Environmentally-sensitive Area Planning in Ontario: Status and Problems in Implementation

Abstract

Increasing public awareness of the need to protect Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs), as well as the establishment of regional municipalities, provided the impetus for local governments to initiate ESA planning in Ontario. As of 1981, twenty municipalities—primarily regional municipalities and counties—had adopted ESA programmes.This paper examines the current status of ESA-protection planning in Ontario and the problems encountered by municipalities in adopting and implementing ESA programmes. Using a questionnaire survey, data were collected concerning 66 municipalities, and a review was carried out of the ESA policies in 36 Official Plans. The results show that an additional 11 municipalities have adopted ESA programmes since 1981, and that most of these have been designated cities. The primary problems encountered by municipalities in implementing ESA-protection programmes have been a lack of landowner support, weakness of any provincial policy-directive, and shortness of funding. These problems are also faced by uninvolved municipalities, and play an important role in preventing them from adopting ESA programmes.If a wider municipal adoption of ESA programmes is to be achieved, a stronger commitment will be needed from the Provincial Government in the form of guiding policies, financial assistance, and incentives to landowners who wish to protect their sensitive lands. A greater emphasis on landowner contact and public education programmes will also be required. Municipalities should cooperate with other conservation agencies and organizations in working towards this end.