What is Protected Already?
The special nature of the Islands Trust Area and the escalating pressures it faces motivate a number of conservation agencies to focus their efforts on protecting the islands. Federal, provincial, and regional government agencies, the Islands Trust Fund and its local partners all play a role in permanently protecting biodiversity.
Terrestrial Protected Areas
As of 2010. approximately 16.5% of the terrestrial landscape in the Islands Trust area was protected, including parks, nature reserves, nature sanctuaries, ecological reserves, conservation covenants and heritage forest lands.
The Islands Trust Fund’s protected areas account for 8% of the total protected land in the islands. |
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Marine protected Areas
As of 2010, approximately 12.5% of the marine environment within the Islands Trust area was under some form of protection. The majority of that protection is in Rockfish Conservation Areas with limited restrictions on recreational fishing and some commercial fishing. Provincial and Federal Marine Protected Areas account for only 1.5% of the marine area.
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Land trusts like the Islands Trust Fund can’t permanently protect marine areas. However, they can work with landowners and local government to protect coastal ecosystems by preventing foreshore development from damaging sensitive marine habitats. |
Regional Conservation Plan
The Islands Trust Fund analyzed the types of ecosystems already protected in the islands to identify a set of Biodiversity Priorities - ecosystem features that are still under-represented in protected areas in the islands. The Islands Trust Fund's Regional Conservation Plant focuses on these Biodiversity Priorities to create its goals and objectives for the next five years. More information can be found in the Islands Trust Fund’s Regional Conservation Plan.
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