Metro Vancouver completed a sensitive ecosystem inventory in 2013. Sensitive ecosystems include areas such as old and mature forests, waterways, estuaries, and wetlands. The following map shows these sensitive ecosystems.
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| A map of ecosystems in Metro Vancouver. Select map to enlarge. Source: Metro Vancouver. |
This ecosystem inventory was recently updated with an eye to see what loss has occurred in these ecosystems. The update looked at both losses in the regional core, and throughout the whole region. The regional core is the area that is hashed in the following map.
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| A map showing the Metro Vancouver Regional Core which is hashed. Select map to enlarge. Source: Metro Vancouver. |
The three sensitive ecosystem types with the greatest loss in the regional core were mature forests where 223 hectares (2.9%) has been lost, 122 hectares (1.8%) of wetlands has been lost, and 74 hectares (0.9%) of riparian river bank area has been lost to development. To put this into perspective, the loss is three times the size of all parkland in Langley City. The following pictures show an example of this loss.
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| An example of riparian loss. Select image to enlarge. Source: Metro Vancouver. |
Not all areas where loss occurred provided the same ecosystem services; some areas have higher value than others. Metro Vancouver will be performing further analysis to quantify the loss based on ecosystem quality, and by sub-region.
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| An example of a high-quality ecosystem. Select image to enlarge. Source: Metro Vancouver. |
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| An example of a low-quality ecosystem. Select image to enlarge. Source: Metro Vancouver. |
This further analysis will be extremely useful for governments throughout our region, allowing them to focus on protecting and enhancing high-quality, sensitive ecosystems to prevent further loss.
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