Photo by Emma Jarek-Simard
28 UBC signatories acknowledge the Draft British Columbia Ecosystem and Health Framework as a significant opportunity to advance ecosystem protection, improve human well-being, and enhance resilience to climate change. While the framework represents a step in the right direction, the province can go further to increase its impact.
Key Points of the Response:
- Lack of concrete action: The framework is too focused on planning rather than actionable, measurable steps. We urge the government to provide clear, specific guidance and legal mechanisms to prioritize biodiversity protection.
- Need for species-at-risk legislation: Multi-species recovery planning can overlook single species currently at risk of extinction. Therefore, the framework should include robust legal protection for individual endangered species in addition to an ecosystem-based approach.
- Resource extraction reform: There is a significant lack of elaboration on how and to what extent the “transformational shift” away from “a land management system that prioritizes resource extraction” will be accomplished. This lack of clarity is a concern that needs to be addressed.
- Collaboration with First Nations: We support the co-development of policies with First Nations but urge the government to move from mere consultation to meaningful joint decision-making.
British Columbia’s natural environment holds incredible ecological and cultural value and
thus our joint responsibility for protecting it is immense. It is a bold and necessary move for
British Columbia to undergo a “transformational shift from a land management system that
prioritizes resource extraction (subject to constraints) to a future that is proactive, prioritizes
the conservation and management of ecosystem health and biodiversity, and is implemented
jointly with title and rights holders.” To sustain the natural richness of British Columbia for
future generations, we must work together to ensure that concrete actions to protect
biodiversity and ecosystem health in the province soon follow. We applaud the desire to
undertake this transformation and offer our assistance in achieving the objectives set out by
this draft framework.
See the full response, featuring 28 signatories, to the Draft British Columbia Ecosystem and Health Framework below.