Thursday July 15, 2021 | VANCOUVER ISLAND & MAINLAND, BC
Island Social Trends
British Columbia is expanding its inventory of provincial parks by seven parks and one protected area, including three parks on Vancouver Island. The $2.47 million purchase includes over 229 hectares of land, it was stated in a July 12 news release.
“Our parks and protected areas are rich with biodiversity and provide critical habitat for numerous species,” said George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy (MECCS) in the release. “By working with our partners, the ecological, recreational and cultural values of these unique and special places will be protected and enjoyed for years to come.”
The main objective of these strategic investments is stated as securing properties adjacent to existing protected areas and that contribute to environmental protection and climate change resilience, enhance recreational opportunities, or which resolve operational issues such as access.
Newly acquired land locations:
The $2.47 million acquisition costs were directed at these purchases:
- On Vancouver Island: Cowichan River Park near Duncan (for $570,000 an additional 39 hectares of forested waterfront added, containing portions of the Trans Canada Trail and the Cowichan River Footpath), Wakes Cove Marine Park near Nanaimo (two hectares purchased for $535,000 to expand and enhance the area on Valdez Island), and Gowlland Tod Park near Victoria (a 4-hectare expansion that protects a portion of Hazlitt Creek; the park encompasses nearly the entire east side of Saanich Inlet, stretching from Goldstream to Brentwood Bay and the world-famous Butchart Gardens.).
- On the BC Mainland: Edge Hills Park near Clinton, Blue River Black Spruce Park near Blue River, Pinecone Burke Park near Coquitlam, White Lake Grasslands Protected Area near Okanagan Falls, and Cypress Park near West Vancouver.
The inventory:
British Columbia has 1,036 provincial parks, recreation areas, conservancies, ecological reserves and protected areas covering more than 14 million hectares or about 14.4% of the provincial land base. During the past four years, BC Parks acquired 1,144 hectares of land to expanded provincial parks and protected areas.
Parks are part of the provincial goal to protect natural space in the province for its beauty and ecological importance, which in turn support tourism (a strong economic driver) and overall health of the environment in this part of the world (which in turn contributes to overall well-being of people and places).
Next steps:
The provincial government says the next steps to establish the parks are consultation with First Nations’ governments, and boundary mapping.
the usage of BC parks has been much higher during the pandemic over the past year and a half, with Google public mobility reports indicating a 158% increase in parks traffic. It’s unclear whether these new additions will reduce the crowding that could continue to happen in parks.
