Op-Ed: COP15 could mark a new chapter for nature protection in B.C.

This week, thousands of delegates are in Montreal for COP15, the United Nations biodiversity conference, ready to tackle biodiversity loss around the world.

And global action is desperately needed: The latest research shows one million plant and animal species worldwide are at risk of extinction. Biodiversity is also a key factor in climate change, as critical ecosystems disappearing means losing carbon storage capacity in our old growth, grasslands and peatlands.

Read the full editorial by Tori Ball as published in The Province on December 7, 2022.

Full text below.


COP15 could mark a new chapter for nature protection in B.C.

Opinion: To turn the ambitious goals that will be set in Montreal into action here at home, we need legislation that enshrines the protection for species at risk

By Tori Ball   Dec 7, 2022

This week, thousands of delegates are in Montreal for COP15, the United Nations biodiversity conference, ready to tackle biodiversity loss around the world.

And global action is desperately needed: The latest research shows one million plant and animal species worldwide are at risk of extinction. Biodiversity is also a key factor in climate change, as critical ecosystems disappearing means losing carbon storage capacity in our old growth, grasslands and peatlands.

I’ll be in the audience, listening to delegates, following the action and representing British Columbia’s interests on an issue critical to our province’s health and wealth.

British Columbia is the most biologically diverse province in Canada. The impact of the extinction crisis is felt deeply here.

Iconic species like the grizzly bear, caribou and spotted owl are among the 512 animal species that are marked right now by the Government of B.C. as at risk of disappearing forever.

Just this fall, footage of tens of thousands of dead salmon in a creek bed on B.C.’s central coast went viral. The devastating salmon die-off, discovered by the Heiltsuk Nation in Neekas Creek, was a direct impact of drought.

Canada says it’s committed to halting and reversing biodiversity loss. But what does that look like in British Columbia? Provincial decision-makers and Indigenous leaders will be the ones to take the plan laid out on the world stage and implement it here at home.

The existing protected area proposals in B.C. will allow us to reach global biodiversity targets, such as protecting 30 per cent of land and waters by the year 2030.

Indigenous communities are already leading the way, expressing a conservation vision for their traditional territories to protect the biodiversity and cultures of the land. Research shows that biodiversity thrives on Indigenous managed lands and waters — something that will be shared by the many Indigenous leaders who will be bringing stories of hope and resilience to Montreal from across the world.

In B.C. alone, there are proposals for nearly 100,000 square kilometres of protected areas. That’s two-and-a-half times the landmass of Vancouver Island. These proposals will allow threatened species to make a comeback, bolster Indigenous rights to land and culture and help us adapt to a rapidly changing climate. The Kaska Dena’s Dene K’éh Kusān is just one of the incredible proposals that is integral to safeguarding intact watersheds and creating a climate refuge for wildlife like caribou and moose.

It’s time that the wishes of a biological diversity haven like B.C. are heard and implemented. A 2022 Nanos poll showed that 70 per cent of British Columbians support the government setting bold nature protection goals, like protecting 30 per cent of lands and waters in Canada by the year 2030.

With a new leadership team taking the helm in Victoria comes a new chapter for decision makers in B.C. To turn the ambitious goals that will be set in Montréal into action here at home, we cannot just talk the talk.

We need to enact legislation that enshrines the protection for species at risk and prioritizes healthy ecosystems. We need to bring our mining laws out of the dark ages. We need to set clear goals on land and ocean protection. We need a coastal marine strategy that ensures marine life and coastal communities get the future they deserve.

And we need to do all of this in alignment with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, following the leadership of the original stewards of the wildlife, lands and waters that we all depend on.

Collaboration across all levels of government is critical, and this global gathering is a major opportunity that can’t be missed. As Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the head of the conference in Montreal put it, “this has the chance to be a Paris Agreement for nature.”

The world will be watching, and so will British Columbians.

Tori Ball is terrestrial conservation manager, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, B.C. chapter.