Overview

British Columbia (B.C.) legislation includes four different types of protected area designation: provincial parks, conservancies, recreation areas, and ecological reserves. Provincial parks are further divided into several classes and categories, based on their purpose, level of protection, and permitted activities.

The first chart in this section evaluates each of these four designations based on the three ICE characteristics of IPCAs. It also identifies some overall advantages and disadvantages of each designation for IPCA creation.

None of the designations allow for Indigenous leadership in managing IPCAs. However, conservancies are specifically created to address Indigenous interests in conservation and include opportunities for co-management agreements.

Conservancies were introduced in 2006 when Coastal First Nations negotiated a change to the provincial Parks Act. This landmark negotiation ensures priority is given to First Nations’ interests. Areas where parks overlapped with traditional territories of First Nations became conservancies. Conservancies protect cultural heritage and safeguard traditional knowledge and practices.

The B.C. government recently passed the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) into law (2019). This section considers the implications of DRIPA for IPCAs. This section also delves into each of the four protected area designations in more detail. The charts in this section present information on what activities are permitted and prohibited in each area. The charts also outline the process for creating each protected area designation. Additional designations, such as heritage sites and wildland areas, are briefly described.

Opportunities for the establishment and management of IPCAs in British Columbia could be enhanced by the recent provincial Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). DRIPA has three main purposes:

• To confirm that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) applies to the laws of British Columbia;
• To support the implementation of UNDRIP in British Columbia; and
• To recognize, support, and develop relationships with Indigenous governing bodies.

Overall, DRIPA requires the province to work with Indigenous Peoples to ensure that the laws of B.C. are consistent with UNDRIP. This means that B.C.’s laws must align with the sections in UNDRIP that support the creation and management of IPCAs (see relevant UNDRIP provisions in Appendices). It is important to note that DRIPA did not make all UNDRIP enforceable law in the province. Instead, it committed the government to bring existing laws into line with UNDRIP. This process is ongoing.

DRIPA also allows government officials to negotiate and enter into agreements with Indigenous governing bodies. The agreements can offer joint decision-making powers under provincial law or require consent from Indigenous Peoples on provincial land-use decisions. This could allow Indigenous governing bodies to negotiate with the province to collaboratively manage IPCAs that are inclusive of Indigenous authority.

West Coast Environmental Law offers the following recommendations for the provincial government to support Nations that are seeking to create IPCAs within the context of DRIPA:

• Negotiate agreements to recognize, support, and implement IPCAs.
• Negotiate joint or co-governance agreements to recognize and support proposed IPCAs.
• Provide opportunities, support, and capacity development for Nations to move towards full Indigenous governance in the long term.
• Provide opportunities to create or amend agreements, land use plans, and management plans for conservancies, parks, and other protected areas to align with ICE’s definition of IPCAs.

British Columbia also released an action plan that includes a commitment to co-develop policies, programs, and initiatives to advance collaborative stewardship of the land and resources that respects Indigenous knowledge systems.

This will be achieved through collaborative stewardship forums, Guardian programs, land use planning initiatives, and other innovative and evolving partnerships that support land and resource management.

Overview

Under the British Columbia Parks Act, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy (“the Minister”) is responsible for managing three types of protected areas. These include provincial parks, conservancies, and recreation areas.

The Minister has the authority to purchase or acquire land to create or increase the area of a Provincial Park, Conservancy, or Recreation Area.

Parks

By Order in Council, Cabinet can create one of three classes of Provincial Park:

• Class A Park:
  • Class A Parks are “dedicated to the preservation of their natural environments for the inspiration, use, and enjoyment of the public.”
  • The Minister can allow the use of land and natural resources, but only if they believe that this use “is necessary to preserve or maintain the recreational values of the park.”
  • Class A Parks can also be created using the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act, providing them with stronger protection.
• Class B Park
  • Class B Parks support a greater number of recreational activities compared to Class A Parks; the Minister can allow activities that are consistent with the park’s recreational value.
• Class C Park
  • Class C Parks are like Class A Parks; however, they must be managed by a local board. The Minister appoints members of the board.
  • The board must make rules to protect the park. The board can make rules regarding the activities allowed in the park.

