Ecosystem Protection

Percentage of Coastal Terrestrial and Marine Ecosections That Are Protected

Ecosection Name Terrestrial Marine   % of area protected % of area protected Alsek Ranges >99 - Vancouver Island Shelf 61 6 Continental Slope 36 <1 Queen Charlotte Ranges 34 - Kimsquit Mountains 22 - Kitimat Ranges 21 - Queen Charlotte Lowland 21 - Queen Charlotte Sound 19 2 Windward Island Mountains 19 - Eastern Pacific Ranges 18 - Johnstone Strait 18 3 Juan de Fuca Strait 17 2 Leeward Island Mountains 16 - Southern Pacific Ranges 16 - Hecate Strait 15 <1 Northern Boundary Ranges 11 - Skidegate Plateau 11 - Northwestern Cascade Ranges 10 - Georgia Lowland 9 -

Ecosection Name Terrestrial Marine   % of area protected % of area protected Northern Island Mountains 9 - Strait of Georgia 7 4 Nahwitti Lowland 6 - Nass Basin 6 - Nass Mountains 5 - Hecate Lowland 4 - Queen Charlotte Strait 4 3 Southern Gulf Islands 4 - Outer Fjordland 3 - Central Pacific Ranges 2 - North Coast Fjords 2 3 Southern Boundary Ranges 2 - Central Boundary Ranges 1 - Fraser Lowland 1 - Nanaimo Lowland 1 - Northern Pacific Ranges 1 - Meziadin Mountains <1 - Cranberry Upland <1 - Dixon Entrance <1 <1 Sub-Arctic Pacific - 0 Transitional Pacific - <1

Note: The table shows only proportions, not area: ecosections vary widely in size from under 100 hectares to over 2 million hectares.

Most of B.C.’s coastal ecosections on land had less than 10% of the area protected. None of the marine ecosections had more than 6% protected.

Under B.C.’s ecoregion classification system, the coast is divided into 40 ecosections: 28 terrestrial and 12 marine (10 of these include some land).

As of January 2006, an analysis by ecosection showed that:

• Photo credit: L. Gilkeson

  All terrestrial ecosections on the coast are represented by at least some protected areas. The percentage protected ranges from under 1% to over 99%, with 20 of the 28 having under 10% of the area protected.

• The best protected marine ecosection is the Vancouver Island Shelf ecosection, which includes Pacific Rim National Park. Less than 1% of five marine ecosections was protected and one (the Subarctic Pacific, which is the summer feeding ground for Pacific salmon) had no protected area.

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

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