Ecosystem Protection

Taking Action - What is Being Done, What Can You Do?

Federal and Provincial Governments

There are many protected areas designated under federal and provincial legislation, for a variety of purposes. They include: national and provincial parks, marine protected areas, migratory bird sanctuaries, wildlife management areas, ecological reserves, and recreation areas.

B.C.’s newest protected area—the Great Bear Rainforest—was announced on February 7, 2006. It consists of 1.2 million hectares of newly protected land on the central and north coast, combined with 600,000 hectares that are already protected. Strict new controls on forestry and other industrial activities will also protect an additional four million hectares in the same region.

Non-governmental Initiatives

Conservation initiatives by non-governmental organizations complement and enhance ecosystem protection by the provincial and federal governments. Examples:

• The B.C. Trust for Public Lands

• The Important Bird Areas program

• The Habitat Conservation Trust Fund

• Pacific Estuary Conservation Program

• The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network

• Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society

• World Wildlife Fund Canada

• The Living Oceans Society

• The Orca Pass International Stewardship Area

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WHAT CAN YOU DO?

You can support ecosystem protection by:

1. Joining a local conservation organization and volunteering time to help them protect, conserve, or restore wild species and ecosystems.

2. Donating money to a national, provincial, or local land trust.

3. Donating land to a national, provincial, or local land trust.
   Environment Canada’s Ecological Gifts Program offers tax benefits to landowners who donate land to, or create a conservation covenant with, a land trust or government.

Land trusts operating in British Columbia include:

• The Nature Conservancy of Canada
• Ducks Unlimited
• The Land Conservancy of B.C.
• The Nature Trust of B.C.

The Land Trust Alliance of B.C. is an umbrella organization supporting land trusts and conservancies. It maintains a list of local trusts operating in B.C., with contact information.

For detailed information, including graph data, see In-Depth report [pdf].