Dr. Bell says that her group feels that it is “very important for our organization to work with the farming community,” adding that the two parties have common interests for the area. “We understand and embrace the fact that farming is going to continue,” she explains.
“I think development is a threat to both the farming community and the conservation interests,” she said. “So much prime farmland is being lost to urban sprawl, and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen, and at the same time we have to ensure that we maintain lands in a natural state.”
Despite what Dr. Bell suggest is a “common interest” in working together, she also feels that the matter has been “mischaracterized by certain people like Paul Calandra.” She asserts that the organization does not want to see farmers evicted from their land. “We believe that Rouge Park is a great opportunity to showcase and protect local food production.” To her, the phrase “local food” means anything that is being grown for food (including crops grown for livestock feed). She says that non-food crops would include corn grown for the purpose of ethanol production.
Ontario Nature fully supports the idea of the park, but is unpleased with the current approach. Dr. Bell says she is most concerned that there is “no requirement to protect natural resources in the park, and for us that is a critical flaw.”
The group that she represents would like to see a clear direction outlining more specifics about maintaining the park’s ecological state. Dr. Bell believes that the real threat to farmland isn’t from people doing ecological restoration, but from urban sprawl. “Farmers and conservationists need to get together, better understand each other’s interests and work towards a solution that fits,” she concludes.