Nature-based Solutions for addressing climate risks and fostering biodiversity in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia

Climate change and habitat loss are two intersecting issues facing communities and ecosystems in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland. In response to increasingly severe weather, municipalities have invested heavily in engineered defences like floodgates, dikes, and breakwalls, resulting in a profound loss of aquatic and riparian habitat. These lost ecosystems were once critical to local wildlife and provided water management services like flood mitigation and water filtration. Nature-based Solutions offer a unique opportunity to simultaneously address heightened climate risks and habitat loss by using a framework that values the benefits that intact ecosystems provide to human society. Our report highlights the services that Nature-based Solutions can provide, namely, flood mitigation, stormwater management, and carbon sequestration, while discussing successes and challenges associated with their implementation across the Lower Mainland. First, we introduce Surrey’s living dike in Boundary Bay, part of the city’s broader Coastal Flooding Adaptation Strategy. The living dike aims to address heightened coastal flood risk by incorporating components of a natural salt marsh into its design. This design will provide quality estuarine and riparian habitat for migratory birds and salmon in addition to creating a more climate resilient shoreline. Second, we highlight the City of Vancouver’s St. George Rainway project. Located in the heart of the Mt. Pleasant neighbourhood in Vancouver, the project will restore a buried creek along St. George Street. The restored creek will create urban stream habitat, filter pollutants from runoff, and improve rainwater management. This process, known colloquially as “daylighting,” is a new approach to urban rainwater management that values the ecological, economic, and social benefits of urban green space. Lastly, we place a spotlight on the protection of Burns Bog, a Nature-based Solution that foregoes active restoration. By protecting the bog in its current state, carbon remains locked in its soils and plants, actively mitigating climate change. Burns Bog is also an internationally significant stopover site for migratory birds, and contains a myriad of unique plant species found nowhere else in the Lower Mainland. Nearby communities also benefit from the water filtering services it provides, as well as its ability to mitigate flooding.

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