No place for Gulf Islands urban planning approach

As Earth Day 2021 approaches on April 22, the continuing failure of governments at all levels to substantively address climate change, particularly when it comes to protecting forests, stands in stark contrast to said governments' rhetorical posturing.

In 2019, the Islands Trust issued a “climate emergency declaration” that committed them to “intensifying … efforts to better match the urgency of the climate change emergency.” Unfortunately, meaningful action associated with this declaration has yet to materialize.

Considering that coastal Douglas fir ecosystems within the Islands Trust area store 82 per cent more carbon and have 43 per cent higher carbon sequestration potential than other parts of the region, ecosystem protection must be prioritized as a climate change response.

The Gulf Islands represent 33.2 per cent of the provincial extent of coastal Douglas fir forests and associated habitats, which are among the most biodiverse in the province. Yet, this region is also the most degraded. According to the B.C. Conservation Data Centre, there are 43 ecological communities at risk within the coastal Douglas fir zone. Even prior to the current climate and biodiversity crisis, the Islands Trust was uniquely mandated to “preserve and protect” the habitats and ecosystems of the trust islands and ensure the sustainability of their communities.

An Oxford University publication from 2019 stated that coastal regions, islands and ecosystems “exist in a delicate balance at the land-sea interface,” making them exceptionally vulnerable to climate change impacts. The loss, degradation and conversion of native habitats, forest canopy, forest understory and wetlands reduces water storage, perpetuates water shortages, increases soil desiccation and erosion, increases flood and fire risk, increases temperatures and heat waves, perpetuates declines in biodiversity and weakens community resilience.

A Nature series publication last month expanded on the implications from such risks, noting that habitat and climate-induced threats to biodiversity could have ripple effects from extinctions that can cascade beyond just a single species, impacting whole food webs and services that humans rely on. In light of the fundamental need for functioning food webs and the regional, national and international recognition of a global climate and biodiversity crisis, the Trust needs to act.

The loss of forest habitat on Trust Islands is occurring because, despite the Trust's “preserve and protect” mandate, there are few to no constraints on the development of single- or multi-unit properties, footprint of houses, or house amenities, nor are there limits on the extent of habitat conversion per lot, the extent of impervious surfaces, limits on water and other resource demands, limits on extensive tree removal, or limits to development and growth on finite islands.

As part of the trust policy statement review process, Raincoast Conservation Foundation submitted a document reminding the Islands Trust that there is no place for a pro-development, urban planning approach in the Gulf Islands, which by definition are rural and by law were intended to be protected and managed for ecological and conservation value above all else. Whether “green” or not, more development is not the answer to mitigating climate change and creating ecological resilience on the Gulf Islands. Developers and development interests often exploit climate change, using it as an excuse to keep building in rural landscapes and green spaces, which should serve as regional refugia, and not be subject to further incursion.

The trust council needs to follow through on its climate emergency declaration. Making such commitments without active implementation of substantive mitigative action renders the declaration a public relations exercise. Arguments can be made that most islands have reached their development limits and additional anthropogenic pressure will exacerbate the climate-change-related issues the trust claims it has prioritized. The policy statement in its current form leaves too much open for interpretation and, despite a plethora of commitments and recommendations, very little is actionable.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we have nine years to avoid the impacts of 1.5 C global warming above pre-industrial levels. The trust must move toward implementing innovative environmental policies in collaboration with island communities, First Nations, scientists and policy experts. Land use and policy decisions affecting the rural landscapes of the Gulf Islands cannot continue to be shaped by urban planning perspectives. These decisions should be filtered through an ecological lens.

The most recent trust council meeting demonstrated a pervasive hesitancy to fully commit to the trust's mandate and instilled little hope that consequential climate action will be taken. Time is running out as business-as-usual practices strip the Gulf Islands of its forests and ecological resilience.

The time for political bravery is now.