Starting point for the workshop, Working with lidar data in ArcGIS Pro. Data can be downloaded from https://www.nanaimo.ca/ortho.

The escalating urbanization and human-induced land use changes have precipitated a global biodiversity crisis, imperiling indigenous ecosystems and cultural heritage. Nanaimo Regional District (NRD) in British Columbia, with its rich biodiversity and Indigenous lands, is facing the challenge of balancing urban development and species conservation. To provide better insights for urban planners and indigenous communities on protecting local biodiversity, the study aims to visualize the biodiversity of the identified species and evaluate the land protection levels by species richness and Land Cover Species Importance Score (LCSIS). The study assigns value to two criteria by importance level to gain the SIS of the identified species at risk and of cultural value. Integrating species occurrence data with land parcels and land cover data to illustrate spatial patterns of species richness and importance level. It reveals that larger rural parcels have higher species richness, primarily located in the eastern part of NRD. Smaller parcels around urban areas, particularly east coastal regions, have higher species richness density. LCSIS value varies across different land cover types. By reclassifying and combining the species richness and LCSIS, the spatial distribution of identified Protection Areas (PAs) is mapped and classified into three classes, high, median, and low. The study also explores the proximity of different classes of PAs to urban areas, to assess if further urban expansion would impact the identified PA. Implications for urban planning are profound. By delineating priority conservation areas and integrating them into land use plans, planners can mitigate the adverse impacts of urban expansion on biodiversity and cultural heritage. This proactive approach fosters sustainable development, preserves vital ecosystems, and honors Indigenous traditions.

Provided by Mosaic on March 2, 2020. This dataset was derived from Lidar and provided to the RDN by Mosaic. This is the Lidar-based boundary for the City of Nanaimo drinking watershed (water supply catchment area) above the intake.

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Original datasets used for dataset creation:Freshwater Atlas Lakes, GeoBC, Province of British Columbiahttps://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/freshwater-atlas-lakesFigures from: Williams. LV ., T.J. Brown and G. Langford. 1994. Geographic distribution of salmon spawning streams of British Columbia with an index of spawner abundance. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 1967: 200p. Citation: https://publications.gc.ca/site/fra/460822/publication.htmlAbstract:This report is a quick reference of salmon spawning streams based on the SEDS database from DFO, BSB, Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C. Maps of salmon spawning streams of B.C. were digitized at a scale of I :250,000. Streams are colour keyed based on size of salmon spawning populations using them. No spawning areas within a stream are displayed.

Original datasets used for dataset creation:Freshwater Atlas Stream Network, GeoBC, Province of British Columbiahttps://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/freshwater-atlas-stream-networkFigures from: Williams. LV ., T.J. Brown and G. Langford. 1994. Geographic distribution of salmon spawning streams of British Columbia with an index of spawner abundance. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 1967: 200p. Citation: https://publications.gc.ca/site/fra/460822/publication.htmlAbstract:This report is a quick reference of salmon spawning streams based on the SEDS database from DFO, BSB, Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C. Maps of salmon spawning streams of B.C. were digitized at a scale of I :250,000. Streams are colour keyed based on size of salmon spawning populations using them. No spawning areas within a stream are displayed.