The Regional Parks Land Acquisition 2050 strategy is a bold and visionary document that has the potential to maintain livability for the next generation of Metro Vancouver citizens and visitors, and grow the regional parks system before all the remaining unprotected natural areas are gone. It envisions growing the regional parks system into a connected network of resilient regional parks and greenways that protect regionally important natural areas and connects people to them.

Four challenges shaped the Land Acquisition Strategy:

1. A Growing and Active Population – The region's population is expected to grow from 2.5 million to 3.7 million by 2050, and visits to regional parks have been growing at double the population growth rate.
2. Market Trends – Housing prices have increased three-fold over the past 15 years, putting pressure on land costs throughout the region.
3. DisappearingSensitive Ecosystems – Between 2009 and 2014, over 1,600 hectares of sensitive ecosystems across the region were lost – the equivalent of losing four Stanley Parks every five years. 10% of the region is made up of sensitive terrestrial ecosystems that could still be protected.
4. Climate Change – Metro Vancouver continues to prepare for the impacts of a changing climate, such as increased flooding and drought, decreased snowpack, proliferation of invasive species and at least one metre of sea level rise by 2100. Regional Parks can help mitigate and adapt to these growing concerns.

Regional Parks Land Acquisition 2050 took a systematic, evidence-based approach to identifying land suitable for protection as a regional park. The result identifies the most regionally important unprotected natural areas that could be acquired for future new and expanded parks.