Linking Mapping to Policy:
Carbon
Carbon
The carbon layer focuses on forests, which includes standing live and dead timber, woody debris on the ground, soils and roots. Knowing the sources and volume of forest carbon in an area and quantifying its loss under different development scenarios will help planners make informed choices, support compliance with climate change strategies, and can be useful if applying for carbon credits.
The terrestrial carbon layer is focused on forest and tree cover. The layer has been generated from Planet imagery and LiDAR data, and uses field verification data collected by the Province of BC and the Action for Adaptation team. The carbon raster layer presents forest carbon at a 15 m resolution for the whole study area. Although LiDAR is available for large parts of the study area, there are areas that have not been collected and this will impact on the accuracy of this product in those areas.
The focus of the carbon layer is on the forests of southwest BC, which includes standing live and dead timber, woody debris on the ground, soils and roots. Knowing the sources and volume of forest carbon in an area and quantifying its loss under different development scenarios will help planners make informed choices, support compliance with municipal climate change strategies, and can be useful if applying for carbon credits where possible to do so.
To advance nature-based climate resilience and biodiversity protection, local governments should establish clear and long-term land use and environmental objectives that can be achieved through policies linked to targets and indicators.
This information can be used to make land use and zoning decisions that retain and enhance ecosystem services and that leverage opportunities for nature-based solutions, rather than further erode them.
To advance nature-based climate resilience and biodiversity protection, local governments should establish clear and long-term land use and environmental objectives that can be achieved through policies linked to targets and indicators.
Recommended policy objectives:
- Measure and report community greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and maintain GHG inventories. Official Community Plans (OCPs) and Regional Growth Strategies (RGSs) in BC are required to include GHG targets, policies and actions.
- Land use planning for low-carbon communities using policies emphasize compact, complete, connected communities that reduce dependency on carbon-intensive travel.
- Enhance/restore natural systems (like urban forest, wetlands and riparian areas) that both store carbon and increase climate resilience.
- Enhance and expand urban canopies, meadows and green spaces.
- Increase investments in green infrastructure such as living dikes, riparian buffers and nature-based stormwater systems.