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.
A man holding a piece of hair on a barbed wire fence.
Raincoast updates

Hair Extravaganza

We approach the site in silence, hoping to find evidence of an ursid visitor. Crouching close to the ground, we examine each barb along the 25 m of fencing we set up. Having set up 71 of these barbed wire hair snagging stations across 5000 square kilometers, our work now consists of returning to each…
Juvenile sockeye infected with sea lice as they migrate past fish farms in the Discovery Islands
Notes from the fieldRaincoast updates

Fish farms make louse-y migration routes

Fraser River sockeye returned in record low numbers last fall, one percent of what they were a century ago
A brown bear with a fish in its mouth.
Raincoast updates

Salmon for wildlife

Elected officials need to hear public support for allocating  salmon to bears. The federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans makes decisions every day that effect the allocation of salmon to various interests.  Until very recently, wildlife were never mentioned in the decision-making process.   Now, a policy exists that states the ecosystem, specifically bears and other…
A man is holding a baby in front of a window.
Raincoast updates

A child of this precious coast

I think about the future of this precious coast much more often now. This is because I am now invested in it like never before; my partner  and I have brought a little girl into this world two months ago. She’s in Bella Bella with me during field work. She’s had her first boat rides,…
A man (Chris) holds a partially eaten fish in the forest.
In the media

The wolf man of British Columbia

Although Dr. Chris Darimont initially made his mark with seven years of cutting edge research on BC’s coastal ‘rainforest wolves,’ he actually specializes in all large carnivores, not just Canis lupus.
Two people posing for a photo in the rain.
Raincoast updates

Oh, the Dread-less Wind & Rain

Last week we had a howling southeast rip through. Good timing.
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Raincoast updates

Raincoast Field Station Bears

As we sit down at the dinner table at the Raincoast Field Station to exchange stories about our day of fieldwork, we look out to notice an uninvited but welcomed guest.
A man smiling on the deck of a boat.
In the media

Follow Raincoast at Huffington Post

Follow Raincoast’s Chris Genovali at the Huffington Post Recent Articles: Kill for Cash: Coyotes are targeted in Nova Scotia’s “pelt incentive program” The Death Cults Among Us: Wolves are targets on both sides of the Canada US border Enbridge Northern Gateway Project: Enbridge’s record and Canadian wildlife mean too great a risk from oil tankers on the BC coast.

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.