A new parks biodiversity plan will serve to identify biodiversity value in parks and evaluate what parks are most at risk of damage due to invasive plants.
The plan was given the thumbs up at RDN's committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday, March 18, but will still need approval during a regular meeting before being implemented.
"The intended plan is to provide a step-by-step process to manage invasive species and restoration within the regional and community parks," said Tom Osborne, RDN general manager for recreation and parks. "This will create a holistic approach in improving biodiversity and condition in ecosystems within our park ecosystem."
According to a staff report, with this plan regional staff will be better prepared to improve, enhance and restore natural areas within the regional and community parks system, including maintaining a diversity of landscape, protecting areas of ecological significance and a providing a diversity of outdoor recreational opportunities.
Kaitlin Fader, parks operations coordinator, told the board that the invasive species noted in the plan are mainly plants, but staff would like the plan to build more capacity to find ways to support tackling invasive animal species in the future, too.
"Invasive plants are certainly something we can regulate and manage as a regional district because they're on the actual land and don't cross jurisdictions," Fader said. "When it comes to different animals, insects and even aquatic plant species, it tends to fall under a different jurisdiction which is often the province. To that extent we can support efforts for things like managing aquatic invasive species or faunal invasive species, however the easiest thing for us to target right now is invasive plants and that's the biggest bang for our buck."
The plan has 13 action deliverables with a timetable, with this year's projects mainly focused on data collection. Starting this year, the district will begin compiling an invasive species data set, prioritizing parks with no recorded invasive species, and 'field verify' parks with high biodiversity ratings as well as parks with high risk due to invasive species.
"This is our first kick at the can for exploring what kind of biodiversity features we have in our park system as well as the potential threats and risks to those biodiversity features," Fader said. "We're still gathering information, but our intention is to have this as a living plan where we can work with the different jurisdictions to continually improve it, update it and add more information."
Also in 2025, the district will organize or participate in regional conferences and seminars directed at sharing information on restoration, invasive species management and inter-governmental collaboration, as well as host stewardship workshops and information sessions to educate on best practices and other topics of interest.
Starting in 2026, the district will establish an invasive species management policy and standard operating procedure for parks operations staff, develop a park planting specifications guide, promote best management practices and develop a volunteer and stewardship action plan for regional parks. In 2027, the district will begin regular updates and engage in citizen science initiatives that contributes to the collection of biodiversity and invasive species information.
Actions planned for 2025 have been developed to integrate within the approved 2025-29 financial plan. Future action items are planned to incorporated into the 2026-30 financial plan.
"The intention with the parks biodiversity plan is to give us a framework to apply the correct strategy for managing to protect certain features," Fader said. "I'm not suggesting that we eradicate Scotch broom and the list of invasive species from our entire parks system, but it's more recognizing, 'Hey there's Scotch broom in an area that is extremely at risk of being taken over with Scotch broom. Is there a methodology that we can do to eradicate Scotch broom in a certain area so that it doesn't impact something, for example a riparian area or a Garry oak ecosystem?"
Nanaimo director Ben Geselbracht gave the plan his support, saying it is important to prioritize limited resources and leverage volunteer capacity. Another Nanaimo director speaking in support was Paul Manly.
"I know that the volunteers in our area are very enthusiastic about our parks and about maintaining them and ensuring that the invasive species don't take over and damage them," he said. "I really appreciate that and I'm looking forward to that effort ramping up."
Board chairperson Vanessa Craig argued that the plan presented comprised "one component" of a biodiversity plan.
"I certainly support the work outlined of an invasive species management plan, but I would like to see some context that this is not a be-all end-all of what a biodiversity plan for the region could be," she said.
Nanoose Bay director Bob Rogers was also opposed, saying he had "significant concerns" with potential costs down the road.
Osborne added that his department is not anticipating additional staffing to implement the plan and the board can decide to "throttle forward or throttle back" on how it wants RDN staff to manage parks at any point.
Directors voting in opposition included Craig, Rogers, Leonard Krog, Mark Swain, Lauren Melanson and Lehann Wallace.
The plan can be viewed at http://rdn-pub.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=40900.
