Phase 3 of the Connect: Calgary’s Parks Plan is underway, and the draft plan was shared with the public and partners before Council’s expected approval in early 2025. You can send questions or comments directly to the project team by emailing [email protected]. Please note that these will not be included in the final Phase 3 What We Heard Report. A Park is a space set aside for enjoyment, recreation, education, cultural or aesthetic use, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. An urban forest includes trees and shrubs intentionally planted, naturally occurring, or accidentally seeded within city limits. This means all trees in parks, river valleys, streets, roadways, natural areas, and commercial and private lands.
A Natural Area is a City-owned park or open space where the primary role is protection of a (relatively) undisturbed parcel or with a natural/native plant community. Natural areas are categorized to provide guidance for management and permitted uses according to habitat sensitivity and conservation needs. Habitat is the environment where the life cycle of a species is found and characteristics of the place (climate or suitable food and shelter). A Habitat Management Plan means a ten-year operational plan on how we manage natural areas that help maintain or improve the health and function of a park. Calgary’s natural ecosystems are categorized by their habitat type (e.g., grassland, forest, wetland). There are also categories for classifying parks with natural environments: Special Protection or Major; Supporting (may be buffers), and other naturalized parks. Naturalization means improving management or repairing some function. For Environmentally Significant Areas, some key natural components recognized by the City of Calgary are Water Quality and Quantity; Rare, Intact, or Biologically Diverse content; and Habitat for Native Species of Interest. Read more at https://engage.calgary.ca/parksplan.
