The last Garry oak meadow on Victoria’s harbour is quietly protected by a small group of volunteers who pull and lop invasive plants in the Matson Conservation Area near the Westsong Walkway.
“Garry oaks are among the most endangered ecosystems in Canada,” said Lesley Marian Neilson, from the Nature Conservancy of Canada, which helps facilitate conservation activities around the region — though rarely in the urban areas.
“We still have this one-hectare patch [near the harbour], but it used to all look like this.”
About a dozen volunteers in garden gloves and boots hacked at English ivy and Himalayan blackberry roots in the tall, dry grass and tree savannah below the Swallow’s Landing condominiums in Esquimalt on Wednesday.
For many years, the Friends of Matson Lands took care of this area. In 2005, Mandalay Developments gave the small piece of land to the Habitat Acquisition Trust as part of its condo development plan. The conservation group has since brought volunteers and other organizations in to maintain the ecosystem throughout the year.
“Matson is a great place to be close to nature in the city,” said Todd Carnahan, property manager for HAT. Wildflowers and camas bloom along the bluff in the spring, and the spot offers a picturesque view of the Inner Harbour and the white-tipped Olympic Mountains.
Visitors might also spot deer, blue heron, purple martin and dozens of species of plants and trees in the meadow.
“This area has more than natural values,” Carnahan said, pointing out camas, an edible bulb-flower that was a food staple of local First Nations, and a forested ravine. He said the Garry oak meadows also drew Sir James Douglas to establish a fort in the Inner Harbour, rather than a more convenient area in Esquimalt.
“The oak trees reminded them of home,” he said. “It looked like paradise to them compared to the dense coniferous trees on the coast.”
The Matson lands were originally owned by Henry Croft, son-in-law of Island coal baron Robert Dunsmuir. They were sold to Samuel Matson, a former publisher of the Daily Colonist, in the mid-1900s, then bequeathed by his wife to the Salvation Army.
Now, one of the most dedicated volunteers is a resident at the Swallow’s Landing development.
“It’s kind of my front yard,” said Allan Reid, as he worked up a sweat filling bags with prickly blackberry bits. Reid retired in Victoria after working in construction in Alberta. For the past five summers, he has spent a few hours a week helping to remove invasive species from the savannah below his building.
“It used to be covered in broom and blackberry bushes,” he said, nodding toward the cleared meadow. “In the spring, it’s a wash of wildflowers. It’s really something.”
Habitat Acquisition Trust and the Nature Conservancy offer opportunities for volunteers of all ages and abilities to help preserve areas in and around Victoria.
• For more information, go to natureconservancy.ca/bc and hat.bc.ca.
