Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority Turns to the Public for Input Into Updating Their Conservation Lands Strategy

by Bob Montgomery

The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority has been looking for input from the users of their properties as to how they move forward.

Project Coordinator Kate Monk says the Conservation Land Strategy is the document that will guide how they manage the conservation areas and the conservation forests, which are owned by the Conservation Authority. “We did an online survey in the fall and we had more than two hundred responses to that and so we've used that information about what people would like to see at our conservation areas and we got a good indication of how important our properties are for recreation and also for green space and to help the environment to mitigate some of the things that we need to look after.”

Monk says there were five specific things that people felt were important for the conservation properties. The first was to protect the environment, the second was passive recreation, how much people are using the properties for walking and running. They use the properties just to appreciate nature, to spend time in nature and how important that was for their mental and physical health. And they did recommend some improvements and the improvements were reasonable, things like signage, washrooms at conservation areas, those sorts of things.

The survey was very useful, so Monk says she’s glad that they conducted it and glad that so many people responded. She says more people are understanding the importance of walking and the importance of being in nature and a lot more people are doing that as families which has other benefits as well.