Protecting the Natural Environment of the Islands Trust Islands

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Protecting the Natural Environment of the Islands Trust Islands

Elected Trustees of the Islands Trust & Minister of Municipal Affairs: Ravi Kahlon

In 1974, the BC government recognized the need to protect the natural environment of the Trust islands from over-development and passed the Trust Act, with its purpose being:

“The object of the trust is to preserve and protect the trust area and its unique amenities and environment for the benefit of the residents of the trust area and of British Columbia generally in cooperation with municipalities, regional districts, improvement districts, First Nations, other persons and organizations and the government of British Columbia.”

Care of the islands through land use planning was delegated to 2 elected trustees from each of the 13 islands with regional oversight by Trust Council (all trustees and its Executive Committee). The province oversees their work by approving a Trust Policy Statement, which sets standards for islands’ community plans and bylaws.

Since 1974, weak bylaws and weak enforcement has left the islands vulnerable to over-development, deforestation, freshwater depletion, pollution, foreshore degradation and climate change.

Trust Council is currently drafting a new Trust Policy Statement. Successive drafts have weakened environmental protection and put social, economic and environmental goals on equal footing, just as in any unprotected area.

Please support our vision for the Gulf Islands by signing the petition.

Sponsored by

Friends of the Gulf Islands Society

To: Elected Trustees of the Islands Trust & Minister of Municipal Affairs: Ravi Kahlon
From: [Your Name]

We request that the new Trust Policy Statement not be approved until it:

• affirms that the term “environment” in the legislated Object of the Islands Trust Act refers to the natural environment and does not include residential development and infrastructure;

• affirms that the Islands Trust’s top priority is protection/preservation of the islands’ land and marine ecosystems, and rural island character;

• contains directives that require each island to establish development limits;

• requires each island to limit development to that which can be supplied with drinking water from that island while providing adequate water for natural systems;

• requires each island to produce a build-out report that determines its maximum population if all existing lots are developed and subdivided;

• requires that decisions allowing more intensive use of land and water be guided by independent, up-to-date scientific data, local knowledge and traditional Indigenous knowledge and practices.