S,DÁYES Flycatcher Forest

S,DÁYES Flycatcher Forest is a 13 acre conservation property located on S,DÁYES (Pender Island) , WSÁNEĆ Territory.

Photo by Alex Harris /
Raincoast Conservation Foundation.

The campaign to protect S,DÁYES Flycatcher Forest

In November 2020, Raincoast partnered with the Pender Islands Conservancy to co-purchase a conservation property on S,DÁYES. Despite planning for a six-month fundraising campaign, we secured the required purchase amount in less than three months.

Behind the name: S,DÁYES Flycatcher Forest

Globally, bird populations are in significant decline.1 2 Olive-sided Flycatchers are among the bird species federally listed as threatened, predominantly due to habitat loss. These birds, in particular, find their homes in the fringes of forests bordering wetlands, and these interface ecosystems on the Gulf Islands are among the few places these birds are thriving. As a species linking forests and wetlands, the Flycatcher was chosen as the land’s namesake. 

Though the Flycatcher was chosen to symbolize the importance of preserving intact habitat, the placename, S,DÁYES, recognizes the WSÁNEĆ people who have known Pender Islands as home since time immemorial. In SENĆOŦEN, S,DÁYES means “wind drying,” which refers to drying salmon.3 This was the name given to what is now widely known as North Pender Island prior to settler arrival in the area.

About the land

S,DÁYES Flycatcher Forest is populated by an assemblage of ecosystems characteristic to the Coastal Douglas-fir zone. It is part of the Shingle Creek wildlife corridor, which also includes land protected within Parks Canada’s Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. The forest shows a legacy of logging, as most forests across the Gulf Islands do, with large fir stumps standing as evidence of the mature forest that once occupied this regenerating system.

Today, maturing Western redcedar and coastal Douglas-fir trees dominate the forest’s canopy, while stands of peeling arbutus occupy the higher elevation slopes at the property’s edges. A forested swamp, now colloquially known as Muskrat Pond, at the north-western corner of the property supports populations of riparian plant species including oceanspray, bigleaf maple, and red alder. Over 50 bird, 4 bat, and a number of amphibian species, including iconic Pacific chorus frogs, call S,DÁYES Flycatcher Forest home. 

Support restoration work

The future

S,DÁYES Flycatcher Forest is the first property purchased by Raincoast with the intention of healing the land and securing its long-term protection with a conservation covenant. Raincoast is working with our property co-owners, the Pender Islands Conservancy,  to develop a management and restoration plan for the land. Once a management plan is established, we will register a covenant on the land title. Active restoration and education projects are often underway at S,DÁYES Flycatcher Forest, which to date have included native species planting, removing invasive species (particularly Daphne laurel), and creating a native plant meadow. 

donate towards restoration

This campaign was made possible due to the  support of many individuals and organizations, including:

  • Greater Victoria Savings Credit Union
  • Sitka Foundation
  • McLean Foundation
  • Pollinator Partnership
  • Habitat Conservation Trust Fund

Sponsors & supporters

  • Sitka Foundation logo.
  • The McLean Foundation logo.
  • GVSCU Legacy Foundation logo.
  • Public Conservation Assistance Fund logo.
  • Pollinator Partnership logo.
Marlie Van Roy lifts a canoe in preparation for departure.
Notes from the field

Community-based science and communing with the coast

“Rain’s supposed to come down even harder this afternoon,” says our Skipper Murray ‘Moose’ Barton and we lower the canoe into the water…
A clear day in Active Pass.
Notes from the field

Getting the next generation of Salish Sea stewards back to school

As scientists we learn from each other, our Indigenous partners, the wildlife we study and the youth we engage. For over 15 years, as guests of the Heiltsuk Nation, Raincoast staff scientists have supported the development of local youth as future stewards…
A Raincoast scientist walks through the tall grass to get to the shores of the Lower Fraser for salmon testing.
Events

Celebrating wild salmon conservation with Michael Snyder, April Bencze and guests

Join us September 13th at Patagonia Vancouver for food, music, photography and stories that celebrate the foundation of the coast. Music by Rick Buckman Coe. Stories by April Bencze. Photos and more by Michael Snyder ….
A black bear stares out from the intertidal zone on the BC coast.
In the media

Chris Darimont explains “achievement” and hunter satisfactions in carnivore hunting

On August 29, Dr. Chris Darimont joined Pamela McCall on CFAX 1070. They discussed new research that can help shed light on what satisfies hunters and some of the implications for carnivore hunting in BC…
A grizzly bear sits down in the shallow water on the BC Coast.
Investigate and inform

New research gives insight into the minds of hunters

Research from Raincoast and UVic has shed new light on what satisfies hunters. Reporting in the Wildlife Society Bulletin, we found that appreciation of nature and affiliation are common, but less pronounced ‘satisfactions’ expressed by hunters.
Misty MacDuffee and Wiet van Bragt survey the Fraser River in the lower mainland.
Notes from the field

How a Dutchman found himself knee-deep in Fraser River mud

We used several techniques to catch the tiny salmon. We purse seined for them on the flats of the estuary in Georgia Strait, we beach seined along the shoreline of the river delta, and we set up fyke nets in the side channels of the river mouth…
Measuring a Chinook salmon on the lower Fraser river.
Investigate and inform

Alaskans close fisheries to protect BC Chinook salmon, while Canada fishes on

There are just as many warning signs that Chinook (spring) salmon in British Columbia are also returning in poor numbers. So why does Canada take a much greater risk with its salmon fisheries than Alaska? Fisheries on the Nass, Skeena and Fraser Rivers…
Achievement is the kind of satisfaction that is most prominent for hunters.
Scientific literature

Research: online hunting forums identify achievement as prominent among multiple satisfactions

Researchers from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation and the University of Victoria have shed new light on what satisfies hunters. Reporting in the peer-reviewed journal Wildlife Society Bulletin, they found that the dominant satisfaction expressed in online hunting stories is achievement…

Notes and references

  1.  BirdLife. (2022). State of the world’s birds 2022: Insights and solutions for the biodiversity crisis. https://www.birdlife.org/papers-reports/state-of-the-worlds-birds-2022/
  2.  Rosenberg, K.V et. al (2019). Decline of the North American avifauna. Science, 366. 120–124. https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back/
  3. Elliot, D. (1990). Saltwater people: As told by Dave Elliot Sr. School District 63 (Saanich): Victoria, BC.