Biodiversity Overview

Nature provides ecological life-support systems that sustain life on earth. Ecosystem functions and services contribute to human welfare on this planet. The economies of the Earth would grind to a halt without these services.

Biodiversity is the foundation of a vast array of ecosystem services essential for human well-being. Biodiversity allows for the support of the variety of industries such as agriculture, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper, horticulture and construction.

According to the 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services the biomass of wild mammals has fallen by 82%, natural ecosystems have lost about half their area and a million species are at risk of extinction, all largely as a result of human actions. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services listed unsustainable fishing, hunting and logging as being some of the primary drivers of the global extinction crisis. For example, sites with the potential to grow very large trees cover less than 3% of the province. Old forests on these sites have dwindled so that only 2.7% of this 3% is currently old.

Sustainable development is the use of Earth’s environment and resources to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs for sustenance and habitation.

The United Nations published Sustainable Development Goals in the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. The UN Convention on Biodiversity has identified the steps that need to be taken to manage the extinction epidemic and maintain the essential ecological services needed by humans. Canada and British Columbia have mandated the protection of 30% of nature by 2030.

Perspectives have changed since the 1990’s. Recreation, hunting organizations and industry have started to recognize the need to adopt sustainability strategies.

The legislature of the Province of British Columbia assigns responsibility to the government (the cabinet) to manage sustainability and biodiversity. The legislature has created a number of mechanisms to allow government to manage and protect biodiversity. The most important statutes are the Parks Act, the Wildlife Act and the Forest and Range Practices Act.

The Auditor General for the province of British Columbia has made recommendations to the legislature for improvement of government management of Biodiversity in parks and forests. Steps are being taken to implement improved conservation a biodiversity protocol and a cumulative effects framework.

First nations have a claim to the unceded lands in the province of British Columbia. Government holds legal title to this land. Perhaps the most insidious impact of historical protected areas is the disconnection they fostered between Indigenous Peoples and their territories. Indigenous governments are establishing Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, for lands and waters where Indigenous governments are developing the primary role for protecting and conserving ecosystems.

Protection of 30% of British Columbia by 2030 will require a shift from targeting an annual allowable cut of timber to a new target of protecting 30% of terrestrial and inland water, and coastal and marine areas. This will require work to identify the key areas we need to protect so that sufficiently representative samples of the 14 Biogeoclimatic Zones are set aside.