The Minister can also assign each Provincial Park to a category that governs permissible activities in the park. Any activities that are inconsistent with the category’s purpose are prohibited. The categories include:

• Category 1
  • Purpose: To preserve the Park’s atmosphere, environment, or ecology.
• Category 2
  • Purpose: To preserve natural features of scientific, historic, or scenic interest and present them to the public.
• Category 3
  • Purpose: To provide the travelling public with enjoyment, convenience, and comfort.
• Category 4
  • Purpose: To provide public recreational opportunities.

• Category 5
  • Purpose: To support public participation in specific recreational opportunities.
• Category 6
  • Purpose: The Park has two or more of the above purposes.

The Minister or Cabinet must enact or amend legislation to decrease the size of a park.

Conservancies

By Order in Council, the Cabinet can create a Conservancy. Like Class A Parks, Conservancies can be created using the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act.

Conservancies can be protected for four purposes:

• The protection and maintenance of biodiversity and the natural environment;
• “The preservation and maintenance of social, ceremonial, and cultural values of First Nations;”
• The protection of recreational values; and
• The sustainable development of natural resources.

Conservancies were included in the Park Act at the request of and in collaboration with First Nations. Conservancies use a co-governance model, where decision-making authority is shared between First Nations and the provincial government.

Two examples of this co-management arrangement are the Kitasoo Spirit Bear Conservancy, managed by the Kitasoo/ Xai’xais Nation, and the Hakai Lúxvbálís Conservancy, managed by the Heiltsuk Nation.

Decision-making in Conservancies is shared. Yet, a clause gives the Minister ultimate decision-making power.

Conservancies were initially proposed as a mechanism to enable Indigenous land uses to continue in protected areas. Conservancies were designed to allow for more flexible activities comparted to Provincial Parks, including some ceremonial and cultural practices.

The following activities are prohibited in Conservancies:

• Commercial logging;
• Mining;
• Non-local hydroelectric power generation; and
• Activities which do not support the purposes of the Conservancy.

Activities can be further controlled using the Conservancy’s management plan.

The Minister or Cabinet must enact or amend legislation to decrease the size of a Conservancy.

Recreation Areas

By Order in Council, Cabinet can create a Recreation Area. While Recreation Areas are considered protected areas, their emphasis on recreation means that they support a greater variety of activities and uses than Provincial Parks or Conservancies.

Designated Wildland Areas

By Order in Council, Cabinet can create a Designated Wildland Area within a Provincial Park, Conservancy, or Recreation Area. A Designated Wildland Area is a roadless location within a protected area that is protected in its “natural condition for the preservation of its…environment and scenic features.” In these areas, no development is allowed and natural resources, excluding fish and wildlife, are protected.

Designated Wildland Areas can also be classified as Ecological Reserves (see below), which provide even stricter protection measures.

Other Protected Areas

Cabinet can provide the Minister with authority over other protected areas through an Order in Council. This means that the Park Act could also apply to any of the following areas:

• Crown Land under the Environment and Land Use Act;
• Greenbelt Land under the Greenbelt Act;
• Heritage Sites under the Heritage Conservation Act; and/or
• Ecological Reserves under the Ecological Reserve Act and the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act

Agreements and Delegation

The Minister can enter into an agreement with a First Nation to ensure that the First Nation can exercise their Aboriginal rights and have access to protected areas for social, ceremonial, and cultural purposes.

The Minister can also enter into an agreement with a First Nation to address “other topics relating to the management” of “all matters concerning” protected areas. While this could, in theory, include land management and resource protection, it is unclear how far the Minister’s authority extends.

