February 21

Twenty joined this ASK Salt Spring gathering about the islands ecology and the challenges it faces. Organized and facilitated by Julie Thomson, an international conservation specialist (as well as just elected ASK Salt Spring Society Board member), we welcomed: 

• David Denning, Nature Salt Spring;
• Kathleen Maser, Nature Salt Spring as well as BC Nature Kids;
• Deborah Miller, Native Plant Stewardship Working Group of Transition Salt Spring; 
• Dr Tara Martin, UBC professor and Salt Spring Island Conservancy Board member; and 
• Rachel Bevington, Wetland Restoration Coordinator for the Stqeeye’ Learning Society.

After our Territorial Acknowledgement, each of our guests introduced themselves and their work, beginning with David, a film-maker, photographer, naturalist, and science educator. He told us about Nature Salt Spring (https://www.naturesaltspring.org/membership), a volunteer organization established four years ago to educate and inspire Salt Spring Islanders to better understand, appreciate, and protect our natural ecosystems through action and advocacy. 

He spoke about his European ancestry and how settlers overwhelmed the first peoples in North America who had – and continue to have – a relationship with nature. He reminded us that it is challenging for most modern cultures to develop these relationships with nature, which is complex, diverse, and remarkably interconnected. Instead, we are lured and distracted by an abundance of objects, tools, ideas, and media. To help us reconnect, Nature Salt Spring provides nature walks, natural history presentations, immersive nature study/reclamation opportunities, and other nature-focused events. Nature Salt Spring also partners with the Salt Spring Island Conservancy and other nature groups to excite and inform Islanders about our natural ecosystems and engage them in nature reclamation projects.

Kathleen, also a member of Nature Salt Spring, is the organisation’s liaison with our provincial affiliate, BC Nature with the motto that also resonates deeply with the aims of Nature Salt Spring: “To know nature and to keep nature worth knowing.” Kathleen has taken the lead connecting Salt Spring’s families and children with nature with activities ranging from seeds to bats and birds. She described how NatureKids BC (https://naturekidsbc.ca/) supports us locally with advertising and activities, such as Explorer Days. 

Kathleen spoke with passion about the joys of introducing our natural world to our children, also of the sadness that our wildlife is quickly disappearing. Adding to her pleasure working with our children, she appreciates the impact these children by involving their busy parents, creating that space for families to share the wonders of Salt Spring’s nature.

Before closing the segment on Nature Salt Spring, participants learned about its:

• Community science projects involving keystone species such as bats, sea stars, and herring; 
• Vision to establish a Salt Spring Island Nature Centre; and 
• Plans to work together with other groups to create hands-on, eyes-on features around Salt Spring, such as native plant pollinator gardens.

Deborah spoke about Transition Salt Spring (TSS) with its plethora of programs to mitigate and adapt to climate change. She also spoke of her longtime work with the Native Plant Stewardship Working Group of TSS: (https://transitionsaltspring.com/get-involved-2/native-plant-stewardship/). Committed to removing invasives to allow our native species to again thrive, this Working Group was established in 2009, one of four independent Working Groups supported by TSS. We learned that TSS welcomes new Working Groups, each of which have a high degree of autonomy as well as the benefits of a large organisation, including a welcoming $250, insurance, administrative support, and access to the thousands of TSS members. 

Deborah is pleased that a major effort of this Working Group, the Invasive Drop Off, has  recently been taken over by Farmland Trust volunteers. They will be supported by a Local Community Commission Grant-in-Aid for $3,500.

While Native Plant Stewardship volunteers are glad to pass on the Invasive Drop Off chipping events, they continue with important a number of vital projects including: 

• Support of No Ivy League, https://gulfislandsdriftwood.com/no-ivy-league-helpers-welcomed/), an on-gong project to rid Mouat Park of English ivy. All are welcome to join the battle against this pervasive invasive from 10-noon the first Saturday and the last Tuesday of each month. 
• A demonstration project along Long Harbour Road (look for the signs) where all broom and other invasives have been removed. Stop and appreciate the native plants that are slowly gaining a foothold again. 
• Another demonstration project on Miles Road off Beddis where a tarp is being used to smother all invasive yellow flag iris (https://bcinvasives.ca/invasives/yellow-flag-iris/). When all have disappeared, the tarp will be moved to another location, slowing removing this prevalent invasive from the area. 

