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Landscape
Kanaka Creek Regional Park (KCRP) is an ecological region consisting of many diverse ecosystems and wildlife. With a general landscape of Fraser River frontage, steep canyons, marshland fields, floodplains, riparian forests, and upland forests that provide habitat for native plants and wildlife. Currently, the KCRP land base includes 413 hectares with water flow from Blue Mountain to the Fraser River. KCRP is split among four main sections: the riverfront, lower reach & fish fence, mid reach & cliff falls, and the upper reach & hatchery. Surrounding these areas, the upper reach consists of working agriculture and woodlands, while the lower reach is bounded by residential neighbourhoods. This diverse landscape also offers many recreation opportunities, including places to walk, hike, bird watch, and picnic. Furthermore, the KCRP landscape is embedded with history and spiritual significance throughout over nine thousand years of use. This territory is shared among the Kwantlen, Katzie, Matsqui, Musqueam, Semiahmoo, and Tsleil-Waututh nations.

Issues
As the landscape changed due to active logging by the Abernethy and Lougheed Lumber Company in the 1920s, the park now lacks a sizeable amount of original old growth forest, which has resulted in significant damage to the hydrological regimes and surrounding vegetation. As a result, species are facing habitat loss with a greater risk of becoming threatened, endangered, or extirpated.

The creek itself is also undergoing increasing water quality problems resulting from rapidly growing urbanization, eutrophication, agricultural and industrial activities, and other human impacts. In addition, organic contamination is considered to be one of the main driving factors in the degradation of water quality in Kanaka Creek. Due to approximately 900 septic tanks in the watershed as well as contributing factors of herbicide and pesticide washing into the creek, massive loss of fish habitat is impacting ecosystems.

Furthermore, other issues arise due to clay deposits near the surface preventing the absorption of surface runoff during the stormy seasons. This is triggering flooding in the lower reaches, which is causing erosion and siltation and flushing out fish stocks. Due to these issues, the creek was designated as a sensitive habitat under the BC Provincial Fish Protection Act, which protects Pacific salmon species such as chum, coho, and pink salmon.

Management Plan
Alongside the Katzie First Nation, KEEPS, the Alouette Field Naturalists, and the City of Maple Ridge, Metro Vancouver Regional Parks (as the operator of the park) created a management plan for the park in 2004. It was set to remain the management plan for 20 years. The plan considers human intrusion through unauthorized trails and dumping, visitors in the park, the status of species in the park, areas of the park susceptible to damage, resources in the park, and the location of the park in consideration to other greenways in the area. Goals of this management strategy include protecting all ecosystems in the park from downgrading, and maintaining the recreational areas of the park by promoting activities that do not harm the area. Another goal is the improvement of stormwater management, to improve the issue of rainwater runoff, locals and government representatives implemented an Integrated Stormwater Management Plan (ISMP) in hopes of improving drainage and reducing flooding. The plan also seeks to maintain good communication with all groups involved in the area, provide educational opportunities and information about the park, as well as to maintain the safety of the park. More goals include enhancing native plant community recovery and development by planting at least ten different native species by November 2021, providing additional cover of salmonberry and snowberry to support ecosystems, and planting low-level species to allow sunlight into the site. To restore habitat loss of species, a partnership with Metro Vancouver and the Kanaka Education and Environmental Partnership Society (KEEPS) implemented four seasonal educational programs.

Note: Taryn and I combined our work in the management plan section as some of our information overlapped.