As people all around the world mark World Nature Conservation Day on July 28, now is the perfect time to explore some of the amazing parks and protected areas in your area of the world, or to plan a visit around them.
The Southern Gulf Islands region is home to many full-time residents as well as vacation homes and holiday accommodations, but it’s also home to the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. Created in 2003 to become Canada’s 40th national park, it covers 36 square kilometres (14 sq mi) of area on 16 islands and more than 30 islets, reefs and surrounding waters.
Parts of the park are easily accessible by road and others feature boat-in-only picnic sites and campgrounds. From hiking to wildlife watching to ocean paddling adventures, this is the spot to be. Saturna Island is especially blessed, as the park reserve covers half of its land mass. East Point on Saturna Island is a great location for watching marine mammals from shore, including frequent visits from killer whales during the summer.
Visit this page to see Parks Canada staff favourite activities in the park.
The Gulf Islands National Park Reserve is protected under federal legislation; Canadian provinces and territories are also active in conserving lands and waters.
According to the official count, British Columbia has 1,036 provincial parks, recreation areas, conservancies, ecological reserves and protected areas covering more than 14 million hectares, or approximately 14.4% of the provincial land base. The majority (629) of provincial parks in the system are Class A – lands dedicated for the preservation of their natural environment and for public use and enjoyment.
New projects are joining the list of conservation efforts. One that we’re looking forward to is a new 143-hectare Class A park being established nearby, near the Koksilah River in Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley. The Province of British Columbia announced the park as part of new funding for parks and conservation areas last fall. The land is home to pocket grasslands and old-growth forest that provide important habitat for vulnerable wildlife species.
The area was purchased by the Province in 2018, but it has been used by the Cowichan people since time immemorial and is of spiritual and cultural importance. Certain grasses are still used in spiritual practices today and are found only in this unique grassland ecosystem. Cowichan Tribes identified the name of the new park as Hwsalu-utsum (whSALA-utsum) in the Hul’q’umi’num (hull-kuh-mee-num) language.
New conservation wins will potentially be ready to celebrate soon. The Canadian government has committed to creating 10 new national parks and 10 new national marine conservation areas in the next five years, working with Indigenous communities on co-management agreements for each one.
The federal government has additionally said it will create 15 new urban parks by 2030 to ensure all Canadians have access to green space, and will conserve 25% of land and inland waters and 25% of marine and coastal areas by 2025, working toward 30% of each by 2030.