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  • The impact of logging on biodiversity in the Discovery Islands

    THE DISCOVERY ISLANDS are a biodiversity hotspot, where five ecosections overlap: The Outer Fiordlands Ecosection, Johnson Strait Marine Ecosection, Strait of Georgia Marine Ecosection, Strait of Georgia Terrestrial Ecosection and the Georgia Lowlands Ecosection. Within the terrestrial ecosections occur four biogeoclimatic variants, each with a different dominant forest type: Coastal Douglas fir, Coastal Wet Hemlock (CWHxm2 and CWHxm1) and Mountain Hemlock. In a 5-month period in 2020, over 1600 species were identified by citizen scientists via iNaturalist. Since 2017, the Discovery Islands Forest Conservation Project has been observing and recording plant, animal and fungi species that are found on the islands and in the marine waters in between.

    Sadly, over 1800 species of plants and animals in BC are now listed as threatened or endangered by the BC Conservation Data Centre. Loss of habitat as a result of logging is by far the greatest driver of biodiversity loss in BC. We are observing and recording species found in all habitats, both terrestrial and marine, listed and unlisted. The purpose of our data gathering is to establish a baseline of current native species. This will help to make evident, over time, the extent to which threatened and endangered species are faring in the Discovery Islands. Follow the links below to view the observations recorded so far.

    Animal, plant and fungi species of the Discovery Islands

    Discovery Islands animal species that are threatened or endangered

    Discovery Islands plant species that are threatened or endangered

    BC Conservation Data Centre's mapping of red- and blue-listed species and ecosystems for Quadra Island

    The map below shows where red- and blue-listed species have been observed. Click on an icon to learn more. Please contact us if you have a listed species to add to our list/map.

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