Vancouver Island Region Ecosystems
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Roles and Responsibilities
The Vancouver Island Region Ecosystems Section:
- provides a ministry corporate proactive response (including habitat protection,
pollution prevention and water management) to proposed non-forest
(private land and Crown forest land) developments such as:
- road and utility corridor (power lines, pipelines and non-forest road)
developments
- aggregate
mining proposals
- shellfish
and finfish aquaculture
- local
government and Ministry of Transportation and Highways private
land subdivisions
- local
government zoning, by-law and related planning initiatives
- BC Park
management plans
- land use
planning processes led by partners
- develop
environmental management and protection guidelines, Best Management
Practices and standards in consultation with partners and stakeholders
- develop
environmental management co-operation agreements with provincial
agency partners (such as the B.C. Land Assets Corporation, B.C. Hydro,
Ministry of Transportation and Highways, Ministry of Energy and
Mines)
- develop
environmental management co-operation agreements (Memoranda of
Understanding) with local government (municipalities, Regional
Districts, the Islands Trust)
- develop
and implement environmental monitoring programs in urban, rural
and agricultural areas
- assist headquarters
and local government with the development and implementation of
the Fish Protection Act Streamside Protection Policy Directive
- develop
and distribute environmental inventories (sensitive ecosystem
inventories (SEI), the development of sensitive habitat atlases
in partnership with the federal and local governments, strategic
land use planning inventories i.e., LRMP)
- develop
and deliver "out-reach" environmental management and
protection programs (ex., seminars on Land Development Best Management
Practices, workshops on the SEI Conservation manual)
- coordinate
and facilitate Vancouver Island regional input to Treaty negotiating
teams
- coordinate
aboriginal consultations
- manage Vancouver
Island regions geographical information & data management
systems
- develop
inter-agency data management agreements
- lead regional
involvement in Vancouver Island region environmental assessments
under the Environmental Assessment Act
- administer
Section 9 Notifications under the Water Act, including
habitat protection provisions
- lead and
coordinate Vancouver Island regional participation in strategic-scale
planning exercises such as regional land use plans (i.e., the
Vancouver Island Land Use Plan), land and resource management
plans (LRMPs), implementation of the Protected Areas Strategy
(PAS), Regional Growth Strategies, Georgia Basin Ecosystem Initiative
(GBEI)
Relationship to Other Regional Programs
Ecosystems
Section staff directly provide habitat protection, water management
and pollution prevention input into all planning and referral activities
except forestry developments on Crown and private land and the Vancouver
Island Highway Project (VIHP).
Fish and Wildlifes
Habitat Protection program retain direct responsibility for providing
habitat protection input into all forestry and VIHP planning and
proposals. Water Management and Pollution Prevention program staff
incorporate habitat protection into their regulated processes (i.e.,
water licences and approvals, waste management permits) and consult
with Ecosystems Section staff with regard to habitat protection
issues where necessary.
Ecosystems
Section staff consults with Fish and Wildlife, Water Management
and Pollution Prevention programs as required and work with Conservation
Officer staff in both proactive and reactive compliance and enforcement
activities.
Vancouver Island Regions Ecosystems Section:
General Direction
- Improving
working relationships through development of agreements with other
agencies and other levels of government that highlight a proactive
working relationship which emphasizes partnerships in environmental
protection
- Ensuring
a ministry corporate response to development referrals
- Reducing
the need for site-specific project referrals through a variety
of measures that provide development approval agencies and proponents
with guidelines, best management practices (BMPs), maps, environmental
inventory information, etc. that can assist proponents proactively
with their development design
- Improving
co-ordination of regional input into Treaty negotiations and aboriginal
consultations
- Improving
co-ordination of regional input into strategic level planning
exercises, environmental assessments, other initiatives requiring
more than a program level response
- Monitoring
for compliance with guidelines, BMPs, etc.
- Co-ordinating
and facilitating GIS and data management support for regional
planning and inventory activities and related activities of other
programs
Best Management Practices
Vancouver
Island Region - Beaver Management Guidelines (PDF 235Kb)
Appendix B:
Beaver Management Guidelines in British Columbia (PDF 352Kb)
BMP – Land Development
Appendices
to BMP – Land Development (PDF 192Kb)
Urban
Bio-Inventory: Terms Of Reference (PDF 65Kb)
BMP
– Aggregate Extraction (PDF 291Kb)
Sensitive
Ecosystems Audit Summary (PDF 359Kb)
Sensitive
Ecosystems Audit (PDF 633Kb)
Memoranda of Understanding
City
of Nanaimo
Regional
District Comox-Strathcona
Regional
District of Nanaimo
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