Bilston~Latoria Watershed Good Neighbours Project 2011
Update Sept 2011: 50 private land care visits completed around Bilston Creek! Visited landowners can expect follow up email prescriptions and snail mail materials this fall.
Calling all volunteers! Help Ian McKenzie and the Bilston Creek crew to restore a section of Martin Brook where they have done work to help the native cutthroat trout.
Visit their web page for info: http://bilstoncreek.org/martin/planting2011.htm
This year HAT's ongoing Good Neighbours Project focused on the watersheds draining to the Witty's Lagoon and Albert Head areas in the Western Communities.
Locals know that Metchosin is full of Garry oak meadows, older Douglas-fir forests, trout streams, and the incredible Witty's Lagoon Regional Park bordering the Juan de Fuca Strait. HAT and our local partner groups offered free family events at Witty's Beach and other amazing places in the Bilston Creek area this summer. We visited landowners who wanted to learn more about their land and how to protect some of Canada's rarest and endangered ecosystems.
Do you live in the area shown on the map below? You may be eligible for a free and confidential land care visits with HAT biologist Todd Carnahan.
Thank you to our funders: Van City, Habitat Conservation Trust Fund and BC Gaming
This year's events included:
March 11 - Invasive plant workshop for Westmont Elementary School. Students are adopting Ruby Creek that flows into Witty's Lagoon.
March 18 - Species at Risk in Metchosin presentation by HAT biologists Todd Carnahan and Kristiina Ovaska. Metchosin Municipal Hall. Snakes! Turtles! Blue Slugs!
April 16 - HAT booth at Westshore Mall with the Bilston Watershed Habitat Protection Association.
April 16 & 17 - Swan Lake Native Plant Sale Saturday and Sunday - free Native Plant Guide
April 17 - Gardening with Nature (10am -12 | Guided Walk) featuring HAT biologist Todd Carnahan and CRD Parks interpreter Heather Chatwin at Witty's Lagoon - recieve a free copy of Gardening with Native Plants! to register: 250 995 2428
April 17 - Witty's Beach Clean Up (1:30 to 3pm) Meet at end of Witty's Beach Rd. Contact person: Todd (250) 893 6099.
April 21 - Earth Day at City Centre Park in Langford! Off the Grid Music and Art Festival
April 30 - Metchosin Bioblitz! Metchosin residents will conduct a 24 hour search for life in their neighbourhoods. Featuring local experts on birds, bugs, bats, and blackberries! Presentations starting at 7pm in the Municipal Hall summarizing their findings. Visit the HAT table at the Community House for hot tips on where to find turtles and other species in Metchosin parks.
Tuesday, July 5 - Marine Day at Witty’s Lagoon Regional Park
Sunday, July 17 - A Taste of Wonderful Witty’s at Witty’s Lagoon Regional Park
Saturday, July 23 - Firehall Creek enhancement at Luxton Fairgrounds
August 27th - Havenwood Park Restoration
Twenty-five habitat stewards volunteered their time on August 27th to learn about the Park's habitats and how to care for them. Local neighbours are working towards a "Friends of Havenwood Park" group to provide ongoing assistance to this park's furry and feathered friends. HAT staff, Colwood Parks staff, and locals removed invasive and noxious invasive species and explored the beauty of the park, which is protected by a HAT conservation covenant.
Havenwood Park is a 16.5 hectare (40 acre) parcel of land located in Colwood, British Columbia. The park has complex topography, comprised of moderately to steeply sloped hillsides with an elevation range of 100m to 165m above sea level. It contains bedrock outcrop Garry Oak ecosystems, wetland/riparian habitat, permanent/ephemeral watercourses and a mixed cover of second growth coniferous and deciduous trees.
Sunday, September 11th - Metchosin Day - Community Celebrations! HAT is hosted by the Metchosin Environmental Advisory Committee at the Municipal Hall site.
Saturday, Sept 17th - Super Dog Day at Witty's Lagoon Regional Park
Sunday, Sept 18th - native plant workshop at Down to Earth Nursery, Happy Valley Road 11:30 am. Freee plant guide
Sunday Sept 18th - Visit the HAT booth at Luxton Fairgrounds between the midway and the 4x4 truck challenge
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In 2010 HAT completed the Cordova Shore Good Neighbours project
Last summer HAT’s award-winning Good Neighbours Project went to the beach! We helped over 40 residents in the Island View area care for the rare and beautiful habitats of the
Land Care Visits
Landowners on the east side of the Saanich Peninsula, particularly those within five kilometres of Island View Beach, TIXEN Spit, or Tetayut ("Shady") Creek, were eligible to receive a habitat information package, plus a free and confidential visit by our staff biologist. We helped residents identify and solve many common land management problems including invasive weeds, erosion, drainage, and pest issues. Residents living in or near sensitive natural habitats appreciated our simple and effective suggestions for protecting the natural values of their land and local parks.
More Information about Cordova Shore/TIXEN
Although the
The CRD has recently announced a park expansion of 10 hectares, however the amount of protected natural area remains small and is particularly vulnerable to land-use changes, such as water contamination, invasive weeds, and soil erosion. As a result, the future of many species within the park, the reserve, and the surrounding area will depend on the land use decisions of nearby private property owners. HAT’s engagement in conversation with landowners this summer is in hopes of helping neighbours to improve property management for all of the area’s sensitive natural habitats.
For event details, your habitat info package, a land care visit, or to volunteer for conservation activities:
please contact Todd Carnahan 250.995.2428 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Thanks to our funders who made the 2010 Good Neighbours project possible:
EcoAction (Environment Canada); the Province of BC; Walmart-Evergreen Green Grant; RBC Foundation Blue Water Project; and Shell Environment Fund.
About HAT's Good Neighbours projects
There are many initiatives in the Capital Regional District (CRD) working to protect a rich diversity of habitats, but habitats that are “protected” are still vulnerable to many threats. These protected areas become "islands" in a sea of agriculture, development, or resource extraction. There is an unusually high percentage of privately owned land in the CRD, and unrelenting development pressure; voluntary land stewardship is a vital and cost-effective method of protecting natural resources.
Ecosystems rarely follow the boundaries of parks and protected areas; typically, park boundaries cut through ecosystems, and residential development occurs around the protected area. Private landowners can enhance habitat protection by creating or conserving habitat on their properties. The integrity of the entire ecosystem can be harmed by activity on neighbouring private land – conversely, good land stewardship on privately owned land adjacent to protected areas could enhance habitat protection. HAT works with property owners to provide them with information and practical advice to be "Good Neighbours" to these protected areas, enhancing wildlife habitat and the viability of these ecosystems over time.
