Environmental Trends 2002

Habitat

What Areas of the Province Provide Large Areas of Natural Habitat?

Percentage of Ecosection Not Influenced by Roads or Seismic Lines in British Columbia

SOURCE: Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management, 2002. NOTES: Data are derived from the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum Inventory conducted on Crown lands administered by the Ministry of Forests. They were collected over a 10-year period from 1988 to 1998. Data are incomplete for some ecosections (e.g., missing for most Federal and Provincial Parks). Therefore, the percentage roadless area is a conservative estimate.

What areas of the province provide large areas of natural habitat?

• This indicator identifies areas in the province that are remote, have not been significantly altered by human development, and that provide large areas of natural habitat condition and backcountry recreation opportunities.

• Seismic lines are straight or meandering pathways, 1.5 to 7 m wide and at least 2 km long, that are used in oil and gas exploration. Unlike roads, seismic lines are not maintained as clearings, however, they may fragment the landscape, carving open areas through formerly unbroken habitats. Such clearings may disturb species that deliberately avoid open edges and may increase their vulnerability to predators. Although seismic lines do not provide the level of human access associated with roads, they may create temporary routes for all-terrain vehicles and snow machines in winter.

• Forty-four ecosections in the province have greater than 60% of the area that is not influenced by roads or seismic lines. Of these, 30 have over 80% of the area road-free.

• For an area to be considered roadless, it must be natural or in a natural appearing condition, be one km or more away from an existing road or seismic line, and be at least 1000 hectares.

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