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BC Parks LEAF Project (Land Evaluation and Acquisition Framework)

Client: BC Parks
Date: 2001-2002

EcoPlan developed a decision framework and software tool to evaluate and prioritize private properties under the management of BC Parks’ Protected Area System. The model, called the Land Evaluation and Acquisition Framework (LEAF), has helped BC Parks make more informed, transparent, and accountable decisions regarding private land acquisitions. The evaluation model was developed to prioritize private land in-holdings in the rapidly expanding BC Park system. Scientific and technical data were combined with BC Park’s core values to evaluate the hundreds of private properties affecting the BC Protected Area System. Issues such as experiential integrity (recreation, aesthetics, development threats), ecological integrity, heritage and culture, and management concerns were explicitly considered in the development of the model.