DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF AN ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT APPROACH FOR PROTECTED NATURAL AREAS

Preservation of small natural areas is not in itself a sufficient meas ure to maintain the integrity of the ecosystems for which they were in itially set aside. Intense pressure from recreational use is just one of the many human-caused stresses that may degrade natural areas. Ther efore, land-use planning and management from an ecological perspective is necessary to assess, ensure, and in some cases increase, the ecolo gical integrity of protected natural areas. An ecosystem management ap proach for small protected natural areas with high recreational use is presented, based on three interrelated components: an ecological eval uation procedure of ecosystems, the implementation of management inter ventions on ecosystems, and the development of a monitoring scheme of ecosystem components. The ecological evaluation procedure combines two concepts: the biotic value of vegetation and wildlife and the abiotic fragility of the soils. This combined evaluation process results in t he creation of a sensitivity map that can be used as a management tool for planners and managers. Management interventions, the second compo nent of the management approach, are derived from concepts of ecologic al succession. Intentional human interventions are used to maintain th e ecological integrity of ecosystems or in some cases to restore degra ded sites. For the third component, only the basic principles of the m onitoring program will be discussed. A pilot project in one of the Mon treal urban community protected areas is presented to illustrate aspec ts of the proposed ecosystem management approach.