Scotch Bonnet Island and Mohawk Island National Wildlife Areas Management Plan: chapter 4


4 Goals and Objectives

4.1 Vision

The long-term vision for both Scotch Bonnet Island National Wildlife Area (NWA) and Mohawk Island NWA is conservation: to maintain and enhance habitat for native wildlife and plants, with priority being given to colonial nesting waterbirds.

4.2 Goals and Objectives

The primary management goal for these two NWAs is to ensure that the colonial nesting waterbirds are protected from outside disturbances, in order to promote the long-term persistence of these colonies. To ensure that this goal is attained, more specific goals and objectives have been identified. However, these NWAs are small, remote sites where active management is not required. Management activities are limited to immediate needs and planned visits. Hence, the goals and objectives listed below reflect a “hands-off” management approach. The monitoring and survey approaches below in section 5.1 provide additional information on how the overall goals are addressed.

Goal 1: Conserve and manage wildlife and habitat.

1.1 Sub-goal:  Maintain populations of and habitat for colonial nesting waterbirds and a variety of migratory bird species.

  1. Objective: Natural processes and natural succession are allowed to occur with minimal intervention, subject to monitoring, survey or research results (section 5.1).
  2. Objective: Habitat will only be managed (e.g. invasive species removal) to maintain existing habitat quantity and quality for colonial nesting waterbirds and/or seasonal migrants, as determined to be necessary by monitoring, survey or research results.

Goal 2: Control prohibited activities.

2.1 Sub-goal:  Prevent occurrence of prohibited activities and promote compliance with the Canada Wildlife Act and Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994, and encourage timely reporting of hazardous conditions and occurrences.

  1. Objective: Authorized visitors understand the prohibitions of the Wildlife Area Regulations.

Goal 3: Promote health and safety.

3.1 Sub-goal:  Reduce and mitigate health and safety risks and hazards associated with authorized visits.

  1. Objective: Risks have been assessed and measures implemented to ensure the safety of authorized visitors, including measures to deal with landing and mooring locations and risks associated with existing built structures (e.g. concrete breakwall at Scotch Bonnet Island NWA, stone lighthouse ruins).
  2. Objective: In accordance with the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, lighthouse structures are allowed to decay by natural processes, with active intervention undertaken for health and safety reasons only.

3.2 Sub-goal: Communicate health and safety risks to authorized visitors.

  1. Objective: Target audiences and collaborators are aware of health and safety risks to authorized visitors (e.g. through signage, notices and outreach materials).
  2. Objective: The status of existing collaborative arrangements and permits has been reviewed and renewed as appropriate.

4.3 Evaluation

Site visits to Scotch Bonnet Island NWA and Mohawk Island NWA will be performed within the limits imposed by financial and human resources. Ideally, Environment and Climate Change Canada will strive for the completion of an annual site visit by a staff member in coordination with Ontario’s protected areas team and other departmental sections and branches. The management plan will be reviewed in 5 years, and every 10 years thereafter. Evaluation will comprise a review of monitoring, survey and research data obtained from the projects outlined below. These data and the review will be used to inform future management as well as to evaluate federal contributions towards accomplishing the Environment and Climate Change Canada mandates for which the protected area was established. Significant additions of new information may be appended to the management plan as required, to aid in site management and decision making.

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