Full inclusion would expand Rouge National Urban Park by 50%, bolster biodiversity, climate resilience, local food and Indigenous Reconciliation.
[Pickering, Ontario, January 25, 2025] – Today, the Government of Canada announced the transfer of the former ‘Pickering Airport lands’ from Transport Canada to Rouge National Urban Park (RNUP) under Parks Canada. This transfer has long been fought for by local residents, conservation groups, politicians and others. Wildlands League, an environmental group involved in the creation of Rouge, Canada’s first National Urban Park, has been actively campaigning for this expansion since RNUP was announced.
“We are ecstatic!”, exclaims the League’s Executive Director, Jan Sumner. “Not only for Nature and our climate but for the many individuals and groups that fought for this land for over 50 years and the First Nations who first called this area home. This means that, instead of an unnecessary airport and out- of-date urban sprawl, the GTA gets a huge expansion of Rouge and its benefits for species, climate and communities. Congratulations to everyone who made this happen”, Sumner continues.
The Pickering lands were expropriated 52 years ago for an airport that never materialized and many studies deemed redundant. The area is a mosaic of forests, wetlands, rural residences and Class 1 farmland that sits adjacent to RNUP and Ontario’s Greenbelt in north Pickering, east of Toronto.
The lands are ‘precious’ according to Dave Pearce, Wildlands League’s Senior Forest Conservation Manager. “They serve as an important corridor providing linkages for roaming birds and animals from the Rouge to headwater streams and the Oak Ridges Moraine” Pearce explains. He continues, “Preserving these lands as part of Rouge National Urban Park will safeguard essential habitat for wildlife, secure local produce, and compliment smart growth for surrounding communities”.
Many of the area farmers became advocates for a permanent transfer to RNUP as the obvious solution. Rouge provides for the maintenance and restoration of ecological integrity (EI) and also secures long-term farm leases while increasing their contribution to nature and climate resilience. This approach will be extended to the former Pickering Lands.
“One of the challenges is resources,” explains Pearce. “Parks Canada needs capacity to deal with the complexity of a park adjacent to seven million Canadians. It also needs to complete thorough Indigenous engagement that will respect rights and aspirations, including co-governance. We’d like to see the necessary funding commitments to support full inclusion of all the Pickering Lands subject to reconciliation needs,” concludes Pearce.
“Based on the 137 ecological projects in Rouge National Urban Park over the past decade, restoring 91 hectares of wetland, 142 hectares of forest, and more than 800 metres of streams, expanding RNUP is how to secure the future, while removing any uncertainty that the province or municipalities can foreclose on nature,” concludes Sumner, “This area once slated for an airport couldn’t have made a better landing.”
Contact:
Dave Pearce, Senior Forest Conservation Manager, dave@wildlandsleague.org, 416 807 8340.
