question is @Gerry_Byrne and @FLR_GovNL why did it take the resignation of @IchthyophileVic and @BillMontevecchi to get you to act and to inspire such transparency and inclusionary motives in @GovNL? Look forward to your answers in the @NL_HOA next week. @NLNDPCaucus @NLNDP https://t.co/mia0JxLLzE
— James Dinn (@JimDinn) February 29, 2020
Meanwhile, on Twitter on Saturday, St. John’s Centre MHA Jim Dinn asked Byrne why it took WERAC members' resignations “to get you to act.” Dinn said he looks forward to answers in the House of Assembly.
Byrne tweeted: “I look forward to you asking me that question on Monday.”
Twitter: @juanitamercer_
