The British Columbia Parks and Protected Areas System is the collection of physical properties owned or administered by
BC Parks
BC Parks is an agency of the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy that manages all of the, as of 2020, 1,035 provincial parks and other conservation and historical properties of various title designations within t ...
, an agency of the
British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. These protected areas are established by
order-in-council under one of several different pieces of enabling legislation.
The system includes 644
provincial parks, 2
recreation areas, 156
conservancies, 84
protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
s, and 148
ecological reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...
s. Four provincial parks are designated
UNESCO World Heritage Sites, while 24 provincial parks are designated UNESCO
Biosphere Reserves.
Provincial parks by regional district
This is a list of provincial parks of British Columbia by
regional district.
*
Alberni-Clayoquot
*
Bulkley-Nechako
*
Capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
*
Cariboo
The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia, Canada, centered on a plateau stretching from Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the caribou that were once abundant in the region.
The Cariboo was the ...
*
Central Coast
*
Central Kootenay
*
Central Okanagan
*
Columbia-Shuswap
*
Comox Valley
The Comox Valley is a region on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, that includes the city of Courtenay, British Columbia, Courtenay, the town of Comox, British Columbia, Comox, the village of Cumberland, British Columb ...
*
Cowichan Valley
The Cowichan Valley is a region around the Cowichan River, Cowichan Bay and Cowichan Lake on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. There is some debate as to the origin of the name Cowichan, which many believe to be an anglicized form ...
*
East Kootenay
*
Fraser-Fort George
*
Fraser Valley
*
Kitimat-Stikine
*
Kootenay Boundary
*
Metro Vancouver
*
Mount Waddington
Mount Waddington, once known as Mystery Mountain, is the highest peak in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. Although it is lower than Mount Fairweather and Mount Quincy Adams, which straddle the United States border between Alaska ...
*
Nanaimo
Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...
*
North Coast North Coast or Northcoast may refer to :
Antigua and Barbuda
* Major Division of North Coast, a census division in Saint John Parish
Australia
*New South Wales North Coast, a region
Canada
*The British Columbia Coast, primarily the communiti ...
*
North Okanagan
North Okanagan was the name of a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia beginning with the election of 1916. Following the 1975 election boundary revisions accompanied the riding's renaming to Okanagan North. ...
*
Northern Rockies
The Northern Rocky Mountains, usually referred to as the Northern Rockies, are a subdivision of the Canadian Rockies comprising the northern half of the Canadian segment of the Rocky Mountains. While their northward limit is easily defined as th ...
*
Okanagan-Similkameen
*
Peace River
The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in th ...
*
qathet
*
Squamish-Lillooet
*
Stikine Region
The Stikine Region is an unincorporated area in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is the only area in the province that is not part of a regional district. The Stikine Region was left unincorporated following legislation that establishe ...
*
Strathcona
*
Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast may refer to:
* Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
**Sunshine Coast Region, a local government area of Queensland named after the region
**Sunshine Coast Stadium
* Sunshine Coast (British Columbia), geographic subregion of the Br ...
*
Thompson-Nicola
List of provincial parks and protected areas
:''Please refer to the BC Parks website fo
lists of parks/protected areasan
''
Former Provincial Parks
This list includes provincial parks that were cancelled. Provincial parks that were cancelled for the purpose of moving the land into a different provincial park are not included. While some provincial parks were deleted as they were deemed to be not suitable for park purposes, most of the parks were deleted so they could be transferred to a
municipality or
regional district to be local or regional parks. In 2004 several provincial parks were moved into the federal
Gulf Islands National Park
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve is a national park located on and around the Gulf Islands in British Columbia, Canada. In the National Parks System Plan, this park provides representation of the Strait of Georgia Lowlands natural region, the ...
; likewise a few provincial parks were moved into the
Pacific Rim National Park and
Gwaii Haanas National Park when those federal parks were established.
See also
*
List of protected areas of British Columbia
*
List of protected areas of Alberta
This is a list of protected areas of Alberta. Protected areas are managed by the Government of Canada or the Government of Alberta. The provincial government owns 60% of Alberta's landmass but most of this has not been formally ...
References
External links
Alphabetical listing of provincial parks and protected areason bcparks.ca
on bcparks.ca
{{British Columbia parks
Provincial Parks
file:Ischigualasto national park.jpg, Ischigualasto Provincial Park
A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countr ...
British Columbia