Restoration and active management

Sometimes our ecological integrity monitoring or species at risk monitoring programs show us that the park is not as healthy as it should be. When this happens, we need to figure out why, find ways to get it back on its feet, and make sure it stays healthy once it has recovered. This is where restoration and active management actions comes into play.  However, restoration and active management are not as simple as they sound. Nature is constantly changing and many factors are influencing management decisions. Restoration work is an intricate process requiring science and traditional knowledge and often involves volunteers, stakeholders and partners.

In Gros Morne some of our previous and ongoing restoration projects include:

Forest Health 

When moose numbers in the park were double that of the rest of the province, changes needed to be made due to their massive impact on forests. Did you know that moose eat 18 kilograms (almost 40 lbs) of balsam fir per day! See how we tackled this challenge!

Woodland Caribou

Two caribou herds use the park during different times of the year, but both have experienced declines since the late 1990s – declines experienced by caribou across Newfoundland. Although these declines were part of a natural cycle, highway mortalities have become a growing concern in Gros Morne since 1993. Learn more here.

 

Trout River Salmon

Once numerous, the Atlantic Salmon population has steadily declined in Trout River to a critically imperiled level: only 13 fish returned to spawn in 2017. With a strong possibility of this population no longer persisting, a special project has been initiated to help restore this salmon run.