Ecosystem Protection

Stressors in Protected Areas of Coastal B.C.

Number of protected areas receiving scores of "high impact" in each category of stressor
	Terrestrial	Marine
External stressors
Forestry/mining/agriculture activity	32	29
Urbanization/tourism development	6	5
Access to protected area	3	1
Internal stressors
Recreation use	30	20
Tourism/protected area facilities	20	13
Transportation and utility corridors	15	15
Exotic species	12	11
Gathering/harvesting activities	10	22
Fire suppression	4	0
Loss of native species	2	0
Total number of protected areas surveyed	161	72

Despite being designated as protected, B.C.’s protected areas can be affected by external stressors, which occur outside the boundaries, and internal stressors, which occur within the boundaries.

A survey of B.C. Parks regional staff about stressors for coastal protected showed:

• The most commonly recorded external stressor was the category of forestry/ mining/agricultural activity. This was listed for 20% of the terrestrial protected areas that were assessed and 40% of the marine protected areas.

• The most common internal stressor recorded for terrestrial areas was recreation use. This included both motorized activities (boats, ATVs, snow machines) and non-motorized activities (firewood collection, berry picking, noise, anchor damage, feeding or harassment of wildlife).

• For marine protected areas, the most common internal stressors recorded were recreation use and gathering/harvesting activities, including recreational fishing.

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

Next: Proportion of Ecologically Intact Terrestrial and Marine Habitat in Protected Areas on the B.C. Coast >>