Protected Areas in BC

The standard definition of protected lands and waters states protected lands and waters are legally established areas set aside to conserve nature and cultural values. This definition includes lands set aside for recreational purposes as being ‘protected’.

There are a variety of opinions about the percentage of British Columbia that is protected.

The following information is extracted from a BC Government website (2023).

Protected Lands & Waters – Environmental Reporting BC (gov.bc.ca)

British Columbia’s network of protected lands and waters contribute to global and Canadian targets to set aside, by 2020, at least 17% of terrestrial areas and inland water, and 10% of coastal and marine areas through networks of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures. This indicator reports on the trends in the establishment and status of protected lands and waters in British Columbia.

• Protected lands and waters cover 15.4% of B.C.’s land base and 3.2% of B.C.’s marine areas. In the terrestrial realm, 15.0% is in provincial and federal parks and protected areas, while the remaining 0.4% is in other provincial and federal designations such as Wildlife Management Areas and National Wildlife Areas, and private conservation lands.
• The amount of recognized protected land in B.C. has more than doubled since the early 1990s.
• The amount of protected land and water varies across British Columbia. For example, protected areas cover over 40% of the Gwaii Haanas, Chilcotin Ranges and Eastern Hazelton Mountains regions but less than 10% of the Fraser Basin, Fraser Plateau and Thompson-Okanagan Plateau regions.
• Ecosystem representation varies within the protected areas system. For example, 30% of B.C.’s Boreal Altai Fescue Alpine habitats and 5% of Coastal Douglas-fir habitats are protected.
• Protected lands and waters, in particular BC Parks, make a major contribution to B.C.’s economy through job creation and park visitation—about 60% of British Columbians use a park every year.

BC Parks 2017

The following information is extracted from the BC Parks 2016-2017 Annual Report.

(See additional BC Parks Reports)

If all 16 BEC zones were represented evenly, they would each have 14% protected. However, there is a standard brought in by the Convention on Biodiversity, supported by Canada, that has identified 17% as the target for protected areas.

Protected Areas System Administered by BC Parks
(as of March 31, 2017)

BC already has 7 of their 16 BEC Zones at or above [the 17%] level.

The Gap Analysis Workbook for Regional Protected Areas Teams June 1993 stated:

54% of ecosystems have less than 1% representation.

A 2022 report titled Biodiversity Conservation and Protected Areas in British Columbia by  G.G.F Scudder states:

Overall, there was found to be a marked lack of coincidence between the current protected areas and the occurrence of large numbers of the endemic species, federal COSEWIC listed species, provincially Red-listed species, and potentially rare and endangered invertebrates in the province.

In the top 5% of the rarity cells for the groups considered, there was on the whole, relatively little protected area coincidence.

Because of the general lack of coincidence between biodiversity rarity and richness hotspots with current protected areas, it is evident that the 12% of the land area currently designated as protected area in the province, does not provide adequate protection for the very rich and rare biodiversity in British Columbia.

Auditor General 2013

In a 2013 report,  Audit of Biodiversity : Assessing the Effectiveness of Key Tools in B.C, the Auditor General for BC states:

Currently, 37% of British Columbia’s land-base has one or more biodiversity conservation designations associated with it. Examples of these designations include Ecological Reserves, Parks, Conservation Lands, Wildlife Habitat Areas, Ungulate Winter Ranges and Special Conservation Areas. The level of conservation varies with each of these designations, but we are looking at the performance of these areas to better inform future decisions and incorporate Climate Change mitigation and adaptation.

Council of Forest Industries 2018

Industry has a different perspective. A 2018 report of the Council of Forest Industries entitled Smart Future : A path forward for BC’s forest products industry states: