Whereas communities of British Columbia are dependent on healthy, ecologically diverse, functioning ecosystems upstream from Official Community Plan areas for services such as drinking water, stormwater management, erosion control, pollinator protection for food systems, infrastructure asset management and climate resilience; And whereas provincial ministries often consider applications to make private or industrial use of provincial public land independently of each other and do not have or apply sufficient regulatory frameworks for ensuring long term ecological resilience such as integrated multidisciplinary land use planning or cumulative effects analysis before authorizing applications for use: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development to develop and implement integrated, multidisciplinary multi-ministry land use planning and cumulative effects analysis tools to be applied to long term planning at the watershed scale and to individual applications to make private use of provincial public lands, with the goal of restoring and mitigating further damage to ecological resilience and protecting public infrastructure assets for the long term.
Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operatons and Rural Development The Province of BC established a Cumulative Effects Framework CEF in 2014 to assess and manage cumulative effects across natural resource activities and support the integration of assessment results in decision-making across the different natural resource ministries. Updated reports and information on the CEF can be found online. https:www2.gov.bc.cagovcontentenvironmentnatural-resource-stewardshipcu… The Ministry leads the development and implementation of the CEF and is actively working on assessments and reporting for several key values across the province Grizzly Bear, Aquatic Ecosystems, Moose, Forest Biodiversity and Old Growth as well as additional values at a regional scale e.g. Marbled Murrelet on Vancouver Island and the South Coast. Additionally, the Ministry is working on guidance to help decision-makers apply these assessments in decision-making at both the operational level e.g. land use authorizations and strategic level. Online tools to support decision-making and communication of assessment results are being developed provincially and regionally. As an example, the South Coast Region has developed an online Stewardship Baseline Objectives tool SBOT https:www2.gov.bc.cagovcontentenvironmentnatural-resource-stewardshipre… that communicates baseline information and stewardship objectives for priority resource values in the region. Since 2018, the Ministry has also led the development of Modernized Land Use Planning projects across BC in partnership with Indigenous governments and engaging with communities, local government, industry and other stakeholders. Local governments are recognized as having a unique role and perspective in land use planning and decision-making processes related to provincial public lands within, and bordering, their jurisdictional boundaries. As such, direct engagement is occurring with local governments early in the planning process to help determine the appropriate level of involvement in land use plan development. Land use plans set the strategic direction to guide sustainable resource stewardship and management of provincial public land and waters to meet economic, environmental, social, and cultural objectives. These plans set high-level direction and help define what can occur on the land base in consideration of all sectors and activities proposed, planned and approved. Key drivers of land use planning include: - Reconciliation with Indigenous communities and the BC governments commitment to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. - Ensuring communities and stakeholders are engaged in land and resource planning. - A growing economy and increased demand on natural resources and the need to balance economic, environmental, social, and cultural objectives. - Increasing complexity as a result of climate change and factors that affect the land base, including species-at-risk management, wildfires, flooding, and drought. - Addressing cumulative effects on natural resource values. Land use planning focuses on priority areas in the province to resolve current land use and resource management challenges including: - Mitigating and managing cumulative effects; - Coordinating development activities across multiple sectors; - Identification and protection of cultural resources; - Coordination and collaboration in land use zoning; and - Forecasted scenarios and impacts from climate change on ecosystems. Land use planning builds on past planning efforts, supports ongoing stewardship initiatives, and capitalizes on new opportunities in response to emerging challenges in the management of BCs public lands and natural resources. Cumulative effects assessments will be a key input into land use planning processes by providing information on the current state of important values, such as where core security habitat for grizzly bear may be lacking, or where there are risks to properly functioning aquatic habitat due to human disturbance. For more detailed information on the current Land Use Plans, please go to the LUP Engagement Platform at: https:landuseplanning.gov.bc.ca