Conserving Our Island’s Rainforest
Here on Salt Spring Island is a rare coastal temperate rainforest. The air is cool and moist. It feels, smells, and looks different than the drier rainshadow landscape we are accustomed to on the Southern Gulf Islands. Yet, there is much more that makes this forest rare and special.
Fifteen and a half acres of this temperate rainforest, the Creekside Rainforest, are now the object of a conservation project. Cusheon Creek, one of the few salmon-bearing streams on Salt Spring Island, flows through the land. Local conservation groups have been working to protect Cusheon Creek for almost 40 years. In 2008, a community-led project resulted in the protection of a 19.5-acre adjoining parcel, Jarrod’s Grove Nature Reserve. The Conservancy now has the opportunity to acquire and protect 15.5 more acres of this unique ecosystem.
Concerned neighbours initiated the conservation efforts. In 2021, Susan Bloom, a supportive neighbour and donor to the project, said of Creekside Rainfo…
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