SUBMITTED BY SSI CONSERVANCY
The Salt Spring Island Conservancy (SSIC) is celebrating 30 years of grassroots efforts to protect the island’s natural heritage. Since 1995, it has worked to acquire and manage ecologically valuable land, support landowners in becoming good stewards of their own land and provide public outreach programs.
Seven dedicated women shaped the Conservancy’s early years. They established the SSIC as a registered charitable organization and held the first board meeting on Jan. 13, 1995. Their first campaign was to protect the old-growth forest on Mill Farm, along Musgrave Road, a process that took two years. By 1997, the Conservancy had raised $192,000 for the CRD’s purchase of the land, was engaged in 16 other projects, and had launched its publication, The Acorn. During this period, the SSIC became the first conservancy in B.C. permitted to hold a conservation covenant on private land. Conservation covenants enable landowners to protect important ecological features on their land while continuing to own the land. This marked a major step for conservation in B.C., as previously, only government entities could hold these agreements.
In the late 1990s, as part of the efforts to protect the Texada lands from logging and to ultimately create Burgoyne Bay Provincial Park, the Conservancy played a pivotal role in protecting 263 acres of Maxwell Lake watershed lands.
By 2001, the fledgling organization had grown to where it needed an executive director. Public education initiatives were launched, including a guide for new island residents and a popular bird checklist. Soon thereafter, the Conservancy’s first nature reserves, Manzanita Ridge and the Andreas Vogt Nature Reserve, were created through the generosity of the landowners.
In 2004, volunteers spearheaded the Stewards in Training program, inspired by Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods. Twenty-one years later, the SSIC continues to offer this program, providing hands-on environmental education for island students in Grades K-7. That same year, the Conservancy received its first grant from the Government of Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program, supporting research on species at risk.
The Conservancy launched a Land Stewardship program in 2005 to provide advice to private landholders interested in learning how to be good stewards of their land. This free program involves an SSIC ecologist walking the land with the owner, preparing a report on the land and species observed, and providing stewardship recommendations.
Over the past 30 years, the Conservancy has established 11 nature reserves for islanders to enjoy, such as the popular Mount Erskine reserve (part of Mount Erskine Provincial Park) and the Blackburn Lake reserve, which protects an important water source. Creekside Rainforest reserve, a rare 15.5-acre parcel of coastal temperate rainforest near Beddis Beach, is one of the SSIC’s newest reserves.
In total, the Conservancy now protects more than 1,640 acres in 11 nature reserves and 19 private conservation covenants. However, its reserves are not financial assets it can draw on; they are lands to be held in perpetuity to conserve their ecological diversity and wildlife habitats. The Conservancy relies entirely on grants and donations to acquire, restore and manage these rare and valuable areas, as well as to provide education opportunities to children and its public workshops and presentations.
With this in mind, the Conservancy has launched a campaign to build an endowment fund, with a goal of $1,000,000, to provide a long-term foundation for its work. More information on how to support the SSIC’s mission can be found on their saltspringconservancy.ca/30th-anniversary website.
After three decades, the Salt Spring Island Conservancy remains true to the vision of its founders: ensuring that the island’s natural beauty is preserved for generations to come.