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The best way to protect nature in a growing community is to Plan Ahead!
That’s why the Allan Brooks Nature Centre and the Okanagan Indian Band proposed a pilot Sensitive Ecosystem Inventory project in the North Okanagan.
In 2002/03 a Sensitive Ecosystems Inventory was completed for the Bella Vista – Goose Lake Range, a large undeveloped grassland within the City of Vernon and Okanagan Indian Band reserve land.
This Sensitive Ecosystems Inventory confirmed the high level of ecological significance of this area, with 33% of the area comprised of sensitive ecosystems and 27% considered “other important ecosystems”.
*Sensitive Ecosystems are ecosystems that are ecologically sensitive or rare in the landscape.
Sensitive Ecosystems of the Bella Vista – Goose Lake Range
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| Wetlands |
Grasslands |
Riparian |
Old Forest |
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| Broadleaf Woodlands |
Coniferous Woodlands |
Sparsely Vegetated |
Mature Forest |
Wildlife mapping for this area showed a mosaic of habitat types with high suitability for a range of representative wildlife species that are “at risk”.
*Species at Risk: In Canada, Species are considered “at risk” if they are:
- Extirpated: a wildlife species that no longer exists in the wild in Canada, but exists elsewhere in the wild.
- Endangered: a wildlife species that is facing imminent extirpation or extinction
- Threatened: a wildlife species that is likely to become an endangered species if nothing is done to reverse the factors leading to its extirpation or extinction.
- Special concern: a wildlife species that may become a threatened or an endangered species because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats.
For more information see:
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A vast number of rare or endangered wildlife potentially occur in the study area. Ten species, known to occur in the North Okanagan, were selected to demonstrate important wildlife habitats in the Bella Vista – Goose Lake Range:
- Great Basin Spadefoot
- Northern Pacific Rattlesnake
- Gopher Snake
- Swainson’s Hawk
- Long-billed Curlew
- Interior Western Screech-owl
- Yellow-breasted Chat
- Brewer’s Sparrow
- Grasshopper Sparrow
- Badger
For more information:
To see the results of the Sensitive Ecosystems Inventory:
 Funding for this project came from the Real Estate Foundation of BC www.landcentre.ca/foundation, Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management, City of Vernon, and donations to the Allan Brooks Nature Centre.
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