A parcel of the Bilston Creek watershed in Metchosin has been protected from creeping development and turned into a nature reserve.
Morgan Yates, vice president of the Metchosin Foundation, said that the BC Parks Foundation bought 13 hectares of the Bilston Creek watershed, protecting it as a nature reserve.
“We want to ensure for our kids and our grandkids that the waterfall still works. This marks the very first step in an exciting multi-year journey that will connect habitats in the Bilston Creek headwaters to those located at the seashore,” said Yates.
The Metchosin Foundation is partnering with the BC Parks Foundation to oversee the land.
Almost two-thirds of the Bilston Creek watershed, which in its entirety is 3,129 hectares, is located within Metchosin. The newly protected land includes dry Coastal Douglas-fir forest and plenty of diverse wildlife including cougars, bears and elk.
The BC Parks Foundation is now the land title holder of the 13 hectares. CEO Andy Day says that the purchase and protection of this land couldn’t come soon enough.
“There’s just less and less space for nature and for wildlife and the more that we can protect these areas, the more chance that they have to survive into the future,” said Day.
This purchase all came to be thanks to a local family, and a cold call.
“When we approached them with a cold call, they started thinking about that legacy outcome, and then we put the pieces together working in collaboration with the BC Parks Foundation,” Yates said.
The Metchosin Foundation will be more of a hands-on partner focusing on public engagement and searching for more land to protect surrounding their new 13-hectare plot.
The amount the land was purchased for couldn’t be disclosed, according to the Metchosin Foundation.
The nature reserve will be closed to the public, allowing nature to flourish.
Tchadas Leo
