ABSTRACT
British Columbia (BC) is the westernmost Canadian province, bordered by Washington, Idaho and Montana States to the south, by Alberta to the east, by the Northwest and Yukon territories to the north, and by Alaska to the north-west. BC’s total land and freshwater area is 95 million hectares, which is larger than France and Germany combined. In fact, only 30 countries are larger in size than BC (Government of British Columbia 2000a). However, BC is most notably famous not for its size, but for its extraordinary diversity of species and ecosystems, and its natural beauty, including magnificent mountains, pristine sea coasts and old-growth forests (Ministry of Forests 1996).
