Wildlife stewardship planning documents

Provincial wildlife stewardship frameworks and regional wildlife stewardship plans are part of B.C.’s wildlife stewardship planning process. These documents are intended to provide guidance to managers and decision makers to ensure healthy and thriving wildlife populations and habitats.

Provincial stewardship frameworks generally include the best available information, at time of publication, describing how species interact with other species and their habitats, threats to populations and habitat, potential management tools, and broad (e.g., general) goals and/or objectives that describe the desired condition for the species. Regional stewardship plans are more specific to local conditions and may include quantitative goals and/or objectives, more targeted guidance for management, and planned management actions.

The wildlife stewardship planning process focuses on priority species that are classified by the Conservation Data Centre as secure, apparently secure, or of special concern in B.C. To learn more about recovery planning for endangered or threatened species, and some animals of special concern, review the species and ecosystems at risk recovery documents.

To date, wildlife stewardship planning has focused on species that are of cultural and social significance, and/or are hunted or trapped. While these documents have historically relied primarily on a western science perspective, the Province is working together with First Nations to transform the management and stewardship of waters, lands, and resources. Future wildlife stewardship planning processes, and those underway, are more collaborative and inclusive of First Nations’ values, perspectives, knowledge, and governance authorities.