Conservation Lands

Purpose of the Conservation Lands

The primary purpose of the Conservation Lands Program is to conserve and manage critical habitat for the benefit of regionally, nationally and internationally significant fish and wildlife species.

Principal objectives of the Conservation Lands Program include conserving or managing habitat with regard for:

sensitive, vulnerable, or at-risk species;
critical species' life-cycle phases such as spawning, rearing, nesting, or winter feeding;
important species migration routes or other movement corridors;
areas of very high species productivity or diversity.

Conservation lands often concurrently provide for a range of wildlife-related opportunities for the public, such as day hiking, hunting and fishing, wildlife viewing, scientific research and interpretive programs.

Management Emphasis

The activities that may or may not occur within a specific conservation land are not dictated by legislation, but instead depend primarily upon the specific management objectives identified and agreed upon for each site. These management objectives may be outlined within an applicable legal agreement (e.g. a lease), in a strategic planning document (e.g. a Land and Resource Management Plan), or within a management plan typically developed in consultation with First Nations, partners, stakeholders, and the public.

The lack of specific restrictions with respect to resource use in a conservation land can provide important management flexibility on sites where the interests of other parties may make the stricter use limitations associated with parks and protected areas unnecessary or inappropriate. So, while the priority of the program is to maintain or manage species and their habitats, other compatible resource uses may sometimes be accommodated, such as agriculture, grazing, forestry, mining and utility right of ways.

For this reason, conservation lands are not considered to be part of the formal “protected area” designation under Land Use Planning in British Columbia, a designation that includes parks, protected areas, ecological reserves, recreation areas and conservancies. Conservation lands are usually designated and managed under the general authority of the Wildlife Act or secured using other legislation, such as the Land Act.

While a variety of resource uses may be accommodated within conservation lands, in practice, most sites have a strong conservation focus. In some instances, this may be primarily because the site is not suitable for resource extraction activities. In other cases, there may be strong agreement between stakeholders, First Nations and local communities that the primary use of the area should be for conservation and low-impact public use. In still other cases, there may be a governing legal agreement that plays a more important role. For example, a standard long-term lease between the Ministry of Environment and a private landowner, like The Nature Trust of BC, will be geared primarily to allow conservation-related activities, restoration, and compatible public uses, while disallowing land uses which conflict with the lease agreement or do not have consent of both the ministry and the landowner.

Complementing their primary conservation objectives, many conservation lands provide important buffer zones, habitat corridors, and linkages between core protected areas. Such linkages may be essential to enable movement of species during seasonal migrations or in response to short-term ecological variations and longer-term climatic and evolutionary changes. In a few instances, conservation lands have also been subsequently converted or “upgraded” to protected area status, when it was recognized that they had a greater contribution to make to the core protected areas system.

Importance of Partnerships

In practice, the management of conservation lands relies less on specific legislative tools than on stakeholder consultations, partnerships with external agencies, and working agreements to facilitate habitat-sensitive resource use. For these reasons, one-on-one partnerships and multi-partner arrangements with non-governmental organizations, various levels of government, industry, and others involved in land acquisition and habitat protection play a central role in the Conservation Lands Program. Some of the ministry’s key conservation land partners include:

Ducks Unlimited Canada
The Nature Trust of BC
Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation
Nature Conservancy of Canada
The Land Conservancy of BC
Environment Canada/Canadian Wildlife Service
Pacific Salmon Foundation
Provincial and local government agencies
Other non-governmental organizations and industry

To take advantage of efficiencies between organizations with similar mandates, many of these long-standing partnerships have been formalized in regional, provincial or international multi-party initiatives focused on acquiring and managing conservation lands. These initiatives include, for example:

BC Conservation Land Forum/BC Trust for Public Lands
Pacific Estuary Conservation Program
South Okanagan-Similkameen Conservation Program
East Kootenay Conservation Program
Vancouver Island Conservation Land Management Program
North American Waterfowl Management Plan (including Pacific Coast Joint Venture, Canadian Intermountain Joint Venture, and Prairie Habitat Joint Venture)

The Ministry of Environment is also involved in more specialized habitat compensation initiatives designed to help offset the impacts of major development projects, such as the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, and the Peace Williston Compensation Program with BC Hydro and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Types of Conservation Lands

Generally, the conservation lands can be divided into two basic groups. First, there are lands over which the Parks and Protected Areas Program in the Ministry of Environment has administrative and management authority. These include.

wildlife management areas
conservation land acquisitions (acquired through purchase, exchange or donation)
transfers of administration to the ministry for conservation purposes
privately owned sites under long-term lease to the ministry from conservation organizations such as The Nature Trust of BC..

