Small is Mighty
How seemingly small actions and community-led urban biodiversity projects across the country are having a big impact.
City Profile
Surrey
Surrey
- Surrey is one of 19% of cities with a standalone biodiversity strategy.
- With nearly 3 off-leash dog areas per 100,000 people, Surrey is just above the median.
- Surrey is one of 70% of cities that offers a community grant program for park projects.
- Through a purchase from the province, Surrey acquired 58 hectares of ecologically sensitive land as part of the city’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy.
- The city’s new 10-year parks and recreation plan proposes 29 new parks to accommodate growth, changing populations, and preservation of natural lands.
- City staff worked with urban agriculture groups to develop best practices for safely keeping community gardens open during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data 2020
5.2
ha parkland per 1000 people
3012 ha of total parkland
39%
of total parkland is natural area
1175 total ha
2%
of parkland is environmentally significant/protected
59 total ha
10%
of total city land is parkland
31640 ha of total city area
17
Dog parks
9
Community gardens/urban farms
1-4.2
Parkland provision goal (ha per 1000 people)
Community: 1.0 ha / 1,000
City class: 1.2 ha / 1,000
Neighbourhood: 1.2 ha / 1,000 in secondary plan areas
Nature Preserves and Habitat Corridors: 4.2 ha / 1,000
Distance to park: 10 minute walk in town centres and urban areas
Community grant program
$51
Parks operating budget per person
$29,755,000 total¹
$11,496,000¹
Total parks capital budget
Yes
Provincially legislated tools available for parkland development
5% of development site or cash-in-lieu
¹Budgets are from 2019. 2020 numbers were unavailable at time of survey as they had not yet been broken down by department.
Park Master Plans
Environmental Strategies
Inclusion Strategies
Related Surrey Stories
Connecting the dots
Why habitat corridors are important for urban biodiversity and what cities are doing to make sure parks large and small are connected.
Power to the People
Park groups of all types are delivering outsize impacts for their communities through collaborative programming—but they need support in order to thrive.
Accessibility Beyond Design
Cities and communities are using creative programming, training, and tech-based interventions to make parks inclusive for people of all abilities.
Don't See your City on the List?
Twenty-seven cities participated in this year's report and we hope more will join us next year.
Learn how to participate in 2021