Environmental Planning
The City of Burnaby places a high importance on the protection and enhancement of our environment and the health of ecosystems including forests, lakes, wetlands and streams. These ecosystems provide fish and wildlife habitat, recreational and aesthetic assets, purify the air and water and protect human health.
Guided by the City’s Environmental Policies and Regulations, environmental protection and enhancement opportunities are considered in all major plans and development in the City, including revisions to Community Plans, and applications for rezoning and subdivision.
As a result of many decades of work, the City has achieved many successes in environmental planning, including:
- Preservation of nearly 25% of the land base as parkland, including significant Parks and Conservation Areas
- Higher density, mixed-use town centres planned around SkyTrain lines. This moves us further towards the vision of "complete communities" well connected to other regional centres – see also Community Development
- Sustainable initiatives in Transportation Planning, including a growing network of pedestrian and Cycling Routes and Urban Trails throughout the City
- Regulations and policies for Community Development and Ecosystem Protection, including streamside protection and the Environmental Review Committee process
- Protection, management and enhancement of Watersheds, including streams, lakes, wetlands and associated terrestrial ecosystems
- Green Development practices and projects
- Climate Change policies and initiatives
- Urban Agriculture initiatives, including agriculture in the Big Bend, beekeeping (apiculture), farmer markets and community gardens
- Caring for Our Environment, including citizen based environmental stewardship, Burnaby environmental events and the City’s Environment Committee
- Ecosystem Restoration and Enhancement associated with development projects
