Wildlife Act -- Habitat Protection
There are a variety of tools available under the Wildlife Act for the BC government to take steps to
protect habitat. Key powers include:
·
the Minister of Water, Land and
Air Protection is authorized under section 3 of the Act to acquire and
administer land for the purpose of access to or the management or protection of
wildlife;
·
The Minister may establish Wildlife
Management Areas, Wildlife Sanctuaries and Critical
Wildlife Areas; and
·
A Habitat Conservation Trust Fund
is created to facilitate a variety of habitat projects to be initiated at the
local level.
The Minister only
rarely purchases land for wildlife protection.
Such land, once purchased, would usually be managed as a Wildlife
Management Area under the Act.
The minister, with Cabinet approval, may designate Crown
land that is not a park or recreation area as a Wildlife Management Area
(WMA). Currently, some 21 WMA’s are
designated within the province.
The land and resources within a WMA may not be used without
first obtaining the written permission of the regional manager. It is an offence to alter, destroy or damage
wildlife habitat or deposit on land or water any substance in a manner that is
harmful to wildlife or wildlife habitat, in a WMA, unless with written permission
of a regional manager or as permitted by the regulations or a permit.
The provincial cabinet can also use regulations to further
restrict what goes on in a WMA.
WMAs have been used as buffer zones between parks and more
developed areas or to provide wildlife corridors or links between core habitat
areas. In some cases WMAs have later
been designated as a park, increasing their protection.
Under section 5, the minister may designate an area within a
WMA that is particularly important for wildlife as a Wildlife Sanctuary. This means that in addition to the legal
protection given Wildlife Habitat by virtue of the WMA designation, no person
can hunt, trap or otherwise kill wildlife in the area.
The minister may also designate an area within a WMA as a
Critical Wildlife Area, where it is required for habitat for an endangered or
threatened species. A species must
first be designated as an endangered or threatened species under the Wildlife
Act (not under provincial policy or federal legislation).
In many ways this is a political designation, with little
additional legal effect. Currently,
only one Critical Wildlife Area has been designated, for the Vancouver
Island marmot.
The Habitat Conservation Trust Fund (HCTF), which is
authorized under section 111 of the Wildlife Act, is an important source of
funding for many habitat conservation initiatives within the province. The Fund obtains its money from surcharges
on licences that are issued under the Act, and also from contributions, gifts,
donations and bequests, as well as any revenue derived from lands administered
for the benefit of fish or wildlife.
The HCTF funds the following conservation activities, which are
generally initiated and carried out by local groups:
·
conservation and biological diversity enhancing
activities
·
habitat improvement projects
·
fish and wildlife, and fish and wildlife habitat
education and extension programs
·
reasonable travel and administration expenses related
to providing any of the above
The HCTF program has achieved many successes. More information about the Fund is available
on the HCTF’s web site.
Related Guide pages:
·
Wildlife Act
·
Wildlife Act -- Protection for
Particular Species
·
Species at Risk Act
For more information about Habitat Protection:
·
Electronic copy of the Wildlife Act
·
Habitat Conservation
Trust Fund
