Conservation Authorities Contribute to Ontario Residents’ Wellbeing

If you are reading this blog you probably have some appreciation for the benefits that greenspace provides to our health and wellbeing, but do you realize the important role that conservation authorities and conservation areas play in this relationship?

Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities (CAs) serve a population of almost 13.4 million people or approximately 95% of residents. The CAs own and manage over 150,000 hectares of lands and waters on behalf of their watershed communities, making them one of the largest property owners in the province. The vast majority of these holdings, or conservation areas, consist of natural areas such as forests, fields, and wetlands. They also represent critical areas within the Greenbelt (including the Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine) as well as the Canadian Shield, Great Lakes shoreline and Carolinian Zone. Many of these areas are within a short distance from where people live and thereby serve as important near-urban open space. They are visited by almost 8 million people annually who come to experience the many outdoor activities offered including 3,500 kilometers of trails.

We know that natural areas play an incredibly important role in providing a wide range of ecosystem services and benefits to people. They clean our air, protect our water and reduce the impact of weather extremes as well as impacting us physically and mentally in a number of positive ways. While playing an important role in storing carbon, natural areas, and other green spaces also help us adapt to a changing climate, such as reducing impacts from poor air quality and high temperatures. From a public health perspective, we now know that exposure to natural areas provides important benefits such as reducing anxiety and depression and that spending time in nature has been proven to provide a wide range of health benefits such as increased energy and immunity, and improved mental well-being.

Healthy Hikes is an annual health and wellness campaign run by Conservation Ontario, the 36 Conservation Authorities and partner organizations. The initiative was started in 2013 to encourage Ontarian’s to develop a fitness habit by stepping into nature at any of Ontario’s Conservation Areas. Each year, the campaign is run from May to October and during this time Ontarians are encouraged to #StepIntoNature and participate in many hikes and activities at their local Conservation Areas. Healthy Hikes is also a proud partner of Mood Walks, an initiative of the Canadian Mental Health Association, in Ontario. Mood Walks is a province-wide initiative that promotes physical activity in nature or green exercise, as a way to improve physical and mental health.

Conservation authorities, as major land managers in Ontario, have an important connection to public health. It is for this reason that they use the phrase “Healthy Watersheds for Healthy People”. By effectively managing watersheds and conservation areas, CAs are doing their part to help ensure the health and well-being of Ontario residents and their quality of life.

Mike Puddister (Retired) is the former Co-Chair of EcoHealth Ontario and former Deputy CAO & Director Watershed Transformation for Credit Valley Conservation.