Second, there are Crown lands over which the Ministry of Environment has a recorded interest, but no administrative and management authority. Typically, such an interest is requested by the Ministry of Environment, and then granted and recorded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands/Integrated Land Management Bureau under the Land Act for a specified period of time. These interests include:

Order-in-Council reserves
map reserves
designated use areas
notations of interest.

In some cases, these recorded interests may put certain temporary limits on land uses in a specific area, or allow for the Ministry of Environment to be consulted about prospective land uses.

The Ministry of Environment currently has administrative and management responsibility over nearly 258,000 hectares of conservation lands across BC, and a recorded interest (without direct management authority) over another 833,000 hectares. Habitat enhancement projects with Ducks Unlimited Canada outside those lands cover an additional 8,300 hectares.

Wildlife Management Areas in British Columbia

A conservation land requiring a special level of protection and management may sometimes be designated as a “wildlife management area.” This designation under Section 4 of the BC Wildlife Act gives the ministry additional tools to to manage the land and associated land uses. Wildlife management areas can be designated by the Minister of Environment with consent from the Lieutenant Governor in Council (i.e. the provincial cabinet), provided the Minister has administration of the land. A single wildlife management area may incorporate lands which the ministry has secured through acquisition, transfer of administration, or long term lease.

There are currently 23 wildlife management areas in BC, ranging in size from the 17-hectare Coquitlam River WMA to the 122,787-hectare Todagin WMA. For information on wildlife and habitat values and on other activities that may be taking place in specific wildlife management areas, click here. Other frequently asked questions about WMAs are answered below.

What are some of the reasons a WMA designation may be considered?

An area’s wildlife/habitat values are of regional, provincial, or national significance.
Special management zones or objectives for wildlife, fish and their habitats have been identified in a local or regional strategic land use plan.
There is a need to conserve or manage important species and habitats while still allowing certain types of activities or developments to continue.
A standard “protected area” designation is not an available option or is considered too restrictive.
A buffer zone or linkage for a core protected area is desirable.

What are some advantages of a WMA designation?

Site-specific objectives and management strategies can be developed in consultation with partners, First Nations, stakeholders, and the general public.
Various land uses can be accommodated according to agreed-upon management objectives (e.g. recreation, grazing, agriculture, forestry etc).
A WMA designation can serve as a legal mechanism to help implement wildlife/habitat conservation objectives identified in a strategic land use plan.
Wildlife and habitat management options are flexible, ranging from no intervention at all to significant restoration and enhancement efforts.
A WMA affords a wide range of opportunities to raise an area’s profile while engaging the public in shared conservation and stewardship activities.

Who has management authority over a WMA?

Any activities that involve use of land or resources in a WMA require written permission from the Regional Manager, Environmental Stewardship Division, Ministry of Environment. The Regional Manager may establish orders that prohibit or restrict certain activities in a WMA which may affect wildlife or habitat.
The Minister or Cabinet may also make certain regulations respecting use or occupation of a WMA.

What types of activities are usually permitted in a WMA?

The activities specifically permitted or disallowed within a WMA vary depending primarily on the particular WMA management plan developed in consultation with conservation partners, stakeholders and the public.
Generally, activities that are compatible with the objectives identified in the WMA Management Plan are permitted.

How do I find out if a specific activity is allowed inside a WMA, or get a permit to do a specific activity?

Contact the regional Ministry of Environment, Environmental Stewardship Division office for information on which activities may be allowed within a particular WMA, and which activities may be allowable under permit. (Confirm in which region of the province a WMA is located by reading the WMA site summary).

How can the public become involved in planning or managing a WMA?

Participate in an existing local or regional strategic planning process to recommend a WMA.
Contact the appropriate Environmental Stewardship Division regional office to discuss a specific site.
Attend open house sessions to review and provide input on a draft WMA proposal and management plan or management plan review.
Participate in public advisory committees, which are sometimes set up to help manage a WMA.