With verdant woodlands, pastoral beauty and a breathtaking lakeside landscapes, Prince Edward County is a wonderland for nature lovers.

That is, of course, for those who afford to enjoy the park and conservation areas.

Though there are approximately 1,000 square kilometres of land on this peninsula-including over 500 square kilometres of shoreline-there is barely a kilometre of this contested region that hasn’t been caught in the “for profit” cross hairs.

This has been happening incrementally, beginning in 1970 when the province acquired the land now known as Sandbanks Provincial Park.  Prior to this, scores of locals, and visitors, enjoyed the area with unfettered access. Currently, an annual permit to access the park costs $111.87, while a summer permit is $84.75. This does not include the cost of a printer and ink to print the daily pass now required for entry.

Most recently, Little Bluff and Macaulay Mountain have gained price tags. To sojourn to the former now costs $15, whether for one hour or the whole day, and Macaulay Mountain is $6.

While these prices alone may not seem egregious, they represent a chipping away of what was once a right. That is, the right to our own natural environment. While there are spaces for locals to enjoy at no cost, they are few. Currently, only Wellington Beach and Huyck’s Point allow locals to park with a resident’s pass. These two areas are nestled deep in the Western portion of the County, leaving no free outdoor public spaces to easily access for those in other areas of the region.

The spontaneous joy to be had from pulling up cliffside to enjoy a sunset over Lake Ontario or exploring the woods in all its seasons should not be reserved simply for those who can afford such beauty.  With the ever-increasing affordability crisis, the County boasts not only beautiful vistas but also income inequality that surpasses that on both a provincial and national level.

Many low-income earners, or those on assistance such as Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program, live in Picton. These people are not living and toiling in isolation. They’re part of a family and, on a larger scale, this community. According to the most recent Vital Signs Report, as of 2020 10.8 per cent of PEC children aged 17 and under live in low-income households.

What does this mean? For many children, it will mean a detached relationship with nature. One built in the narrow confines of County parks and jungle gyms. And, for a growing number of locals, it will mean a severing of the relationship with the environment we’ve grown up knowing. The chasm between the “haves” and “have nots” is widening and swallowing up the right to roam along wither other necessities, from childcare to public healthcare.

We can see symbiotic relationships play out throughout the natural world, from mycelium feasting on dead logs to Monotropa Unaflora (a plant that relies on fungi that get their energy from photosynthesizing trees). Our relationship to the world around us is no different. Like these organisms, our health and wellbeing relies on the natural world around us.

At a time when mental health and substance abuse issues are skyrocketing, especially among youth, we would do well to promote the benefits of being in nature as opposed to making it less accessible. And, while staring down one of the many jagged limestone cliffs dotting the shoreline, perhaps consider what rights we are allowing to slip away into the realm of privilege.

-Sarah Williams is a Staff Writer for the Picton Gazette and Napanee Beaver