Park Planning

There are more than 600 Provincial Parks, Recreation Areas and Ecological Reserves in the province accounting for slightly more than 12 percent of British Columbia’s land base.  BC Parks, a branch of the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, is responsible for designating, managing and conserving the province’s parks and other related types of protected areas.  B.C. Parks carries out planning to identify new parks and protected areas, as well as to manage existing parks.

Protected Areas Strategy

In the 1990s B.C. expanded its protected areas to 12% through a province-wide “Protected Areas Strategy”, which identified and protected areas of cultural, recreational and ecological significance under the Park Act, Ecological Reserve Act and the Environment and Land Use Act.  See the Guide Page on Land Use Designations for a broader summary of some of the land use tools that can be used to protect areas.  There is no current planning process of this type currently underway, and the current government seems opposed to significant increases in protected areas above the current 12% (despite the fact that certain types of ecosystems are severely underrepresented in the protected areas). 

Nonetheless, it is possible that other parks or protected areas could be identified and protected if there is sufficient political will.  Individuals or groups can propose new parks to B.C. Parks.  However, more commonly new parks are identified (particularly in regions in which less than 12% of the land base is protected) through existing land use planning processes, such as Land and Resource Management Planning, marine protected areas planning or other Strategic Land Use Planning processes. 

Park Management Plans

B.C. Parks also develops management plans for individual parks and ecological reserves.  BC Parks prepares ten to twenty year management plans that provide objectives and actions for conservation, development, interpretation and operation of the area. The overall goal is to balance between protecting natural values from damage and managing human uses in the area. The general public and public interest groups may participate by:

·         Reviewing management planning documents and providing comments through public meetings and mail-outs.

·         Participating in consultations with First Nations, other levels of government and other provincial government agencies.

·         Joining public advisory committees to help prepare the plan and often implement and monitor the plan.

Related Guide Pages:

·         Park Act

·         Ecological Reserve Act

·         Land Use Designations

For more information about Parks Planning:

·         BC Parks, Planning web page.

·         Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society - B.C. Chapter web page.