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The 280 Provincial Parks in Ontario are regulated under the Provincial Parks Act; an Act that has not been revised since 1954. Each park has a management plan, which is reviewed every five years. All Ontarians are invited to participate in these important public consultation opportunities.
Each Provincial Parks is assigned one of six management categories:
- Nature Reserve
Parks are used 365 days a year by eco-tourists -- Hap Wilson
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- Wilderness
- Natural Environment
- Waterway
- Historical
- Recreation
The category reflects the features of the landscape and the ecological significance of the area. It should distinguish between the types of activities that are allowed to occur within the park's boundaries but there is less of a distinction.
Wilderness Parks and Nature Reserves are two park categories, which have more stringent standards when it comes to protecting the natural environment.
Nature Reserves are established to "protect nature and maintain natural processes in an undisturbed state in order to have ecologically representative examples of the natural environment available for scientific study, environmental monitoring, education, and for the maintenance of genetic resources in a dynamic and evolutionary state."
> Of the 387 newly created areas through the Ontario's Living Legacy Agreement - only 13 were given the Nature Reserve status.
Wilderness Parks are where you will find Ontario's largest areas of undisturbed wilderness. The 8 wilderness parks in Ontario were originally established as "sanctuaries where the forces of nature would be permitted to function freely and where visitors could travel by non-mechanized means and experience solitude, challenge and personal enjoyment of that protected area."
> No new Wilderness Parks were created through the Ontario Living Legacy Agreement.
The smallest Wilderness Park is 485 km2
1. Killarney
2. Quetico
3. Wabakimi
4. Woodland Caribou
5. Lady-Evelyn Smoothwater
6. Kesagami.
7. Polar Bear
8. Opasquia
 ALERT! Wilderness Parks may be opened up to Sport Hunting! |
