Burrard Inlet Environmental Indicators Report - the BIEAP and ...

Burrard Inlet Environmental Indicators Report February 2008
Consolidated Environmental Management Plan
Environmental management of such a rich area requires balancing many priorities of the
human population while ensuring clean air, water and habitat for both humans and wildlife. In
addition to the effects of current and future land use, legacies from historic activities have left
their imprint. These include accumulations of contaminants such as heavy metals or organic
compounds (e.g., petroleum products, poly-chlorinated biphenyls [PCBs]), loss of stream and
shoreline habitat, and closure of shellfish harvesting due to fecal coliform levels.
BIEAP’s Consolidated Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) was approved in 2002 and
provides a framework for improving the environmental quality of Burrard Inlet. The four main
goals of the CEMP are to:
• Improve water quality in Burrard Inlet
• Minimize the effects of contaminated soils and sediments on human and ecological
health
• Maintain and enhance productive fish and wildlife habitat and the natural biodiversity of
Burrard Inlet
• Encourage human and economic development activities that enhance the
environmental quality of Burrard Inlet
The Plan consolidates all the environmental
management systems employed by the BIEAP
partners to protect Burrard Inlet. The CEMP will
help ensure that environmental values are
integrated with economic and social considerations
for the Inlet. It establishes a common basis for
reviewing development proposals and recommends
facilitation, research and information sharing to
improve and enhance the Inlet’s ecosystem over
time. A Plan Implementation Committee was
established in 2003 to help implement the CEMP
and monitor its performance.
State of the Burrard Inlet Environment
One of the key commitments of the CEMP is to
prepare a State of Environment report for Burrard
Inlet. In 2004, BIEAP began researching potential
indicators that could be used to describe the status and trends in the Inlet to policy makers,
planners and the general public. Many datasets and 19 distinct indicators were evaluated for
their ability to ‘tell the story’ of Burrard Inlet accurately (reliable dataset, ability to provide
science-based statements on the state of the Inlet) and help the public understand the
interconnected nature of the ecosystem. Although there are a lot of data, they did not always
allow for conclusive, science-based statements to be made. BIEAP settled on seven key
indicators that, taken together, help describe the complex relationship between human actions
and environmental conditions in Burrard Inlet. These indicators will be monitored over time to
assess performance of the CEMP and contribute information to a State of Environment report.
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