CPAWS-BC Publications

CPAWS-BC Conservation Plan 2009-2010 Powerpoint presentation: right-click and save (20mb)

CPAWS-BC Conservation Plan 2009-2010 document, PDF: Link (448kb)

CPAWS-BC Case for Support document, PDF: Link (160kb)

Protecting marine biodiversity in Canada: Adaptation options in the face of climate change
by Sabine Jessen (National Manager, Oceans and Great Freshwater Lakes Program, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society) and Sarah Patton

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Photograph by Sabine Jessen

Abstract: Climate change adds a significant stress to biodiversity in Canada, compounding the effects of continuing habitat loss and over-exploitation of natural resources. These cumulative threats to flora and fauna heighten the need for conservation strategies. Policy in the climate change area has focused on greenhouse gas mitigation, but the complementary response of adaptation must also be addressed as changing climate will have effects on biodiversity even if global emission targets are met. It is internationally recognized that protected area networks support the ability of ecosystems to cope with climate change. Natural ecosystems have greater resilience in the face of climate change impacts when additional stresses from industrial and commercial exploitation are reduced, and when species migrating to more suitable locations are facilitated through protected areas. Conservation as part of an adaptation policy is good insurance against the risk of species extinctions due to climate change. In Canada's biodiversity and conservation policies there is little evidence to date of explicit recognition of, or action on, climate change adaptation, especially in the oceans. In Canada's oceans, there is an urgent need to create comprehensive networks of large protected areas to assist in buffering the effects of climate change. While some marine protected areas have been established in Canada, their sufficiency and their ability to facilitate connections between them needs to be examined in light of climate change. Marine ecosystems are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and this is compounded by the many stresses they already face from overharvesting, habitat destruction, alien species, and pollution. Minimizing these chronic stresses and employing ecosystem based management approaches are key strategies to reducing the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems in Canada.

Wild at Heart - Summer 2008 Newsletter

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Table of Contents:

The Duke, Darkwoods and Our Dream: A CPAWS campaign collides with an aristocrat by Breeonne Baxter

Call of the Wild: Heroes of Canadian Conservation | An evening of inspiration

Executive Director's Message: The Horseranch Range by Chloe O'Loughlin

The Flathead Valley: Where the Wild Things Are

The Big Wild: Wilderness lovers meeting on-line by Megan Baker

Saltwater Saviours: Big plans needed for B.C.'s watery worlds by Sabine Jessen

The Galaxy's Wonders, Across Dark Skies: Starry Nights in the South Okanagan-Similkameen by Breeonne Baxter

CPAWS News Briefs

Saltwater Saviours: Big plans needed for B.C.'s watery worlds

By Sabine Jessen
Adapted from Wild at Heart, Summer 2008 issue

The north and central coasts of B.C. hosts some of the world's most abundant and diverse ocean ecosystems. These underwater worlds from globally significant sponge reefs to packed communities of important sea life are relatively pristine and healthy. But with increased shipping, fishing and oil exploration, the future of our northern saltwater ecosystems could be at risk. At CPAWS, we remain very concerned about the ecological integrity of this area. This area has been selected by the federal government as one of Canada's five ocean regions to undergo a planning process to improve management and ensure long-term ecosystem health. Integrated planning is based on managing our activities in a way that adequately reflects the interconnectedness of the ocean environment. The federal government has named this region the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area, or PNCIMA.

The PNCIMA region covers 88,000 square kilometres, about the size of the Great Bear Rainforest. The combination of complex oceanographic conditions and seafloor characteristics in this region, including channels, banks, deep troughs, eddies, upwellings, estuaries, and depths ranging from zero to 2,000 metres, create a wide range of ecological niches which support a diverse array of species. These species include 27 different types of whales, dolphins, porpoises, and pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), including blue, fin, sei, grey whales, and humpback whales, which are making a comeback. Fish are abundant and varied in the region and among the 409 known species are the tiny sandlance, which burrow into the sand to protect themselves from predators; huge schools of herring; long-lived rockfish; giant halibut; and of course, many species of salmon, a cultural icon of British Columbia.

PNCIMA is also home to the globally unique biological glass sponge reefs, which CPAWS has been working for the past six years to protect. They were thought to have gone extinct during the Jurassic era, but were found to extend over 1,000 square kilometres on the sea floor in Hecate Strait, building reefs over the past 9,000 years that are as tall as an eight-storey building.

The 34,500 people of PNCIMA live in 25 communities. First Nations represent 36 percent of the diverse population in the region. Given the global threats to ocean environments, including overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction and climate change, it is important to better manage relatively healthy marine ecosystems like those found in PNCIMA.

There are signs of stress from proposed and existing industrial activities and escalating fishing pressure in PNCIMA. If social benefits and economic opportunities are to continue in the region, management must be improved, moving from sectoral to integrated approaches. CPAWS and WWF Canada are working on a number of projects to advance the PNCIMA process, including work on climate change, conservation objectives, economic benefits of planning and review of other marine planning experience in Canada. We will be reporting on these projects over the coming months.

In the meantime, please express your support for marine planning in PNCIMA, and urge the federal and provincial governments to get on with the job.

Stagleap Provincial Park’s proposed Goal Two Area in the South Selkirk Conservation Area
Prepared by Chloe O'Loughlin, Executive Director, CPAWS-BC

This newly released report makes recommendations related to the proposed Stageleap Goal 2/ Park expansion (11,000 hectares.) The proposed Goal 2 is 4,500 hectares, and is located south of Stag Leap Provincial Park, south of the large NCC Darkwoods Property and north of US border, Idaho and Washington State.

Download | Published 2008 | 22 pages

Wild at Heart - Fall 2007 Newsletter

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Climate Change, Biodiversity and the Benefit of Healthy Ecosystems - CPAWS-BC

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Grasslands of British Columbia - Our Most Endangered Spaces

British Columbia's grasslands are unique ecosystems — their plant and animal communities and their landscape features are found nowhere else in Canada. Our grasslands booklet provides a fascinating background on these rare and endangered spaces including aspects of grasslands biology and ecology, different species that call grasslands their home, threats to grasslands, conservation, and alternatives for grassland preservation.

Contact CPAWS-BC at info@cpawsbc.org to obtain copies.

Published: 1999

Invasion of British Columbia's Grasslands

The purpose of this guide is to raise awareness of the threat of invasive plant species in BC's grassland ecosystems and the need to restore these areas to viable systems. This guide explores different methods of controlling the spread of invasive plants and provides a brief summary for community groups who want to start restoration projects by featuring different community initiatives around the province.

Download | Published 2006 | 6 pages

National Park Proposal
Similkameen “at the Cross-Roads”;
Support the National Park Proposal

People of the South Okanagan – Similkameen are at a crossroads. We have collectively been gifted with a major opportunity to protect and sustain the beauty, natural quality and biological richness of this nationally significant region – for us and for our children’s children. Together we have only a short time to capture this ‘one-time-only’ opportunity – if forfeited it will not return.

Download | Published 2006 | 6 pages