NANAIMO — Strong community support saved over 100 acres of forests, wetlands, estuaries, and shoreline in Deep Bay.
The BC Parks Foundation announced on Monday, Nov. 2, the final monetary amount has been raised to purchase 122.5 acres of property west of Deep Bay, north of Qualicum Beach, with donors already raising much of the $4M price tag.
Both the Comox Valley Land Trust (CVLT) and the Nanaimo & Area Land Trust (NALT) each committed $50,000 each, with $395,000 outstanding when they called for more donations in September.
Additional funding came from the Denman Conservancy Association, among other sources.
The newly protected 122.5 acres sit beside an 83-acre property already conserved by the BC Parks Foundation. (Image Credit: BC Parks Foundation)
The purchase connects more than 4,300 acres of protected lands to Baynes Sound, creating a “continuous conservation corridor from inland forests to the Salish Sea,” executive director of the CVLT Tim Ennis said previously.
Andy Day, CEO of BC Parks, said conservation efforts like this take years of planning and advocacy to make a reality.
“The CVLT had its eye on this property for more than a decade. The NALT joined the effort, the Wilson 5 Foundation and our donors stepped up, and the community came together to make it happen. Thanks to that shared effort, this coastline and the wildlife that depends on it will benefit for generations.”
The release said the property’s former owners, who have been on the land for generations, are “delighted that this special stretch of undeveloped coastline will remain protected.”
More information can be found here at the BC Parks Foundation website, or at the CVLT or the Nanaimo Area Land Trust websites.
BC Parks Foundation
— with files from Jon de Roo, 97.3 FM The Eagle.
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