FAQs

About Biodiversity BC

Q. What/who is Biodiversity BC?

A. Biodiversity BC is a partnership of conservation and government organizations with a wealth of experience in conservation planning. Our sole purpose is developing and facilitating the implementation of a science-based Biodiversity Action Plan for BC to preserve BC's quality of life in the face of increasing pressures, such as climate change. Biodiversity BC is, in effect, a "virtual" organization with no physical office of its own and a two-person secretariat contracted to oversee and coordinate the Biodiversity Action Plan project.

Q. How was this action plan funded?

A. Development of the Biodiversity BC action plan is funded principally by a grant of $1.8 million from the BC government. In addition, the organizations participating in Biodiversity BC have all donated significant amounts of staff time and the use of facilities when required.

Q. What organizations are involved with Biodiversity BC?

A. The Biodiversity BC Steering Committee includes:

• The Nature Trust of British Columbia
• Nature Conservancy of Canada
• The Land Conservancy of British Columbia
• Ducks Unlimited Canada
• Habitat Conservation Trust Fund
• Pacific Salmon Foundation
• Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (representing other environmental non-government organizations)
• BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands
• BC Ministry of Environment
• Environment Canada
• Union of British Columbia Municipalities (represented by Metro Vancouver)

Why do we need an action plan and what is it?

Q. Why is biodiversity important?

A. Our wealth of natural diversity makes BC a special place. Biodiversity is the variety of all living things, the ecosystems in which they live and the ways they interact with each other - continually adapting in order to survive under constantly changing conditions. Few of us have appreciated the many benefits we enjoy from our healthy and diverse ecosystems, such as:

• Providing air for us to breathe, food to eat, clean water to drink and medicines to keep us well, productive soils and nutrient cycling which support renewable resources such as timber, and much more;
• Regulating local climate, flooding, disease, water quality and pollution; and
• Enriching our lives through recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, and spiritual enrichment opportunities.

BC's biodiversity helps keep these benefits flowing to us, but only as long as the ecosystems and ecological processes continue to be healthy and functioning properly. Unintended interference with the functioning of ecosystems and the species within them can put those benefits at risk.

Q. Why is a biodiversity action plan required?

A. Working together on a biodiversity action plan, we can preserve BC's quality of life. As climate change and other pressures on biodiversity continue to increase, we need clear priorities and a clear plan for collective action to conserve our natural systems and the species that live in them. Over the past 15 years or so, government at all levels, industry, and conservation organizations have been investing millions of dollars each year in an effort to conserve and manage BC's biodiversity. There's not much coordination of these many activities, nor is there a common vision or priorities to direct these investments.

It is our hope that, in the process of talking to British Columbians about our draft Biodiversity Action Plan, we can all come to a clearer understanding of the important contributions biodiversity makes to our daily lives, the need for prompt, coordinated action and a clearer appreciation of the consequences of failing to take effective action.

Q. But why is action on biodiversity so important, when we have serious issues such as climate change to deal with?

A. The issues of biodiversity and climate change are inextricably linked. On the one hand, climate change is emerging as the most serious long-term threat to BC's biodiversity. On the other hand, healthy biodiversity helps to mitigate extreme climate events and actions taken to deal with either one of these issues will have a beneficial impact on the other issue. However successful we are in turning around our release of greenhouse gases, BC is likely to face some big climate changes in the next 50 to 100 years. If we are successful in conserving healthy, functional biodiversity, we can retain many of the "ecosystem services" that biodiversity provides during what will be difficult times around the world.

Q. What exactly will a Biodiversity Action Plan do for us? What outcome are we looking to achieve?

A. We are working to build a Biodiversity Action Plan to preserve BC's quality of life. We expect the plan will lead to the following outcomes:

• Preserve future environmental, economic and social benefits derived from the conservation, management and use of BC's living resources.
• Demonstrate to BC and international markets that the province manages its natural resources sustainably. This will reduce conflict, preserve market access for our products and facilitate industry certification.
• Promote shared stewardship and partnership opportunities involving government, industry and communities.
• Provide a framework to guide our partnership with various levels of government, industry organizations and the public to coordinate investment toward agreed upon priorities and objectives.
• Provide a context for government initiatives such as the Species at Risk framework and for local government biodiversity strategies and sustainability plans.
• Prevent ecological damage in the first place - thereby significantly reducing the far greater costs of restoring degraded systems. For example, we are spending millions on rehabilitation programs in the Fraser River.
• Fulfill public expectations that BC will remain a special place, rich in natural diversity.
• Give us the ability to assess how we are doing by establishing targets and measures for biodiversity components to monitor in the future.

Q. What kinds of things will the action plan have in it?

A. The plan will describe where we are, where we are headed unless we take action now, and how to achieve a better future. Based on the information in the Report on the Status of Biodiversity in BC, and assessing the implications of the growing pressures on BC's biodiversity such as climate change, the action plan will:

• Identify the species and ecosystems that are most at risk currently or are likely to be at risk in the near future;
• Rate the relative importance of these ecosystems and species based on their contribution to the natural processes on which we depend and on the relative rarity on a regional, provincial, national and global scale;
• Establish a compelling case and clear priorities for actions that will make the greatest contribution to the long-term goal of conserving BC's biodiversity for generations to come.
• The Action Plan will provide direction and advice to improve biodiversity conservation, including:
  • What areas and management approaches are required to ensure the future of BC's species and ecosystems?
  • What changes need to be made in the management of lands outside protected areas to improve the future for various species and ecosystem condition, while retaining economic benefits?
  • What support can be given to local stewardship groups to better secure key local lands, help to recover species and preserve rare or important ecosystems?