The Minister can also appoint a government employee as a Director to assist with the performance of duties and the exercise of powers under the Park Act.

Overview

Under the Ecological Reserve Act, Cabinet can create Ecological Reserves through an Order in Council. Ecological Reserves have the highest degree of ecological protection in B.C: all extractive and consumptive uses are prohibited.

Ecological Reserves can be cancelled by order unless they are protected under the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act. If an Ecological Reserve is protected under this Act, it can only be decreased in size or cancelled through the enactment or amendment of legislation.

Ecological Reserves can be created for ecological purposes, including the following:

• Supporting scientific research and environmental education.
• Protecting representative examples of natural ecosystems.
• Offering examples of ecosystems that have been changed by human activity and providing opportunities to study how they can be restored.
• Providing habitat for rare or endangered native species.
• Displaying unique and rare examples of botanical, zoological, or geological phenomena.

Once an area has been protected as an Ecological Reserve, no one can acquire rights or interests in the area’s land, minerals, coal, petroleum, natural gas, timber, or water.

The Protected Areas of British Columbia Act reinforces the majority of Class A Parks, Conservancies, and Ecological Reserves. By ensuring that the boundaries of these protected areas can only be altered by legislative amendment, their level of protection is strengthened.

Environment and Land Use Act

By Order in Council, Cabinet can create Protected Areas under the Environment and Land Use Act. This Act’s protections are not permanent, but their flexibility can be useful for co-management arrangements with First Nations.

For example, the Huchsduwachsdu Nuyem Jees/Kitlope Heritage Conservancy was originally protected under the Environment and Land Use Act. The Haisla Nation was concerned that protection under the Park Act would not allow for co-management. Once the Conservancy designation was created, the Protected Area was transformed into a Conservancy.

The Environment and Land Use Act continues the Environment and Land Use Committee. This Committee has several responsibilities, including:

• Ensuring that environmental considerations are included in land use and resource development decisions;
• Making recommendations to Cabinet regarding environmental protection, land use, and resource development; and
• Studying environmental and land use matters.

Based on the Committee’s recommendations, Cabinet can make any order it believes is “necessary or advisable” regarding the environment or land use.

Heritage Conservation Act

The purpose of the Heritage Conservation Act is to protect and conserve heritage property in B.C.

Cabinet can create Provincial Heritage Sites through Orders in Council.

Once a Provincial Heritage Site is protected, a permit is required for any activity that might alter the Site.

The Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport (“the Minister”) can enter into an agreement with a First Nation to protect a Heritage Site.

These agreements can include a list of Heritage Sites “that are of particular spiritual, ceremonial or other cultural value” to ensure that sites protected by First Nations are also protected under the Heritage Conservation Act. Cabinet must approve the agreement.

Wildlife Act

With Cabinet’s permission, through a regulation, the Minister of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship (“the Minister”) can create a Wildlife Management Area under the Wildlife Act. Any activities that can harm wildlife or their habitat are prohibited in a Wildlife Management Area.

Within a Wildlife Management Area, the Minister can create Critical Wildlife Areas, which protect habitat for endangered or threatened species, and Wildlife Sanctuaries, which prohibit any hunting, trapping, wounding, or killing of wildlife. The Minister must consult with First Nations when creating new Wildlife Management Areas and when developing or updating management plans.

Once an Area has been protected, wildlife habitat cannot be altered, destroyed, or damaged without a permit. The Regional Manager can also make orders prohibiting people from engaging in specific activities in Wildlife Management Areas.

Greenbelt Act

Under the Greenbelt Act, by Order in Council, Cabinet can create Greenbelt Land, and purchase or acquire land for this purpose.

The Minister of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship (“the Minister”) is responsible for managing Greenbelt Land.

While Greenbelt Land is protected by order, the Minister can lease it if they have the permission of Cabinet and the lease is consistent with “the continued existence, nature and use of the land” as Greenbelt Land.