If you’re looking for ways to show support for old growth forests, this is for you!
The Nature Trust of British Columbia, one of the province’s leading non-profit land conservation organizations, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to protect coastal rainforests on Denman Island.
They’ve been presented with the opportunity to purchase 38.7 hectares (95.6 acres) of mature Coastal Douglas-fir forest on Denman Island, which is close to the town of Comox on Vancouver Island and is within the K’ómoks First Nation traditional territory.
In order to do so, they are hoping to raise $1 million by the end of the year to ensure that it will never be sold or developed, and will instead become a part of the area adjacent to the Denman Conservancy Association conservation site called Central Park and the Denman Island Provincial Park and Protected Area.
“The Denman Island-Coastal Rainforest is an ecological powerhouse and provides tremendous benefits to wildlife, people, and our planet,” said Dr. Jasper Lament, CEO of The Nature Trust of BC.
In addition to the young and mature trees interspersed with wetlands and open areas, it also houses a number of different bird, butterfly, and bat species as well as Denman Island’s largest Class A salmon spawning stream, Beadnell Creek.
This ecosystem is described to have its own unique combination of climate, plants, and animal life—both mild and wet, which classifies the area as a part of the Moist Maritime Coastal Douglas fir-biogeoclimatic subzone.
This kind of subzone contains some of the rarest ecosystems in British Columbia, but only 11.5 percent is protected provincially.
“It is so important that we join together to protect these vital ecosystems and combat climate change and biodiversity loss,” Dr. Lament said.
“Not only do mature forests provide clean air and cooler temperatures, they provide breeding and foraging habitat for mammals, birds, and invertebrates.”
If you wish to support The Nature Trust of BC in purchasing and protecting the Denman Island-Coastal Rainforest, you can donate to their campaign here.
Nature Trust has been conserving land in BC for over fifty years and has protected more than 180,000 acres (73,000 hectares) of ecologically significant land with its partners and has secured more than 500 conservation properties.
As described in the release, they must have the funds raised by the end of 2023.
