No government in BC history has done as much to protect the environment as has Premier Campbell’s Government. We have led Canada in developing aggressive action plans on climate change, water quality, air quality, fisheries management, ecosystem-based land-use planning, and sustainable growth in our communities. www.gov.bc.ca/yourbc/planet

Since 2001, we have created 57 new parks and expanded over 50 others, while adding 143 new conservancies and new ecological reserves. That has protected over 1.8 million hectares, an area three times larger than P.E.I. Over 14 per cent of our provincial landbase is now protected, or 13.5 million hectares – more than any other province in Canada. It’s an area larger than Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I. combined.

By finalizing land use plans in several areas across BC, we have created new certainty on the land base for forestry, mining, energy and other resource industries. We have eliminated a backlog of 3,000 Crown land applications that had accumulated under the NDP and cost our economy $1 billion and 20,000 jobs.

The massive new Central and North Coast Land Use Plans were put in place through an unprecedented partnership between governments, First Nations, environmental organizations and resource industries. With the Kitasoo First Nations, we have established a new Spirit Bear Conservancy to permanently provide secure habitat for B.C.’s Spirit Bear. In the Great Bear Rainforest a new ecosystem-based management regime will ensure all permitted activities within the area are environmentally sustainable and scientifically sound.

The Living Rivers Trust, our Water Plan and wetlands preservation measures are similarly enhancing protection for our precious salmon and fish habitats.

A BC Liberal Government will build on this strong foundation for environmental protection. It will extend BC’s network of land conservancies, and implement new anti-idling measures, low-carbon fuel content standards and California-equivalent tailpipe standards on vehicle emissions.

The BC Liberal government will expand strategies to protect species at risk, to ensure BC remains a showcase of biological diversity.

We will honour our commitment to outlaw the dumping of raw sewage into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and help implement a new sewage treatment plan for Greater Victoria. We will work with the federal government to ensure an orderly transfer of regulatory oversight to the federal government for aquaculture fisheries management.