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 (Chris) holds a partially eaten fish in the forest.
Notes from the fieldRaincoast updates

A Little Wolf Mystery, Part I

I needed a renewal. Spring had sprung some time ago and I was envious of the plants outside my office window that seemed a lot more active than I. After a long winter of computer work, it was time again to visit the wolves and the forests that had changed my life forever.
dummy-img
Notes from the field

The Magic of Hecate Strait

There are some places in this world that can expand our notion of what is possible.  Last month, when I spent 10 days on board Achiever in Hecate Strait, I quickly realized that I had found one of those places. Hecate Strait is the body of water between the Great Bear Rainforest and the Queen…
dummy-img
Notes from the field

Creature of the Coast

Fifteen-month old Callum is a creature of the coast. He bellyflops in bone-chilling ocean waves at sunset, laughs in delight, then runs back for more again and again until he is paralyzed by the cold. At an age when most toddlers are learning to climb stairs, he navigates over roots and fallen trees with the…
Juvenile sockeye infected with sea lice as they migrate past fish farms in the Discovery Islands
Notes from the field

Seeing is Believing

A personal understanding of the places we are trying to protect is requisite for working as a Raincoaster. In this spirit, members of our salmon aquaculture team climbed aboard the SV Achiever last month and embarked on a journey of the Great Bear Rainforest. Under the wing of Alexandra Morton, we skirted the shores of…
Nicola Temple holds up a ziploc with a small salmon fry in it during field work in the Great Bear Rainforest.
Notes from the field

The Secret Life of Salmon

With each step my foot sinks into a thick mat of woven moss and with each step I wonder whether there is anything beneath this mat to support my weight. I step cautiously, just in case, but I’m also trying to keep up with my partner, Chester Starr (the Lone Wolf), who moves swiftly through…
dummy-img
Investigate and inform

A critical assessment of the BC Central Coast Land & Resource Management Plan

This report is a critical assessment of protection for key wildlife & salmon habitats under the proposed BC Central Coast Land & Resource Management Plan undertaken by Dr. Paul Paquet, Dr. Chris Darimont, Dr. John Nelson and Katrina Bennett. The analysis focuses on salmon habitat, wolf homesites and deer winter range. The findings indicate that…
dummy-img
Investigate and inform

Scientific Criteria for Evaluation and Establishment of Grizzly Bear Management Areas (2004)

Grizzly Bear Management Areas (GBMAs) have been a focal part of the British Columbia (BC) government’s Grizzly Bear Conservation Strategy since 1995, and the BC government’s Independent Scientific Panel again recommended in 2003 that they be implemented with provisions to maintain connectivity between populations. In order to develop a conservation biology based model for a…
dummy-img
Investigate and inform

Scientific Criteria for Evaluation and Establishment of GBMAs: Exec Summary

Executive summary and recommendations only. View the report in .PDF

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.