Rachel told us about the Stqeeye’ Learning Society, largely comprised of the youth of the descendants of the George family of Duncan. We learned that the Society, with an all-Indigenous board of nine members that reside in Duncan and on Salt Spring, was formed in 2017. Its primary focus is Xwaaqw’um, ancestral land of the George family who stewarded the land until 1856. While the unceded land changed ownership through settler colonisation, the family has remained dedicated to Xwaaqw’um. She spoke of the extraordinary experience of bringing elders and youth back together to work on the land, creating employment, and forging bonds.

As the Wetland Restoration Coordinator, she is charged with restoring 14 hectares of Xwaaqw’um wetlands (https://www.stqeeye.ca/wetland-restoration). She explained that, after 1856, the land had been dammed and farmed, losing the ecological benefits of wetlands, becoming, instead, an agricultural carbon producer. 

Rachel spoke of the many comprehensive soil and hydrology studies being conducted to better understand this damaged land, currently unable to support its former plenitude of wildlife; unable to retain water; and unable to support the native plants once thriving there. She noted that the studies are to create smart actions and not just reactive science but adaptive management.

An exciting project in exciting times, for Rachel, it is also a very scary time with a very clear disconnect between what was, what is, and what could be.  

Tara, a lifelong Salt Springer, credits her decision to pursue a career in conservation science with her love of the Salish Sea. Dr Martin is a UBC Professor in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences as well as the first Liber Ero Conservation Chair (https://www.taramartin.org/), dedicated to bridging the gap between research, conservation policy, and action. She is also a Salt Spring Conservancy (https://saltspringconservancy.ca/) Board member, carrying on the dedicated work of her mother, Donna Martin. 

Tara told us that in 2022, Canada, along with 195 other countries, adopted the protection of 30% of our land and waters as a global minimum https://www.cbd.int/gbf). Salt Spring has some level of protection for 23% of its land and waters. As a community proud of its ecological commitment, it was a surprise to participants that we are lagging far behind global minimums. 

Tara also told us of the evolving philosophy of conservation. She explained that our islands’ forests, meadows, and surrounding oceans have lost much of their biological diversity and abundance over the past 15 years. Not long ago, it was assumed that land should be acquired, locked up, and left untouched. Today this “Fortress Conservation” is recognized as dangerous and yet another form of land theft from Indigenous Peoples. Instead, we must recognize that ecosystems in the Salish Sea evolved with Indigenous stewardship over millennia and their restoration and conservation will require active stewardship and partnerships with First Nations. With such stewardship, we have a chance of revitalizing and restoring thriving ecosystems across the Salish Sea including forests and meadows that once supported an abundance of food, medicine, fiber, and wildlife.

It is Tara’s conviction that the seriousness of our ecological challenges requires us to use science to help inform action. As an example, she spoke of the clear scientific evidence supporting the need to move quickly to address the overpopulation of black-tailed deer on Salt Spring and surrounding Gulf Islands. As result of over half a century with low levels of hunting or predation from wolves and cougars, Salt Spring’s deer population is an estimated 4,000-6,000, 10 times what it should be for a healthy balance of vegetation and other wildlife, like songbirds and bumblebees, to thrive. With this overpopulation, the health of the deer themselves is also compromised making them more susceptible to parasites and viruses. 

Tara explained that there are multiple threats impacting the ecology of the islands – called cumulative threats. And, while we cannot successfully address all the threats and climate challenges impacting the Salish Sea, we can address many! Tara’s team of scientists are collecting and analyzing data across the region and finding solutions to identify the best suites of actions to recover biodiversity and ensure ecological resilience. For example, her team’s research suggests that partnership with local First Nations to steward deer – including hunting and the resulting food, hide provision – is one of the most efficient and effective solutions. 

Later in our conversation, our experts were asked to identify the one action they would select to be the most helpful to our natural species. While there was some support for a focus on keystone species, like bats and herring, there was a great deal of support for addressing deer overpopulation as this was seem as one of the most important and feasible actions. 

We were reminded that this action is not only about stewarding healthy deer populations but also about healthy forests and meadows. In the few deer-free exclosures that have been constructed on Salt Spring (Salt Spring Conservancy Andreas Vogt Nature Reserve https://saltspringconservancy.ca/protect/nature-reserves/andreas-vogt/)and Xwaaqw’um Our Grandmothers’ Garden P’hwulhp (Garry Oak) Restoration Project (https://www.stqeeye.ca/phwulhp), the understory of ecologically and culturally significant food plants like Garry Oaks, camas, chocolate lilies, fawn lilies, and seablush are recovering. This healthy understory supports pollinators, birds, alligator lizards, and water retention, markedly different from the overgrazed and unhealthy meadows and forests throughout much of Salt Spring. 

