Canada’s British Columbia has released a strategy framework on biodiversity and ecosystem health, vowing to take a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to govern the protection and restoration of nature.
The country’s most biodiversity-rich province, BC, released the draft framework for public consultation on Wednesday to provide a strategic direction for future policy-making and legislation.
“A whole-of-government approach is essential to shift to mainstreaming concepts of ecosystem health and biodiversity across all relevant sectors including health, agriculture, forestry, mining, infrastructure, and finance,” the document said.
“Changing our ways to maintain and enhance ecosystem health and biodiversity is complex and challenging and requires all government bodies at all levels to be actively involved to ensure government actions are complementary and not working at cross-purposes.”
A specific step announced in the framework was a plan to establish an Office of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health within the provincial public service, which will lead the development of objectives and standards for key ecosystems and champion government policies.
The province will also work with First Nations to co-develop new legislation and amend existing ones and incorporate biodiversity objectives and ecosystem health in all its planning activities.
That will include establishing Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) to protect, recover, and maintain important habitat, riparian areas, and wildlife features, according to the framework.
WHOLE-OF-SOCIETY
The provincial government also wishes to facilitate individuals, organisations, private sector, governments, and communities to conserve and manage ecosystem health and biodiversity, it said.
That will include backing enabling mechanisms, including connecting social initiatives and providing education on the issue, as well as Indigenous data sovereignty “to help enable informed local participation in decision-making”.
It will also mean creating and using financing mechanisms, the document said, mentioning conservation finance, tools, and sustained long-term funds, but without providing further detail.
As well, BC wants to adopt an open and transparent process through evaluation, reporting, learning, and adaptive management, the document said.
“The framework facilitates the short-term shift towards transformational changes that are needed,” it said.
“It provides strategic direction, setting the course for changes in legislation and current practices that are grounded in the provincial commitment to [the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples].”
“With guiding principles, desired outcomes, and specific actions, it lays out a pathway to maintain and enhance biodiversity and ecological integrity, protect and conserve priority areas, restore degraded ecosystems, and ensure healthy communities and economies for generations to come.”
Green groups welcomed the release, though pointed out that it comes at a time when BC is losing nature rather than gaining it.
“Unfortunately, the release of this draft framework is set against the backdrop of a stark reality: old growth continues to be logged at an alarming rate, destroying entire ecosystems and pushing some species toward extinction, including the northern spotted owl,” said Sarah Corpan, BC legislative affairs specialist with Ecojustice.
“BC has committed to putting interim measures in place while they carry out the longer-term action of the framework – this is a critical piece that government must act on immediately.”
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