Biodiversity 

Over 375 species of birds, of which more than 315 breed in B.C. Over 165 mammal species, terrestrial and marine. Over 500 species of fish, including about 160 freshwater fish that inhabit streams, rivers and lakes, and hundreds more marine fish species in coastal waters.

Ecosystem diversity

B.C. covers 95 million hectares, and its ecosystems include:  

• Coastal rainforests 

• Dry interior grasslands 

• Alpine tundra 

• Northern boreal forests 

• Coastal waters of the intertidal and subtidal zones 

• Salt marshes ​

• Thousands of wetlands

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 The Seashore

The Seashore is where land meets the sea, and like Coastland habitats these are also transition zones, where terrestrial species may occasionally live.

Every shoreline can be broken into 3 main zones relating to tidal coverage.

1. Splash (Supralittoral) Zone is located above the high tide mark and is regularly splashed by waves and sea spray but is rarely submerged in water.

2. Intertidal (Littoral) Zone is the area between high and low tide. It is divided into an upper, middle, and lower shore.

3. Subtidal zone is the area of seabed that extends seaward from the low tide mark and is always submerged underwater. It is not strictly part of the intertidal zone, apart from an area known as the subtidal fringe which is only exposed during the lowest spring tides.

In the Intertidal Zone, the tide comes in and goes out twice a day. The habitats found in this zone are classified by the material the seashore is made up of i.e., rock or sediment. Wildlife in these environs must show resilience and adapt to extreme changes in temperature, light, salinity levels, weather conditions and the possibility of drying out.

Habitats found on the Intertidal Zone include:

Rocky Shores/ Sand Shores/ Mud Shores / Sea caves/ Shingle and gravel shores

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Clam Garden Restoration project

From 2014 to 2019, Parks Canada, the W̱SÁNEĆ Nation and the Hul’q’umi’num Nations participated in the Clam Garden Restoration project. 

Clam gardens are ancient sites along shorelines in W̱SÁNEĆ territory that Indigenous people tended for thousands of years to enhance the production of clams and related sea creatures. Clams were an important source of protein for W̱SÁNEĆ people. The Clam Restoration project spent 5 years working to restore clam gardens in W̱SÁNEĆ territory. In addition to improving the ecology of two clam gardens, the project also aimed to reclaim W̱SÁNEĆ knowledge, practices and culture related to clam gardens.

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The Sea Garden initiative is also intended to ensure it is safe and healthy to harvest from sea gardens, as well as simplifying the current shellfish testing process. Currently, all requests to test shellfish must be channeled through the cumbersome trifecta of DFO, the Canadian Food and Testing Agency, and Environment Climate Change, which form the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program.

Ally is excited to continue the work begun in phase one, “I think this is an incredibly powerful collaborative and inspiring project. It’s changed how the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve works” shares Stocks.

To stay up to date on this project, and to ensure you get notified about participating in onsite visits to the Sea Gardens, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter.

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Natural resource management

Natural resource management can be used as a specialized tool for the development of ecotourism. There are several places throughout the world where several natural resources are abundant, but with human encroachment and habitats, these resources are depleting. Without the sustainable use of certain resources, they are destroyed, and floral and fauna species are becoming extinct. Ecotourism programs can be introduced for the conservation of these resources. Several plans and proper management programs can be introduced so that these resources remain untouched, and there are many organizations–including nonprofits–and scientists working on this field.

Natural resources of hill areas like Kurseong in West Bengal are plenty in number with various flora and fauna, but tourism for business purpose poised the situation. Researchers from Jadavpur University are presently working in this area for the development of ecotourism to be used as a tool for natural resource management.

In Southeast Asia government and nongovernmental organizations are working together with academics and industry operators to spread the economic benefits of tourism into the kampungs and villages of the region. A recently formed alliance, the South-East Asian Tourism Organization (SEATO), is bringing together these diverse players to discuss resource management concerns.

A 2002, summit held in Quebec led to the 2008 Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria–a collaborative effort between the UN Foundation and other advocacy groups. The criteria, which are voluntary, involve the following standards: "effective sustainability planning, maximum social and economic benefits for local communities, minimum negative impacts on cultural heritage, and minimum negative impacts on the environment.'[full citation needed]There is no enforcing agency or system of punishments for summit.

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Impact on indigenous people and indigenous land

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Valorization of the Indigenous territories can be important for designation as a protected area, which can deter threats such as deforestation.Ecotourism can help bring in revenue for Indigenous peoples.

However, there needs to be a proper business plan and organizational structure, which helps to ensure that the generated money from ecotourism indeed flows towards the Indigenous peoples themselves, and the protection of the Indigenous territory.Debates around ecotourism focus on how profits off of Indigenous lands are enjoyed by international tourist companies, who do not share back with the people to whom those lands belong. Ecotourism offers a tourist-appealing experience of the landscape and environment, one that is different from the experience of the residents; it commodifies the lives of Indigenous people and their land which is not fair to its inhabitants.

Indigenous territories are managed by governmental services (i.e. FUNAI in Brazil,...) and these governmental services can thus decide whether or not to implement ecotourism in these Indigenous territories.

Ecotourism can also bring in employment to the local people (which may be Indigenous people). Protected areas for instance require park rangers, and staff to maintain and operate the ecolodges and accommodation used by tourists. Also, the traditional culture can act as a tourist attraction, and can create a source of revenue by asking payment for the showing of performances (i.e., traditional dance, ...Ecotourism can also help mitigate deforestation that happens when local residents, under economic stress, clear lands and create smallholder plots to grow cash crops.[51] Such land clearing hurts the environment. Ecotourism can be a sustainable and job-creating alternative for local populations.

Depending on how protected areas are set up and handled, it can lead to local people losing their homes, usually with no compensation. Pushing people onto marginal lands with harsh climates, poor soils, lack of water, and infested with livestock and disease does little to enhance livelihoods even when a proportion of ecotourism profits are directed back into the community. Harsh survival realities and deprivation of traditional use of land and natural resources by local people can occur. Local Indigenous people may also feel strong resentment towards the change, especially if tourism has been allowed to develop with virtually no controls. Without sufficient control mechanisms, too many lodges may be built, and tourist vehicles may drive off-track and harass the wildlife. Vehicle use may erode and degrade the land".

There is a longstanding failure by the Peruvian government to acknowledge and protect Indigenous lands, and therefore the Indigenous peoples have been forced to protect their own land. The land has a better chance of staying safe and free from deforestation if the people who care about the land are the ones maintaining it.