Seasons greetings!
I hope this holiday season has been a joyful and restorative time for you; the uncertainties of the past year have highlighted the importance of caring for our communities. This year our small team has been struck by the generosity and level of care our volunteers and supporters have shown toward our projects and programs.
In 2021, we were honoured to announce the protection of SISȻENEM (Halibut Island) and the landmark partnership agreement that will see title for the island transferred to the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council (WLC) as an act of reconciliation. A 9.67-acre island off the east coast of Sidney Island, SISȻENEM is a cultural and ecological jewel supporting Garry oak, arbutus, and Douglas fir woodlands, and open wildflower meadows. With three donors offering to match gifts, you – our generous supporters – raised more than $100,000 for the project to register a conservation covenant and complete restoration on the sections of the island impacted by the previous owner. Currently, our staff and WLC members are drafting the covenant that will incorporate Indigenous land management principles and provide access for cultural, education, research, and monitoring purposes.
In addition to this acquisition, earlier this year we registered a new conservation covenant on 16.49 acres of critical, provincially listed habitat and a significant wildlife corridor on southern Cortes Island. Expanding our protected areas on the island – now totalling 1,098 acres – the newly protected area links Hank’s Beach Forest Conservation Park to Poison Cove. Found within the Coastal Western Hemlock Xeric Maritime1 (CWHxm1) biogeoclimatic zone, the covenant area is dominated by mature forest. A total of seventeen species or ecological communities at risk as identified by the B.C. Conservation Data Center are found on the property including blue-listed Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias fannini), Northern Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora), and Wallace’s Selaginella/Reindeer Lichens (Selaginella wallacei/Cladina spp.).
To date we have raised more than $25,132 toward our fall goal of raising $30,000 towards TLC’s Covenant Program. Through the use of 247 conservation covenants we protect more than 12,000 acres of wetlands, riparian areas, and greenbelts as well as forests and wildlife corridors like those found on Cortes Island.
On behalf of TLC’s staff and board, thank you again for all of your support this year. We know that the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and B.C.’s storms have made this a difficult year for many TLC supporters. Despite all that you have been going through, you have made your concern for our critical ecosystems known with your gifts to TLC. If you are still planning on making your year-end gift, please visit our website www.conservancy.bc.ca/donate. Donations made online or postmarked December 31 are eligible for 2021 tax receipts.
Wishing you a safe and happy new year,
Cathy Armstrong
Executive Director
