Add Gabriola to marine conservation area?
From the Daily News: Council considers adding watershed to park.
City council members in Nanaimo are considering endorsing the inclusion of the Nanaimo River watershed and the coastal waters around Gabriola Island into a new and large marine park being established in the southern Gulf Islands.
But councillors decided more information is required and work completed before any final decisions are made to support the inclusion of the areas as the northern boundary of the Southern Strait of Georgia National Marine Conservation Area. [continue]
(Previously on this topic: Protecting the waters around Gabriola.)
Filed in environment,Gabriola Island One Response so far
One Response to “Add Gabriola to marine conservation area?”
Sheila M on 25 Jul 2012 at 5:11 pm #
The southern waters of Gabriola, Mudge & the Flattops ARE included already, since they have the highest ecological values. The Gabriola Local Trust Committee lobbied hard in 2005 to have the area expanded to include these places (previously, it was just close to the US border that was proposed for special marine protection). Here’s the map as it is proposed now by Parks Canada: http://www.pc.gc.ca/progs/amnc-nmca/cnamnc-cnnmca/dgs-ssg/itm2-/index_e.asp
The Official Community Plan supported that area getting special protection.
Personally, I think we should stick with the areas now proposed (Dodd Narrows, Gabriola Passage, waters southeast of Gabriola), argue that they should NOW be included in a National Marine Conservation Area (the federal proposal now is to start with just Saturna/Mayne/Pender Island waters), and see how it works out; we can include the rest of Gabriola’s coastline if we like how it turns out.
I have heard that if the proposed area keeps expanding, we will have to choose what else gets left out – ie the feds aren’t going to create a mega-marine park, and asking for too much risks what we’ve got already…
Much more info is here: http://www.pc.gc.ca/progs/amnc-nmca/cnamnc-cnnmca/dgs-ssg/images/SSG-Update-Spring-2012.pdf (it is 3mb)
Web: http://www.parkscanada.ca/straitofgeorgia
Email: straitofgeorgianmca@pc.gc.ca (that’s a good place to send input now)