Thank you for your participation in the Weaselhead/Glenmore Area Habitat Management Plan. Engagement ran from March 1 - 31st, 2023 and is now closed. The plan has an anticipated completion date of Fall 2024.

The Weaselhead Flats and Glenmore area parks are among the richest areas for biodiversity within our city! To ensure this invaluable resource continues to provide Calgarians with opportunities to connect in a healthy natural environment, Calgary Parks and Open Spaces is developing a 10-year habitat management plan for the Weaselhead/Glenmore area parks located along the Elbow River in SW Calgary.

The project will be led by the Urban Conservation team and will draw on the skills and expertise of various city staff throughout the management planning process. External contributors and Indigenous Peoples will be brought in to better understand past, present and future use of the park and to contribute to the future vision for the parks and the resulting management plan.

The purpose of the Weaselhead/Glenmore Area Habitat Management Plan is to establish sound management direction to improve resource protection and balance current and future uses of the park.

The primary question the project seeks to answer is: How can Calgary Parks and Open Spaces collectively manage habitat within the Weaselhead/Glenmore area in a consistent way to ensure positive and measurable biodiversity* outcomes?

*Biodiversity is defined by the International Union of Conservation as the variability among living organisms—animals, plants, their habitats and their genes—from all sources including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which they are part. This includes diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems”

The Weaselhead Flats Natural Environment Park is a Special Protection Park. Special Protection Natural Area parks are characterized by high overall environmental health and habitats that are highly sensitivity to disturbances. They contain habitats of provincial and regional significance comprised of productive ecosystems highly suitable as wildlife habitat. Within Special Protection Natural Areas, natural environments comprise 75% or more of the park’s total area where the dominant management zone focuses on habitat preservation.

The desire to protect natural areas in Calgary dates back to 1914, when the Mawson Plan identified riverbank protection as a priority for Calgarians. The need to protect and conserve natural resources and the many benefits they provide was then more clearly articulated in 1978 with the creation of the Calgary River Valleys Plan. The plan identified the significance and importance of protecting and managing the riverine environment and surrounding park spaces from future development. Since that time, various municipal policies, plans and frameworks have been developed, which further provide a strong foundation and support for ongoing conservation and restoration of Calgary’s urban natural areas, including more recently, the Natural Area Habitat Management Plan and Our BiodiverCity.