A land-conservation organization has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise $415,000 to acquire 15 hectares of ecologically vulnerable habitat along the Little Qualicum River, including a salmon spawning river and old-growth forest.
The Nature Trust of British Columbia has an agreement to purchase the undisturbed land from the owner for $2 million. The non-profit organization says it has already raised 80 per cent of the purchase price through donations, grants and core funding, and has until April 30 to secure the remaining funds.
The Little Qualicum River flows through the land, providing spawning and rearing habitat for chinook, chum, steelheadand coho, with coastal cutthroat trout also found within the river, the group says.
The acquisition would be first on the river for the Nature Trust of B.C., which says purchasing the property will save it from future residential development or logging, both which are allowed under its current zoning.
“Salmon is such an iconic part of living in British Columbia. They play a pivotal role in the ecosystem, nourishing the species that live in the area and keeping the forests healthy,” said Dr. Jasper Lament, CEO of the Nature Trust. “We need salmon to help our local ecosystems thrive and protecting this area is an impactful step in the right direction.”
He notes that a salmon hatchery operates upstream and the smolts released every year will swim by the property as they make their way to the ocean for their first time.
When mature, they will return to the same river to spawn. The salmon are integral to the health of surrounding riparian and forest ecosystems, which provide habitat and breeding grounds for many at-risk and endangered bird, bat and dragonfly species, the group says.
The land, which contains older forests with scattered trees that have grown in the area for up to 250 years, sits in the coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone, one of B.C.’s most at-risk ecosystems. Only 11 per cent of this ecologically vulnerable habitat has been protected in B.C., the group says.
The sale will ensure its biodiversity and sensitive ecosystems will be protected for future generations, the Nature Trust says.
Since 1971, the Nature Trust of British Columbia and its partners have acquired more than 73,000 hectares of ecologically significant land in the province. In 2022, they completed 10 projects with a total project value of $20 million.
For more information, go to naturetrust.bc.ca. To donate, go to candahelps.org.
