Notes from the Market

Throughout the summer, a royal blue tent provides shade to Raincoast’s table at various farmers markets around the greater Victoria area. Traveling to the Esquimalt, Pender Islands, Peninsula Country, and Moss Street Markets, Raincoast’s Land Protection Intern, Paige Griffin, has been sharing information with the public about Raincoast’s many conservation projects, most specifically, the ongoing effort to secure the permanent protection of KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest. 

This initiative is a partnership between Raincoast and Pender Islands Conservancy, who together are working to raise $2.18 million to purchase 45 acres of intact Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) habitats on North Pender Island. The CDF biogeoclimatic zone, characteristic to the Gulf Islands and southeastern Vancouver Island, is the smallest and most biodiverse of 16 such zones in British Columbia, yet also the most threatened. 

Underneath the tent, on the table next to Raincoast brochures, there are belted Kingfisher felties, pins, postcards, and iron-on patches for sale, as well as extraordinary photographic prints of British Columbia’s beautiful landscapes and megafauna at a discounted market price (50% off). All proceeds go towards the KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest land protection campaign and the Southern Great Bear Rainforest tenure acquisition.

At the markets, the public enthusiasm has been amazing. People of all ages stop by to listen, learn, and support Raincoast. This has been a great way to increase awareness of Raincoast’s many campaigns. It has also been great to meet those who have continuously supported Raincoast for years, with many who have walked by and exclaimed “I have already donated!” 

Visit us at the markets

You can find Raincoast at the Moss Street Market on Saturday, August 6th from 10am-2pm and at the Esquimalt Farmers Market on Thursday, August 18th from 4:30-7:30pm. If you are in the area this summer, come stop by, say hello, take a brochure or make a purchase/donation. Your support contributes to an investment in our collective future. 

Please contact Raincoast’s Land Protection Intern, Paige Griffin (landprotection [at] raincoast [dot] org) if you have any questions or wish to make a contribution.

You can help

Raincoast’s in-house scientists, collaborating graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professors make us unique among conservation groups. We work with First Nations, academic institutions, government, and other NGOs to build support and inform decisions that protect aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and the wildlife that depend on them. We conduct ethically applied, process-oriented, and hypothesis-driven research that has immediate and relevant utility for conservation deliberations and the collective body of scientific knowledge.

We investigate to understand coastal species and processes. We inform by bringing science to decision-makers and communities. We inspire action to protect wildlife and wildlife habitats.