I have this recurring dream about coastlines, where all the coasts I’ve lived on and visited are all just a short boat ride away from each other, nestled within BC. Instead of their disbursement around the world, like seeds in the wind, they’re all here. Maybe my subconscious pieces this puzzle together because of BC’s enormity, with over 25,725 kilometres of it, it’s as if it feels there is truly room for all of these disparate places. In reality, even thinking about traversing every (walkable..) mile of the whole coastline in BC seems incomprehensible..
However, what is tangible is the integral role coastlines play in our existence. According to WCEL, they are paramount for maintaining biodiversity and liveable coastal communities: “providing critical habitat, water quality protection, food and medicinal plants for harvesting, lessening of coastal erosion, resilience to climate change, and flood regulation. Perhaps less well known is that coastal ecosystems also play an important role in long-term carbon storage and sequestration. Protected and restored coastal ecosystems provide multiple benefits to coastal communities, such as flood protection, tourism and recreation” (pictured here )
British Columbia currently does not have a Coastal Protection Plan (CPA), making it one of the only coastal jurisdictions in North America without a united plan and law to protect it. The vitality of this province is inextricably connected to the coast, where some of us retreat to with our morning coffee and glean seaweed, and where others dream of travelling to more frequently in different times. No matter our orientation, the BC coastline is a ribbon that bonds this blue and green world and makes our way of life possible.
The recently re-elected NDP government has promised to develop a new strategy to protect coastal habitat, and they have just identified leaders in government who will work together to construct a coastal strategy. Now, we need to keep holding our government accountable by calling for the development of a robust plan that will protect and regenerate British Columbia’s iconic coastline, with far-reaching social, climate, cultural and economic benefits.
So, we can support the development of a CPA in BC by writing to our MLA’s (find yours here: https://www.leg.bc.ca/learn-about-us/members) and letting them know this issue is important to u,. Hon. Josie Osborne is our MLA for the Mid Island-Pacific Rim. We can all also learn more about a BC CPA by visiting Blueprint for BC (link in bio), an initiative put forward by CPAWS and WCEL. We need this for the people of today, and those of tomorrow. For all the biotic and abiotic beings, that, together, make this province so spectacular, an apprized ornament on the holiday tree of earth.