British Columbia

Project Location

BC Coastal Located on the east coast of Vancouver Island, adjacent to the City of Nanaimo.

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Fact Sheet (PDF, 194 Kb)

Common Wildlife

Trumpeter Swan
Cougar
American Wigeon
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Bald Eagle
Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose
All Pacific Salmon Species
Mallard

In This Section

Nanaimo River Estuary

Highlights

One of the largest estuaries on the east coast of Vancouver Island and a key intertidal feeding area for fish and wildlife using the Strait of Georgia.

A total of 8 Ducks Unlimited projects covering 180 hectares (440 acres), most of which is intertidal marshes (155 ha),adjacent farmland and treed habitats (25 ha).

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. The estuary lies along the highway access to the Duke Point ( Vancouver Island) ferry terminal and is a popular, easily accessible destination for recreational steelhead trout fishing and wildlife viewing.

Background

Industrial development, seaport activities, log storage and ferry terminal developments have all threatened this important waterfowl feeding area. In 1987, Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) partnered in the first land purchase of the Pacific Estuary Conservation Program to set aside nearly half of the intertidal marshes of the estuary for conservation.

Six project areas are now under management, with land secured through a combination of crown land reserves, land acquisitions and negotiated land transfers during the development of the ferry terminal access roads. These holdings include a mix of farmland, dyked marshlands and intertidal marshes and mudflats. Some tidal marshland had been dyked for use as livestock pasture in the early 1900's, and a 1988 DUC restoration project involved the removal of sections of low dykes in these areas to allow the re-establishment of more natural tidal flows and vegetation.

The Nanaimo estuary is ideally located habitat for Pacific Flyway migrant waterfowl and other waterbirds. Immediately to the south of the estuary lies a combination of farmland and small wetlands of the Cedar Peninsula. Over-wintering swans frequently move between the estuary and the adjacent farmland areas. The estuary is also important to BC salmon fishery as it supports all 7 Pacific salmon species at various stages of their life cycles.