Two Governments Bid to Save Canadian Bog
VANCOUVER, Canada, April 2, 2001 (ENS) - The largest domed peat bog on the west coast of North America could be permanently protected if a financial offer made by Canadian and British Columbia governments is accepted.
The announcement made by federal and provincial government ministers Saturday is worth C$105 million (US$66.5 million) and includes the creation of new parks in B.C.'s southern Gulf Islands.
Spread over 12 islands, the Gulf Islands National Reserve will total about 1,200 hectares (2,965 acres).
In addition, both governments have put up funding to purchase the mostly privately owned Burns Bog. The bog lies south of Vancouver and covers about 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of the Fraser River delta between the south arm of the Fraser River and Boundary Bay.
Its size and biological diversity have earned it the description of "lungs of the Lower Mainland," the geographic term given to Vancouver and its suburbs. In a broader context, the bog is a carbon sink, absorbing greenhouse gas pollutants such as carbon and methane.
But the bog's future has long been uncertain. As far back as the 1970s, the provincial government has been involved in discussions with private landowners on the potential purchase of at least part of Burns Bog. Almost two thirds of the bog, about 2,200 hectares (5,500 acres), is now owned by development company Delta Fraser Properties Partnership.
According to Environment Canada, Burns Bog is globally unique on the basis of its size, chemistry and plant life. It is home to more than 200 species of birds, including the great blue heron, Greater Vancouver's largest population of bald eagles and the threatened greater sandhill crane.
Mammals at the bog include the red fox, black tailed deer, black bear, porcupine, bobcat, beaver, snowshoe hare, spotted skunk, the northwestern jumping mouse and the rare southern red backed vole.
But animal life is only part of Burns Bog's story. Bogs are a type of wetlands where peat accumulates. Over thousands of years, sphagnum mosses, leaves and roots accumulate faster than they can be decomposed, and peat forms.
This peat supports unique plant communities able to thrive in waterlogged, acid and nutrient-poor conditions. Only 17 percent of Canada's original wetlands remain and B.C. contains one percent of the country's total wetlands.
Besides moss unique to Burns Bog, there are a variety of rare insect species, including two sub-arctic species of the Blue Darner dragonfly. Several nationally and provincially listed species of wildlife including the Pacific water shrew live in Burns Bog.
Where flora has been left undisturbed, plants reach extremes of adaptation such as dwarfed pines, insect eating plants and acid producing mosses. But undisturbed areas of Burns Bog are scarce and constantly under threat.
Forty per cent of the original bog area has been lost to development and more than half the remaining bog has been disturbed by human activities. The bog is cut off from adjacent natural ecosystems by urban, industrial and agricultural development.
While peat has been extracted from the bog since the 1940s and roads have encroached on its boundaries, Burns Bog has been subject to more dramatic threats in recent years.
In 1988, Western Delta Property Corporation (WDPC) proposed building an industrial complex that would have included dredging and channelling parts of the bog to allow ships access from the Fraser River.
The plan led to the formation of the Burns Bog Committee, which helped the citizens of the nearby town of Delta to defeat the proposal.
Two years ago, B.C. Minister of Small Business, Tourism and Culture Ian Waddell announced a "win win" plan devised with new landowner Delta Fraser Property Partnership to relocate Vancouver's annual fair, the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE), from the city's east side to Burns Bog.
Environmental groups were quick to seize upon the irony of moving the PNE from Vancouver's Hastings Park, which was being reclaimed as wild space, to Burns Bog, one of the largest surviving urban wildernesses in North America.
The 1,012 hectare (2,500 acre) development proposal, which was eventually rejected, included a theme park, shops, movie studios, industrial lands, an amphitheatre, a residential development and acres of parking. In exchange for the development, Delta Fraser Property Partnership offered 1,215 hectares (3,000 acres) of the bog as a "nature preserve."
Local environmental groups claim cranberry and blueberry farming on the fringes of the bog add minerals and nutrients to groundwater, favouring the growth of non bog species.
Golf courses have also been proposed for the area. While appearing green, the fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides needed to create a golf course are not compatible with the bog's ecosystem, say environmental groups, such as the Burns Bog Conservation Society.
To top off the list of threats, the bog is home to the largest garbage dump west of Toronto, Ontario. Almost a quarter of B.C.'s solid waste is trucked into the dump daily, amounting to 500,000 tonnes of garbage a year.
According to the Burns Bog Conservation Society, the City of Vancouver makes C$22 million (US$14 million) in profit annually from the garbage dump, in addition to free dumping privileges.
In April 2000, the Burns Bog Ecosystem Review Synthesis Report concluded that 2,450 hectares (6,054 acres) are required to preserve the ecological integrity of Burns Bog and to sustain its distinct processes and life forms.
Talks over the future of Burns Bog began this week between government officials and Delta Fraser Properties Partnership.
In a statement, both provincial and federal government said the funding commitments would allow the province to proceed with a formal purchase offer, based on current appraised values, to acquire the Burns Bog.
"Details of the partnership contributions will be made public if and when a purchase offer is accepted and the purchase is completed," said the statement.
"This announcement brings us one step closer to achieving a long time personal goal of mine - ensuring permanent protection for Burns Bog," said Waddell, who is now B.C. Environment Minister.
"This biodiversity package is one of the most significant conservation announcements for private and public land that has ever occurred in North America," said Peart.
"We congratulate both governments for making this major commitment. Today's announcement illustrates how a cooperative approach to federal-provincial relationships can lead to success on such a key issue as the environment."