New park in West Vancouver will be twice the size of Stanley Park

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The District of West Vancouver and the B.C. Parks Foundation announced the creation of one of the biggest municipal parks of its kind on Monday.

The 7.8 square kilometres of land donated by West Vancouver makes the park almost twice the size of Stanley Park. The Parks Foundation has set up a $3 million Cypress Hollyburn legacy fund for maintenance and upkeep of the new park.

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Mark Sager, mayor of West Vancouver, called it a monumental day during a ceremony at Cypress Pop-Up Village, a public space with a licensed food vendor, bike wash-and-repair facility, and spectacular views.

“This area will help preserve sensitive ecosystems and wildlife, and store carbon to fight climate change,” Sager said. “It will also ensure that old-growth trees will continue to stand in our stunning municipality, which we know is very important to our residents and people across the globe.

“We also recognize that this new park dedication will maintain the beautiful view of the mountains, which is something that everyone in the metro region can enjoy.”

The park goes by a working title of Uplands.

Together the new park, West Vancouver’s existing parks, the surrounding Capilano and Seymour watersheds, the Old Growth Conservancy and Cypress Provincial Park form a protected area for wildlife and mature trees covering more than 320 square kilometres.

Besides designated wildlife-protection areas, separate trail networks will be established for mountain bikers and hikers to make it safe for each group, as well as trails accessible for wheelchairs and strollers.

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It’s one of the largest protected areas in the world sitting so close to a major urban centre, the CEO of B.C. Parks Foundation said.

“When I was younger, I walked all through these hills,” said Andrew Day, who was born and raised on the North Shore, “and I sensed this place had a sentience and intelligence of its own.

“If there’s one thing nature tells us, it’s ‘Don’t despair, we can make a difference.’ If we give nature half a chance, it’ll do the rest. Despite everything nature gives us, we don’t have a great track record of giving back to it and we tend to take it for granted.”

Species are disappearing at an alarming rate and much of what we convert into goods from nature winds up in landfills, he said.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to give something back and to do it right, not just say we’re creating a park and then walking away and let it take care of itself, because it won’t.”

That includes building trails for people with disabilities, older residents, and parents with strollers, along with fire prevention and education, wildlife education and removing invasive species.

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“This is really a message to the world,” Day said. “The district preserving almost 2,000 acres of land as the world strives to protect 30 per cent of its land and sea by 2030, this is a great leading example.”

One keen observer in the crowd on hand was Paul Hundal, a West Vancouver lawyer who has dreamed of such a park since he led opposition to development at the site in 1990.

“Back then, we saved an old-growth forest from being turned into a golf course,” he said.

Over the years since, he and like-minded individuals formed the Old Growth Conservancy, a registered society that works with West Vancouver in the management and stewardship of the district’s old growth, “fighting the fight” every time development proposals popped up.

“It’s been 30-plus years of reminding (people) of the importance of this forest, how special it really is to have such an intact mature forest, some of the best mature forest you’ll find,” he said. “It’s great to have the legal protection after more than 30 years.

“We certainly asked for it, over and over again, you live and hope” for this day to arrive.

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gordmcintyre@postmedia.com

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