Maple Ridge, B.C., October 7, 2026 — The City of Maple Ridge is moving forward with a Biodiversity Health and Indicators Study, a project to better understand, monitor and support biodiversity across the community.
Council recently received a project update, including a summary of the initial community engagement and preliminary framework direction shaped by community vision. The proposed approach links biodiversity to the long-term health, safety, resilience and prosperity of Maple Ridge. The study is taking a new approach to look beyond individual environmental features and consider how lands, waters, wildlife and people are connected, and how City decisions can help protect and restore natural systems over time as the community grows.
This work builds on existing City plans and initiatives, including the Official Community Plan, Resilient Future 2050 Climate Action Plan, Urban Forest Management Plan, and Green Infrastructure Management Strategy.
What We Learned - Community Engagement
The City’s Thriving Maple Ridge online survey and interactive map were publicly available from June 8 to August 4, 2026, and received 112 responses. An open house was held on June 15, and the City’s Climate and Environment Advisory Committee participated in an engagement exercise also on July 15.
Water was the strongest theme. Residents identified streams, wetlands, groundwater, salmon, watershed health, water quality and water availability as priorities.
Participants described Maple Ridge’s natural environment not as separate assets or issues, but as a living system in which streams, forests, wildlife, food systems and neighbourhood character are closely connected. Many reflected on personal experiences such as gathering food and medicines, teaching children near creeks, observing seasonal changes, tending gardens and boulevards, collecting rainwater, and responding to low well levels in Thornhill.
The City is continuing engagement with Katzie First Nation and Kwantlen First Nation, as well as community organizations, local land managers, under-represented groups and the broader public. Their perspectives will help refine the framework and priority actions as the work progresses.
Draft Framework
The proposed Biodiversity Health Indicator Framework will help the City connect its environmental values, measurement activities and on-the-ground responses.
The framework will include:
- A community-informed vision and values focused on healthy lands and waters, stewardship, reciprocity, intergenerational well-being and people’s relationships with nature.
- Guiding principles for decision-making, including responsibility, respect for Indigenous interests, transparency, evidence-informed action, long-term thinking and accountability.
- Stewardship direction that prioritizes protecting ecological integrity, avoiding harm, restoring degraded areas and contributing positively to natural systems.
- Goals, objectives and indicators to monitor biodiversity conditions and identify City actions that can support improvement over time.
- Monitoring and response tools to track trends, pressures and concerns, identify emerging risks and support timely action through City policies, programs, stewardship initiatives and management practices. Potential tools include a biodiversity ledger and detailed habitat-balance approach, linking monitoring with meaningful response and continuous improvement.
Biodiversity is supported through everyday actions of people. A community-informed vision and values focuses on the health of the lands and waters but also on the roles of intergenerational well-being and knowledge transfer, relationships and reciprocity with place, and the vital role people play in caring for and learning from the places where they live.
Next Steps
Next steps for the study to be completed in early 2027 include:
- Identifying areas where important ecological and community values overlap with growing pressures and impacts, including understanding community programming strengths and pressures;
- Creating maps that show community wellbeing and relationships with biodiversity;
- Improving possible biodiversity measures, limits and management actions;
- Recommending approaches for monitoring, stewardship, policy and governance;
- Exploring ideas for a guardianship program and a future Water Balance Model; and
- Creating an internal roadmap to include biodiversity in City decisions, such as development reviews, capital planning, parks management, budgeting and Council reporting.
At a time when biodiversity is declining globally, local communities have a pivotal role to play in protecting and restoring the lands and waters that sustain life. Through monitoring, stewardship, governance and community partnerships, the framework aims to support informed action and long-term accountability.
For more information about the City’s Biodiversity Framework, visit Engage.MapleRidge.ca/BiodiversityFramework.
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Media Contact
Pardeep Purewal, Senior Manager Corporate Communications and Public Engagement
T 604 466 4319 C 778 955 4249 E Media@MapleRidge.ca