- British Columbia is home to the greatest biodiversity in Canada, including the highest number of species at risk;
- The province is one of the few in Canada without a stand-alone law to protect endangered species;
- Habitat loss, climate change, and decades of resource-driven policies have led to the widespread decline of ecosystems and the species that depend on them;
- Healthy ecosystems are essential for food security, clean water, wildfire resilience, cultural integrity, and economic sustainability;
- In 2017, the Government of British Columbia promised to introduce endangered species legislation but failed to act;
- In 2023, the government introduced the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework, but by 2025, it had been dropped from the Ministry’s budget and mandate;
- This lack of legislative action and funding represents not only policy neglect but a profound failure to protect the ecological heritage of future generations;
Therefore, please sign this petition that requests that the Honourable House of the British Columbia Legislature:
- Introduce and pass stand-alone biodiversity and species-at-risk legislation during the current legislative term;
- Fully implement the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework;
- Base ecosystem protection on science and Indigenous knowledge;
- Centre nature in all government decision-making rather than short-term economic extraction.
We have more biodiversity than any other province in Canada and more species at risk. Yet BC is one of the few provinces without a stand-alone law to protect endangered species.
In 2017, the BC NDP promised to introduce endangered species legislation. They backed away.
In 2023, the BC NDP released a draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework to better steward land and water. But in 2025, that framework was quietly dropped from the Ministry’s budget and mandate letters. This isn’t just neglect — it’s a betrayal of future generations.
We depend on healthy ecosystems for food, clean water, wildfire resilience, cultural connection, and yes — even economic security. Letting our biodiversity vanish puts all of that at risk.
Call on the BC government to:
- Pass stand-alone biodiversity and species-at-risk legislation this term
- Fully implement the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework
- Protect ecosystems based on science and Indigenous knowledge
- Put nature at the centre of decision-making, not short-term extraction
On Earth Day 2025, the Canadian theme was “Open your eyes to protect biodiversity.”
We can have both a healthy economy and a thriving environment if we protect what makes this province so extraordinary.
Add your name to this petition and demand that the BC government act now to safeguard biodiversity before it’s gone: https://bcgreens.ca/