BC harbours the greatest levels of biodiversity in Canada, with over 70% of Canada’s mammal, bird and non-vascular plant species. The rich ecosystems of BC serve as economic engines for the province and are of high cultural importance to many Indigenous communities and BC residents. However, our biodiversity is threatened and undergoing changes, and despite high effort our knowledge is fragmented among many interest groups, leaving us unprepared to steward its protection.
The 30 x 30 challenge has catalyzed action and investment in BC on the habitat protection and associated monitoring to meaningfully protect biodiversity. After unprecedented growth in biodiversity programs, we now face the challenges of having a secure, accessible, culturally sensitive system for making the most of these investments into the future. Interest in biodiversity trends will only continue to grow, and our ability to meet challenges of policy changes, conservation and prioritization will continue to require trustworthy data on biodiversity and how it has changed. We currently have no system to support this across sectors in BC.
BC has a wealth of biodiversity expertise, including communities that rely on natural resources and tourism, scientists in academia, government, non-profits in the environmental sector and over 200 First Nations with traditional and place-based knowledge. It is time to create a network to enhance data and knowledge sharing to galvanize biodiversity-smart actions across sectors at scales from local to provincial.
