With mapping completed and more communities lending support, the mission to turn Howe Sound into a UNESCO recognized site is going just swimmingly, according to organizers.
Progress is being made, according to Ruth Simons, the executive director of the Future of Howe Sound and a leader in the campaign to have the area declared a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
“It’s a multi-year process but we’re putting the pieces in place,” she said Thursday morning before heading out to the Sound with staff from the Vancouver Aquarium.
The Howe Sound Biosphere Region Initiative has now been formally registered as an organization, allowing the group to apply for grants and funding.
“This is all for the initiative to get us to the point of putting in a successful application to achieve the UNESCO designation,” she said.
British Columbia currently has two UNESCO heritage sites: Clayoquot Sound and Mt. Arrowsmith. The designation could help attract funding and research groups to the Howe Sound.
The original plan was to submit a draft proposal in November this year, but Simons said the timeline may be delayed because some of the guidelines of the Canadian Man and the Biosphere Committee, the UNESCO subgroup that reviews and provides recommendations on new biosphere reserve nominations, are being changed.
Regardless, the Howe Sound Biosphere Region Initiative hopes to have the designation in place by 2020.
Right now the group is composed of volunteers, but is seeking experts with a knowledge of the Sound who can contribute to the writing of the complex and detailed designation application.
Last Wednesday, Simons made the case for the designation to the Squamish Chamber of Commerce. For the past months, the campaign has been seeking endorsement from nearby communities and organizations.
So far, the District of Squamish, the Village of Lions Bay, the Municipality of Bowen Island, the Town of Gibsons, the Sunshine Coast Regional District and the Squamish Lillooet Regional District have endorsed the initiative.
Talks with First Nations groups are ongoing.
Most recently, West Vancouver councillors voted unanimously to support the project.
Simons said she doesn’t expect that the recent change in provincial government will have a major impact on the process.
Both NDP MLA for Powell River-Sunshine Coast Nicholas Simons and Liberal MLA for West Vancouver-Sea-to-Sky Jordan Sturdy are supportive of the project, Simmons said.
“So far everyone is being really positive and I wouldn’t expect a change in government to be any less so – hopefully more so.”
