Sunshine Coast Biodiversity Strategy
Welcome to the home of the Sunshine Coast Biodiversity Strategy!
The Lagoon Society is proud to present our Biodiversity Strategy, created in collaboration with numerous partner groups and community stakeholders. The Sunshine Coast Biodiversity Strategy sets out a series of goals and objectives and provides a template for action to guide our community in conserving and managing biodiversity in our beautiful region.
What is the Biodiversity Strategy?
The Strategy provides specific objectives for each goal, and outlines key strategies for achieving our goals and objectives. The Strategy represents the first important step towards implementing a community-driven initiative for the whole Sunshine Coast. The next step will be the implementation of a comprehensive Action Plan, which is currently being compiled and will include details of each recommended project, with specific targets, timelines and lead organizations. Click here to learn more about the Action Plan.
Our Vision
“Imagine a Sunshine Coast community, which cherishes and understands the ecological and economic benefits of healthy biological processes to everyone, and thus practices responsible coast-wide stewardship of biodiversity.”
Our Goals
The Sunshine Coast Biodiversity Strategy has six major goals:
- Goal 1: All segments of our community are inspired and empowered to value and protect biodiversity, with citizens, governments and businesses actively involved in caring for biodiversity as a part of their daily lives and operations.
- Goal 2: Governments, land managers and resource users have developed collaborative strategies and enacted far-sighted policies to conserve biodiversity and ensure that natural ecosystem services on both land and water continue to provide maximum benefit to our community.
- Goal 3: Comprehensive knowledge and access to scientific information about biodiversity enables governments, resource users and interest groups to make informed decisions and take responsible action to manage and conserve biodiversity.
- Goal 4: The economic value of biodiversity and ecological goods and services is known and appreciated and incorporated into decision making and planning.
- Goal 5: A network of protected areas conserves a rich variety of interconnected ecosystems, ecological communities, habitats, species and populations.
- Goal 6: Action has been taken to protect, restore and enhance habitats, and mitigate threats to biodiversity, ensuring that healthy ecological communities and viable populations of all native flora, fauna and other organisms survive and thrive across their ecological ranges.
How Was the Biodiversity Strategy Developed?
The Strategy was created with input from the Biodiversity Strategy Steering Committee, scientists and experts from other regions, and community stakeholders. Strategy development was informed by a review of local, regional and national biodiversity strategies from other jurisdictions across the globe. A ‘Meeting of Minds’ workshop was held in October 2011 and attended by practitioners who currently work on existing biodiversity strategies in BC and beyond. Together, they shared their best practices and recommendations for the creation of the ideal strategy! Download our report from the Meeting of Minds workshop here.
Development of the Biodiversity Strategy continued at the Sunshine Coast Biodiversity Summit held in June 2012. The 3-day long Summit brought together close to 100 community stakeholders, including representatives from dozens of local organizations, and all levels of government, to share their desires and aspirations, identify goals, objectives and priority actions, and work collaboratively on the content of the Strategy.
You can read more about the Biodiversity Summit here.
