Protected areas are a critical component
of the provincial environment and land use strategy. They provide
a necessary balance with more intensively managed and developed
areas; they maintain essential ecological processes that depend
on natural ecosystems: they preserve genetic variation and diversity
of species; they provide opportunities for recreation and for scientific
research, education, and training; as well as being places of spiritual
well-being and renewal. There is growing concern however, about
the ability of protected areas to preserve and protect the resources
within their boundaries.
Parks and protected areas suffer
from both internal pressures, such as recreational overuse to external
ones like development and resource extraction on adjacent lands.
There are also stresses such as global warming and long range transport
of atmospheric pollutants that do not respect any borders. Many
of these protected areas are not large enough to ensure that minimum
viable populations of indigenous wildlife species and populations
of plants are maintained. There are some very important questions
that remain largely unanswered. Are there enough protected areas?
Are they large enough? How effectively do they protect our natural
and cultural heritage? Are rare and endangered species adequately
preserved within protected areas?
The provincial government's protected
area strategy (PAS) was inaugurated to deliver an expanded and integrated
system of protected areas that protects 12% of the province. The
PAS has two principal goals:
Ecosystem Representation:
To protect viable examples of the natural diversity of the province,
representative of the major terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems,
the characteristic habitats, hydrology and landforms, and the characteristic
backcountry recreational and cultural heritage values of each ecosection.
Special Features Protection:
To protect the special natural, cultural heritage and recreation
features of the province, including rare and endangered species
and critical habitats, outstanding or unique botanical, zoological,
geological and paleontological features, outstanding or fragile
cultural heritage features, and outstanding outdoor recreational
features.
In July, 1995 the provincial government
established sixteen new protected areas in the Columbia Basin. These,
added to the existing protected areas, have brought the proportion
of the basin landscape under protective status to 11.6%
The establishment of protected areas
plays a key role in the realization of conservation values, particularly
through contribution towards biodiversity maintenance and the protection
of key habitat areas for maintenance of species health. However,
the management of the 88.4% that remains outside of protected areas
is the critical ingredient in the survival of many species. Physical
and biological linkages are necessary to provide a complementary
system of conservation areas and associated support zones in non-protected
areas.
Resource development continues at
an increasing pace. Areas that were remote wilderness just a few
years ago are now easily accessible by logging roads. There is an
ongoing need, therefore, not only to improve the protected areas
system, but also to manage adjacent landscapes to protect important
wildlife and plant species.
There are many types or classes
of protected areas in British Columbia. There are national parks,
national wildlife areas, and migratory bird sanctuaries administered
by the federal government; and, provincial parks, ecological reserves,
wildlife management areas, and wilderness areas administered by
the provincial government. Within these two levels of government,
there are several ministries or agencies responsible for specific
protected area programs which vary considerably in scope, intent,
legality, budget and objectives related to the species and spaces
they are responsible for. Table 13 below lists all protected
areas in the Columbia Basin and identifies the type, location, size
(area) and date of establishment for each.
