British Columbia

Project Location

BC Coastal Located between the City of Parksville and the nearby community of Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island in southwestern BC.

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Fact Sheet (PDF, 189 Kb)

Common Wildlife

Trumpeter Swans
Cougar
American Wigeon
Bald Eagle
Great Blue Heron
Herring
Steelhead
Mallard
Black Brant
Harlequin Duck
Bufflehead
Marten

In This Section

Englishman River Estuary

Highlights

The Englishman Estuary project complex now includes over 1000 hectares of shoreline between Parksville and Qualicum Beach. The Parksville area is a top Vancouver Island tourist destination, with scenic beaches and hundreds of small inland lakes and streams. The Englishman River itself is a noted steelhead fishing destination, and each year, thousands of visitors also come to view the spring brant migration and the spectacular wildlife viewing associated with herring spawning along the beaches.

This Pacific Estuary Conservation Program (PECP) project area serves as an example of government and non-government partnerships to cost-share the purchase of critical estuary habitats in a region of high real estate values, and to provide long term habitat security on it and adjacent crown lands.

Background

The Englishman River complex includes estuaries of many small creeks, sandy beaches and offshore eelgrass and kelp beds, all of which support thousands of migrant waterfowl and pacific salmon species. It is a key herring spawning area and the spring phenomenon attracts sea lions, marine birds such as Grebes, thousands of diving ducks such as Harlequin Ducks, Scaup, Scoters, and Black Brant headed towards arctic breeding grounds. Trumpeter Swans and Harlequin Ducks are common in winter, and Great Blue Herons and Bald Eagles nest throughout the area.

Community growth, however, has skyrocketed in the last decade, and coastal lowland habitats are under high threat in spite of a long-standing recognition of their values. In 1990, a residential development proposal for the center of the estuary (“Parksville Flats”) spurred Ducks Unlimited Canada and the other PECP partners to raise the dollars to purchase 55 hectares of marshes and forest. Since then PECP partners have cost-shared staff to manage this acquisition and ensure that conservation tenures were designated to protect the contiguous small estuaries, beach habitats and riparian areas of the region. The Parksville-Qualicum Wildlife Management Area (WMA) was declared over this area in 1993 and was revised April 2002 to include an additional 156 hectares of riparian habitats of the watershed of the Englishman River. The recent addition now connects it to Englishman River Falls Provincial Park 17 km upstream of the estuary.