(Mountain bike trail on Mount Prevost)
Trails require careful management to avoid biodiversity harm, report for North Cowichan warns
Mountain bikers, hikers, dogs and horses have different impacts
Inappropriate trail use can have a wide range of negative impacts, warns a draft biodiversity report for North Cowichan.
“Trails offer significant recreational benefits, but if not planned and managed carefully, they can have serious impacts on biodiversity,”says the Diamond Head Consulting report.
“Trails can alter wildlife behaviour, cause displacement, and fragment habitats. Disturbance levels increase with trail density, proximity to key habitats, and the intensity of use.”
Mountain bikers, hikers, dogs and horses can all degrade natural areas in different ways, says the report.
“Dogs often have a greater impact because they are perceived as predators, are frequently off-leash, and may roam off-trail or chase wildlife.” Fecal contamination is another issue.
Mountain biking tends to introduce higher speeds, and individuals cover a larger area compared to hiking, the report says.
“Trail construction and use can have significant impacts on plant communities. Ground vegetation is removed along the trail, which can spread to adjacent areas through trampling and the widening of tread surfaces.
“Additionally, tree roots can become exposed, particularly on steep or erodible slopes. This exposure can cause damage and allow decay to enter the root systems of nearby trees.”
Downhill biking can also lead to the creation of braking zones and corner berms, resulting in “increased soil displacement, erosion, and noise levels,” the report says.
In contrast, climbing routes for bikes tend to be narrower and generally cause less impact from skidding. Overall, the trail grade and riding style play significant roles in determining the ecological effects of mountain biking.
Hiking and walking typically cause moderate wear on trails; however, users are often prone to wandering off designated paths to take shortcuts or reach points of interest, such as streams.
(Foot-traffic damage, Stoney Hill)
“This behaviour can result in trampling of vegetation and disturbance of wildlife habitats. Although hikers tend to move at slower speeds and create predictable patterns of disturbance, the cumulative effects of heavy foot traffic can become significant over time.”
Equestrian activities create significant hoof pressure, which compacts soils, broadens tread surfaces, and heightens the risk of erosion, particularly on wetter soils where the structural integrity is already compromised, the report says.
In general, trails can lead to “soil compaction, which negatively affects root growth and water infiltration on the trail surface. Poorly designed or maintained trails often intercept and redirect surface water, resulting in issues such as incised trail treads, sediment delivery to creeks, widening of trail surfaces, and slope instability.
“Trails can change hydrology and introduce sedimentation in sensitive areas, leading to the loss of riparian vegetation, disruption of amphibian breeding habitats, bank erosion, and channel widening.”
Trails can also serve as pathways for the spread of non-native invasive plant species such as Himalayan blackberry, English holly, cherry laurel, and Scotch broom.
(Invasive Scotch broom on Maple Mountain clearcut)
The draft biodiversity report now goes to the Environmental Advisory Committee for further comment, with the final report back to council in June.
Read the draft plan: https://pub-northcowichan.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=22332
Note that the 5,000-hectare Municipal Forest Reserve — popularly known as the Six Mountains — is currently the subject of closed talks with Quw’utsun Nation on a joint-management agreement, and, as such, is not directly included in the biodiversity plan.
In 2023, however, Diamond Head Consulting reported that logging is a leading cause of biodiversity loss in coastal Douglas-fir forests — the dominant forest type in North Cowichan.
“Historical and current logging and development pressure continue to threaten these natural ecosystems.”
The report says the coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone is the “smallest and most at-risk” in the province.
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— Larry Pynn, Feb. 15, 2026
