Fraser River Delta. 24/05/82; British Columbia; 20,682 ha; 49º06'00"N 123º03'00"W. IBA, WHSRN. The site is formed by six components (Burns Bog, Sturgeon Bank, South Arm Marshes, Boundary Bay, Serpentine, and the former 'Alaksen' Ramsar Site), all in the Metro Vancouver Region and part of the the most important river delta/estuary for fish and birds on the west coast of Canada. The complex provides an internationally critical migratory stopover area for the Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri), one of the most common shorebirds in the western hemisphere. It provides feeding and roosting sites to about 250,000 migrating and wintering waterfowl and 1 million shorebirds, regularly supporting the threshold of 1% of a population of a species or subspecies of waterbird. A number of Provincially- and Federally-listed fish species of concern can be found within the estuarine habitats, including Acipenser transmontanus, Acipenser medirostris, and Thaleichthys pacificus. The complexity of ecosystems found in the site, such as estuarine marsh, mudflats, floodplains, sloughs and river channels are all critical feeding and rearing areas for anadromous salmon during their transition between river and marine stages of their life cycle. Some of the subsites are used for low-impact recreation, but the site is mostly reserved for wildlife habitat conservation. The site was renamed and vastly extended in 2012 from 586 to 20,682 hectares. Ramsar site no. 243. Most recent RIS information: 2012.

British Columbia