How will Salt Springers react? Will they support an initiative to steward deer and recover thriving native plant and animals communities, while also supporting food sovereignty? Or will they be horrified, yelling “Bambi!” in anguish? 

Our conversation progressed to an issue even closer to home for many: cats and dogs. While feral cats are a huge problem, we were also told with certainty that our “sweet, gentle” cats, if allowed outdoors, kill birds and other native species. Are you shocked to learn that cats are responsible for between 100-350 million bird deaths a year in Canada? Did you know that cats allowed to roam at night hunt bats, often able to jump up to 15 feet into the air to catch a bat?

And dogs. . . while many are not predators, even their play disturbs native species. An example was the difficulty nesting oystercatchers experience with their shallow nests vulnerable to cavorting dogs. And poop bags. . . ! Not only are these biodegradable, flaking bags the worst of the plastics, but most poop ends up in landfills, generating planet-warming methane. This savvy group of environmentalists were asked to come up with a better solution than poop bags in landfills. What about exploring dog poop composters for home and CRD park use? More later. . . . 

As our time together was drawing to a close, a participant asked about our privately-owned forests. Some were shocked that a landowner can still legally clearcut their land. A participant recalled her horror when, while walking with a friend near an enormous tree, this friend commented that it was worth at least $40,000. The appropriate comment was that it is worth far more than $40,000 standing, healthy, supporting multitudes of other species, and sequestering carbon. Did you know that old forests sequester and store significantly more carbon than young forests? 

We learned from Tara that privately-owned forests have, and continue to, suffer egregious damage. But, we do have good information about our island’s forests. An analysis by Tara and her team using LiDAR reveals that Salt Spring has 9,820 trees over 50 metres, 317 trees over 60 metres, and six trees over more than 70 metres. The majority of forests on Salt Spring are second or third growth with very few Old Growth (>250 years old). Of these 9,820 big trees, 56% are located on private lands and have no form of protection from being cut down. Half of the tallest trees are located on five properties. Do we have the public will to protect these precious giants? Tara added that small-scale sustainable forestry is possible on the island but we must work together to ensure both thriving forests for biological diversity and carbon sequestration along with a sustainable timber supply.  

Our time together over, Rachel reminded us that it is possible for our ecological diversity to return to its former richness, but only with the will to change the entire closed loop of ecological health: Planting trees, for example, is only a small part of the loop, ineffective without addressing the entire healthy cycle. 

With sincere acknowledgement for an amazing few hours with our expert guests, we lauded their dedication, wisdom, optimism, and willingness to act to begin that long road back to a healthy Salt Spring ecosystem. (Thank-you David, Kathleen, Deborah, Rachel, and Tara, – and Julie for making it all happen!)  

Want to get involved? Check out these upcoming events and opportunities. 

And, don’t forget to volunteer, and donate!

1) Tribute to Greenland, Thursday, March 6, 7pm, Lions Hall (Doors open at 6:30pm) Come savour spectacular Greenland photography and stories from Salt Spring’s internationally recognized adventure photographers, Pat and Rosemarie Keough. This Nature Salt Spring special presentation will reveal the amazing geography and people of Greenland in the context of climate change and the current political ripples. (Admission, $10 donation and FREE for children and Nature Salt Spring Members).

2) BC Bat Ambassador Training, Sunday, April 13 1-3:30 pm, site to be determined. This training will prepare you to participate in Nature Salt Spring’s Community Science Bat Project coming up this spring. This training is open to all Nature Salt Spring Members. For more information and to become a member, see http://NatureSaltSpring.org. Also check this site for upcoming spring events. 

3) The No-Ivy League meets in Mouat Park the first Saturday and the last Tuesday of each month between 10 am and 12 pm, with Saturday, March 1 the next opportunity to join us. Bring gloves and bring secateurs, if possible. Good feelings of achievement and friendship guaranteed – See you there!

4) Woody Invasive Drop-Off. There will be three invasive drop off opportunities this spring. For dates and times, watch the TSS Native Plant Stewardship site:(https://transitionsaltspring.com/get-involved-2/native-plant-stewardship/), or call Debra at 250 537-4797..

Want to learn more? Tara was interviewed by CHiR.fm‘s Damian Inwood after our ASK Salt Spring gathering. Listen to this interview as well as many more at ASK Salt Spring Answered (https://open.spotify.com/show/14aIItcouBw3unc5ZtgPDL).