Natural Areas, Wildlife and Habitat Watercourses | Fish and Wildlife | Bio diversit y | Fores ts and Trees | Park s and Green Spaces
UNDERSTANDING NATURAL AREAS, WILDLIFE AND HABITAT Healthy, functioning natural areas and systems provide significant value to our community and support diverse, interconnected ecosystems. They have tremendous cultural and spiritual importance and contribute to our community’s livability. They provide important habitat for wildlife and essential ecosystem services including cleaning the air, producing oxygen, carbon storage, stormwater management, pollination, erosion and flood control, and urban temperature moderation. Studies have also highlighted significant physical and mental health benefits associated with spending time and exercising in nature. The region’s natural spaces and ecosystems are being impacted from human activities, including development and climate change, resulting in ecosystem change and loss. This reduces the critical ecosystem services we receive, now and in the future. To increase our resilience, we need to accelerate our climate actions to protect, restore and connect ecosystems.
Parks, Watercourses and Natural Areas of Coquitlam Coquitlam has an impressive network of over 100 municipal and regional parks comprised of 7.7 km2 of forested land, over 385 km of watercourses and more than 120 km of trails. These areas are valued by people and wildlife alike and include significant intact forests such as Mundy Park and Coquitlam River Park, as well as extensive green and blue corridors such as the Hoy-Scott Creek system. Prominent watercourses include the Pitt, Coquitlam and Fraser Rivers. The City borders on Pinecone Burke Provincial Park and provincially-owned forested lands to the north and the Fraser River to the south. Coquitlam also hosts two developed regional parks – Colony Farm and Minnekhada Regional Parks. In addition, the 621-hectare Widgeon Marsh Regional Park on the northeastern edge of Coquitlam is anticipated to open to the public in 2023.
52
City of Coquitlam | Environmental Sustainability Plan
Black bear cub on Douglas Fir, Minnekhada Regional Park
Biodiversity, Fish and Wildlife Coquitlam’s vast network of parks and greenspaces coupled with the forested interface to the north result in an abundance of biodiversity and prime habitat for bear, cougar, fish and other wildlife. Coquitlam is also home to a number of species at risk. With this proximity to high quality habitat, inevitable encounters with wildlife exist; however, there are many opportunities to co-exist with wildlife and reduce the associated risks in urban areas while still enjoying the benefits of being in or near nature.
