Articles
The Importance of Place
In Haliburton County, as many as 6,000 more people are expected to become permanent year-round residents in the next five years. Although a relatively significant increase to our rural community, this is a modest increase compared to the changes in population anticipated province-wide. The Golden Horseshoe area is expected to grow by 3.7 million to a total of 11.5 million by 2031. This large increase in population will inevitably be followed by changes in the landscape.
Some of us feel alarmed at the speed and ease with which we will change our landscape. What makes us feel threatened by such changes? Is it simply nostalgia and sentimentality that has us longing for stability and rootedness in the landscape? Or is the accusation of sentimentality part of a modern sensibility that relentlessly persuades us to treat place as inconsequential in the contemporary world?
The philosopher Edward Casey reminds us that “to be, is to be in place”. At first glance, this declaration may not appear profound. But after some reflection it is clear that the importance of place in our culture has eroded over time. What is profound is the resulting inward loss from this shift in being.
ndigenous peoples around the world have long embraced place as central to their being. They have always existed in a sacred cosmos, where place determines who and what they are. We in the modern world have traded place for abstractions of space and time. The cottage experience, while perhaps akin to the sacred to many cottagers, is only available on weekends and holidays. The rest of the time we are somewhere else, doing something else. This is also true for local residents who, while remaining in the county, will find themselves just as focused on the requirements of modern life: work, family, and home, as anyone else. Place no longer defines us as it once did. Some consider the ability to be free from place as beneficial. Modern technology allows us, in a sense, to be wherever and whenever we want.
However, the weakening of the importance and centrality of place in our lives is what allows us as a society to destroy some of the most beautiful landscapes on earth; places that once gave identity and heritage to previous communities. We are no longer passive participants in our own destiny, we expect, demand even, the ability to alter our own destinies. Now, instead of the landscape shaping us – we shape the landscape. The tourist attractions of Niagara Falls come to mind as an example of the epitome of the commodification of natural splendour. While the commercialism of nature doesn’t always result in its transformation, when our relationship to it changes – when we ourselves change - we become capable of altering nature, often in ways that last forever. In southern Ontario, 80 percent of the wetlands have been lost; an equal percentage of upland woodlands have been converted to other uses.
In Haliburton we are fortunate to have an abundance of relatively pristine natural heritage. Over time it has changed from the quiet, impenetrable forests and teaming waters of the Algonkian peoples to the somewhat diminished but largely intact working forests and fisheries of late. It now serves as both the home of local residents and as the playground for permanent and transient residents. What will be the future of all the places that are Haliburton? How do we honour the idea of “being in place”? Cutting ourselves off from the rest of the world is neither an option nor desirable. Haliburtonians have great pride in their natural heritage. Evidence of this is found in the diverse environmental and outdoor organizations present in the county working to protect and enhance natural heritage within our landscape. These efforts need to be sustained if we are to continue to have the privilege of cherishing what is available to us - the experience of being in such a remarkable place.
The Haliburton Highlands Land Trust, an emerging local organization, has a mandate of preserving natural spaces. The primary purpose of this registered charity is to “acquire, hold, manage, preserve and enhance lands and waters….of natural, environmental and/or aesthetic value for conservation purposes.” Land trusts can do more than simply acquire and hold land. A variety of legal mechanisms allows landowners to receive tax benefits in exchange for a degree of environmental protection of lands or waters through, for example, conservation easements. The Haliburton Highlands Land Trust also works toward identifying significant lands and waters of natural or cultural value and collaborates with individuals, groups, and governments to identify, manage, and/or research areas of interest. Land trusts fulfill a niche for something other than the conventional private and public (crown) structures of land tenure and can make a genuine difference in ensuring our cherished places are protected for future generations.
There are, of course, many convincing arguments for the preservation of wilderness that have their basis in science or economics. I, however, have chosen to echo Henry David Thoreau’s famous sentiment: “In wildness is the preservation of the world”. Indeed, preservation of our wild places is our own preservation.
The Haliburton Highlands Land Trust seeks support for its goals in the form of annual memberships, donations, volunteers, and in-kind contributions. For more information please contact:
- Haliburton Highlands Land Trust
- P.O. Box 792, Minden, Ontario, K0M 1S0
- Email: info@haliburtonlandtrust.ca
Last Updated: May 23 2009 2:38:41 am.
Photo: Lyn Winans
Did You Know...
As of August 2009, 7 new species that have been identified in Haliburton County have been added to the Ontario government's Species at Risk list. Chimney Swift and Whip-poor-will are now listed as Threatened. Snapping Turtle, Common Nighthawk, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Canada Warbler and Bald Eagle are listed as Special Concern. Read the full article.
