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West Vancouver has unveiled plans to turn more than 7.8 square kilometres of forested municipal land into a protected park nearly double the size of Vancouver’s Stanley Park.
The new park is along West Vancouver’s mountainside, known by locals as the Upper Lands, part of Hollyburn Ridge, and is adjacent to the southern side of Cypress Provincial Park.
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In comparison, Stanley Park in Vancouver’s downtown core measures about four square kilometres.
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“This area will help preserve sensitive ecosystems and wildlife and store carbon to fight climate change,” said West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager in a statement on Monday. “It will also ensure that old growth trees will continue to stand in our stunning municipality, which we know is very important to our residents and people across the globe.
The process to name the park and options for the park’s name will be decided by West Vancouver council at a later date.
The area is part of a larger system of protected areas including Cypress Provincial Park and the Capilano and Seymour watersheds. It also protects lands around the Old Growth Conservancy, which is managed by the District and a local non-profit.
The area is currently already accessible to the public and has been used recreationally by locals and may groups. But Monday’s formal dedication of the lands into park bestows long-term protection to the designated area, and allows access to more resources for management of the lands.
Dedicating the area to parkland has been in the works for years, with strong support by community groups and the many users of the area, including the B.C. Mountaineering Club, West Vancouver Streamkeepers, Hollyburn Ridge Association, North Shore Mountain Bike Association, and Friends of Cypress Provincial Park, said the District in a news release.
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To fund stewardship and promote safety in the park, B.C. Parks Foundation has launched the Cypress Hollyburn legacy fund, with a $3 million matching gift from the Wilson 5 Foundation, a private foundation by Chip and Summer Wilson focused on land conservancy and park creation in B.C.
The fund could support projects like building and maintaining trails and bridges, wildlife research, wildfire prevention, invasive species removal and wayfinding — not just for the new park but for the surrounding area, including Cypress Provincial Park.
“We are thrilled to be able to help protect this iconic Vancouver landscape and all of its wonderful values,” said B.C. Parks Foundation CEO Andy Day. “It’s the right thing to do at this moment in history — people coming together to do something tangible, positive, and lasting for the planet and people’s health.”
More to come …
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