The story of SPAET Cave, British Colombia, Canada
SPAET Cave was a karst cave located on privately owned land near Victoria, the capital city of the Province of British Columbia. Beyond its natural attributes, the small cave had considerable historical, cultural, aesthetic, scientific and educational value. In particular, elders and other informed members of local First Nations had articulated the spiritual value and cultural meaning of the cave site. SPAET Cave was ultimately destroyed by land development activities authorised by government entities, seriously harming British Columbia's evolving reputation for cave conservation and environmental stewardship. While primary forestry activities in British Columbia may no longer pose as great a threat to cave and karst resources as they once did, population growth and urban sprawl have placed SPAET Cave and other caves on privately owned lands in the Greater Victoria area at risk from land development activities. The SPAET Cave site came into conflict with a $5 billion development project described as the largest of its kind in British Columbia, with two major hotels, two golf courses and plans for 5,500 homes.
This paper examines the application of existing legislation, regulations, policies and practice guidelines in the case of SPAET Cave. There are currently no provisions in provincial legislation to require protection or special management for caves on privately owned lands in British Columbia, except by special circumstance. BC also has a comprehensive set of voluntary best practice guidelines for urban and rural land development. These guidelines recognise caves as environmentally valuable and sensitive resources. The story of SPAET Cave will illustrate why private land developers in British Columbia cannot always be relied upon to automatically or voluntarily protect and conserve valuable and sensitive caves or karst resources. While the story of SPAET Cave is not exactly a new one for British Columbia, it is hoped resolving the problems discussed in this paper will make it easier to avoid future cave losses