Identified Wildlife Management Strategy
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The Identified Wildlife Management Strategy (IWMS) is an
initiative of the Ministry of Environment in partnership with the Ministry of Forests and Range and carried
out in consultation with other resource ministries, stakeholders and the public. Statutory authority is
provided for the Ministry of Environment to carry out this strategy under provisions of the Forest and
Range Practices Act and previously under the Forest Practices Code.
Under the Forest and Range Practices Act,
the Minister responsible for the Wildlife Act, the
Minister of Environment, is authorized to establish two categories of wildlife which require special
management attention to address the impacts of forest and range activities on Crown land. These two
categories of wildlife are the Category
of Species at Risk and the
Category of Regionally
Important Wildlife. The Species at Risk category includes endangered, threatened, or vulnerable
species of vertebrates and invertebrates, and endangered or threatened plants and plant communities that
are negatively affected by forest or range management on Crown land and are not adequately protected by
other mechanisms.
The Regionally Important Wildlife category includes species that are considered important to a
region of British Columbia , rely on habitats that are not otherwise protected under the FRPA,
and may be adversely impacted by forest or range practices. Together these two categories of wildlife
—Species at Risk and Regionally Important Wildlife—are referred to as Identified Wildlife
under the IWMS.
The IWMS provides direction, policy, procedures and guidelines for managing Identified
Wildlife. The goals of the Strategy are to minimize the effects of forest and range practices on
Identified Wildlife situated on Crown land and to maintain their limiting habitats throughout their
current ranges and, where appropriate, their historic ranges. In some cases, this will entail restoration
of previously occupied habitats, particularly for those species most at risk. Identified
Wildlife are managed through the establishment of wildlife habitat areas (WHAs) and the implementation
of general wildlife measures (GWMs) and wildlife habitat area objectives, or through other management
practices specified in strategic or landscape level plans.
The authority to establish wildlife habitat areas and associated general wildlife measures or
objectives is enabled through sections 9 and 10 of the Government Actions Regulation.
This authority has been delegated by the Minister of Environment to the Deputy Minister of
Environment.
The
Identified Wildlife Management Strategy (IWMS) Version 2004 was released in May 2004 and replaces IWMS
Volume 1, released in 1999. IWMS Version 2004 contains an updated list of identified wildlife, updated
species accounts and updated procedures for implementing the IWMS.
This website provides information on the implementation of the IWMS,
on the species and plant communities that make up the strategy as well as the areas proposed
and approved as Wildlife Habitat Areas.
If you require further information, please contact the project manager
of "Wildlife Conservation Planning" or the
Wildlife Biologist (or Ecosystem Specialist) in the appropriate region.
Project Manager
Wildlife Conservation Planning
Ministry of Environment
PO Box 9338 Stn Prov Gov
Victoria, B.C. V8W 9M1
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