Q. How does this strategy differ from other processes that preceded it?

A. The Biodiversity Action Plan process will be based on the best scientific information available so everyone will be working from the same factual basis. In developing the action plan, we asked leading ecological scientists in BC to objectively assess the current status of biodiversity and consider the most effective and efficient means of conserving BC's biodiversity for the future based on the priorities that are evident in the status report.

We will be asking a wide range of industry stakeholder, conservation organizations, First Nations and community groups as well as individual British Columbians to review the scientific information, to consider the "ecological services" provided by healthy ecosystems, and provide their input on how environmental, economic, social and cultural concerns can all be taken into account.

In past processes, the consensus of land-use planning tables was handed to the provincial government to implement primarily through policy, regulation and legislation changes. This Biodiversity Action Plan will identify ways for all levels of government (including First Nations), industry, non-government organizations and individual British Columbians can participate in implementation.

Q . How can one development in/near my town be a problem when the vast majority of BC is natural wilderness?

A. Ecosystems in and around urban areas produce many benefits. They help to regulate air and water quality and local climate, they help control flooding, and they offer cultural heritage as well as recreation and education opportunities. It is around urban areas that biodiversity is often most threatened, which puts these community benefits at risk.

It's true that ecosystems are adaptable, and any one minor disturbance may not destroy their functionality. However, the cumulative effects of continuing disturbances will very likely degrade an ecosystem to the point where it is no longer able to provide the community benefits we rely on. There's also the impact on neighbouring ecosystems to consider. Ecosystems tend to operate within inter-dependent networks, so damage to one can have a harmful ripple effect on ecosystems throughout the region.

As to there being lots of natural wilderness outside urban areas, that's quite true. But these higher elevation areas have substantially different ecosystems, which produce different benefits. The valley bottoms and coastal areas where the vast majority of British Columbians live, work and play are the same areas that have the richest biodiversity, but competition with human uses has put the ecosystems and species that live there under far greater pressure than in other less populated areas. That's why every ecosystem in these areas is so valuable and important.

Q. How can I get my interests/concerns considered in this process?

A. Only by working together, can we meet the growing challenges and conserve our biodiversity and quality of life for the future. The wisdom and experience of the people that have lived and worked on the land and water of BC can help us identify the best ways for dealing with the most serious risks to biodiversity that the science has identified.

Biodiversity BC very much wants to hear about your interests and concerns related to biodiversity conservation. Beginning later this year, we will be undertaking a consultation process, which will include several ways for you to make your views known. In the meantime, you can familiarize yourself with the best scientific information available on the current status of biodiversity in the province by clicking on the "Where Are We Now?" tab. We welcome your comments and suggestions sent to info@biodiversitybc.ca.

Q . Who will pay for implementation of the Action Plan and its recommendations?

A. It is far too early to talk about what the action plan will cost and who will pay because we don't yet know what actions the plan will recommend. Some recommendations may well involve re-directing resources currently being used for conservation to address the priorities that emerge in the action plan so we can get more bang for our conservation buck. Some recommendations may involve managing some lands in different ways so that biodiversity values are taken into account. For recommendations that involve additional costs, we would probably expect that all those who will benefit from biodiversity conservation will share in the cost of implementation.

Status of Biodiversity

Q . What does your definition of biodiversity cover? What is the scope of the assessment in the status report?

A. Biodiversity is the variety of life in all its forms. While the term biodiversity can be described in a number of ways, the B.C. Biodiversity Action Plan incorporates the Canadian Biodiversity Strategy's definition: the variety of species and ecosystems on Earth and the ecological processes of which they are a part - including ecosystem, species and genetic diversity components.

Our assessment is of biodiversity covers species, ecosystem and natural process diversity throughout the land and freshwater environment of BC, as well as attention to species that move back and forth between BC land/waters and the marine realm (saltwater). The focus of the assessment is strictly on biodiversity values and does not include things like visual quality, spiritual values and wilderness values.

Q. Why exclude the marine (coastal saltwater) component? Especially when you're looking at species that move back and forth?

A. The Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans is already undertaking the development of a new strategy to conserve biodiversity in the coastal marine environment, which is primarily a federal jurisdiction. Their work will inform the development of BC's Biodiversity Action Plan, with special attention to species that travel back and forth between the two realms.

Q. Based on the work you have done so far, what do you expect the biggest challenges will be to conserve BC's biodiversity?

A. In many ways, the biggest challenge is likely to be that species, ecosystems and natural processes are not static. They are always changing, evolving and adapting to changing conditions even without the intrusion of human activities. One result of human activities however is already having a significant impact, which will only grow larger and that is climate change. Within the next 50 to 100 years there is likely to be huge climate changes in many parts of BC and it is only by ensuring healthy, resilient ecosystems that we can be sure naturally occurring species and ecosystem processes will be able to adapt.

And at the same time all this is happening, BC is undergoing tremendous growth in population and economic activity. Surging populations around major urban areas are competing for the same "real estate" as already pressured ecosystems and species.

We expect these two factors to present major challenges to biodiversity conservation.

Q. Isn't it an impossible goal to preserve BC's natural environment the way it is now?

A. The Biodiversity Action Plan is NOT about preserving a static state of biodiversity. It's about responding intelligently to a dynamic situation. Even without the added pressures of accelerating climate change and a rapidly growing human population, species and ecosystems are always evolving and adapting. Our goal is to come up with a prioritized plan for collective action to conserve the aspects of biodiversity that are the most important and most valuable to us.