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The Challenge
British Columbia is Canada’s richest province, biologically - home to 76% of Canada’s bird species, 70% of its freshwater fish species, and thousands of other animals and plants. Many of our 3600 species, such as mountain goats and mountain caribou, live mostly – or only – in our province. Others, such as the migratory Trumpeter Swan and Sandhill Crane, rely on BC as a critical wintering ground or stopover. And unlike most of Canada and the US, BC still has all the large species present at the time of European settlement, including grizzly bears, wolverines, wolves, and cougars.
However, almost 2000 species are currently threatened or endangered in BC, with levels of endangerment especially high and growing within some wildlife groups (Moola et al. 2007. Biodiversity. 8(1) 3 – 11).
Currently, BC relies on a fragmented patchwork of wildlife and resource management laws, policies and regulations that have unfortunately proven to be ineffective in protecting and recovering critical wildlife populations.
A recent review (Moola et al. 2007. Biodiversity. 8(1) 3 – 11) found that 87% of threatened and endangered species in British Columbia are not protected under provincial laws or policies for species at risk, nor under federal endangered species legislation (Species at Risk Act). Nor do existing provincial laws require habitat protection. Without such protection, and plans for recovery, hope for BC’s at-risk species continues to diminish.