Big Tree Registry

Photo by Alex Harris /
Raincoast Conservation Foundation.

Big Tree Registries are community-science driven initiatives that not only raise awareness about the importance of healthy trees and forests but also help identify areas of high conservation priority, providing valuable information to encourage the protection of iconic trees.

Man walking through an old growth forest.
Photo by Alex Harris.

Pender Islands Big Tree Registry

The Pender Islands Big Tree Registry, launched in September 2019, aims to raise awareness about the rare and endangered status of Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) forests and associated ecosystems characteristic to the Gulf Islands. It is a growing database of the big trees found around North and South Pender Islands, with plans to expand to additional southern Gulf Islands in late 2021. The registry has been modelled, with permission, after the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) big tree registry.

The CDF biogeoclimatic zone is among the most biodiverse zones in the province. It is also the most degraded. It is the least-protected zone in BC with less than 1% of its forests remaining as old growth and less than 10% older than 120 years.

Contribute to the Pender Islands Big Tree Registry

Like other big tree registries, trees are nominated by community members who collect species information along with a few simple measurements including trunk diameter at breast height (DBH), height, and crown spread. Nominations are made using the iNaturalist smartphone app, a Google Form submission, or manually using a prepared datasheet (PDF) depending on the nominator’s preference. These nominations are then verified by a qualified professional working with Raincoast Conservation Foundation to ensure measurements and location information have been accurately recorded. Findings will be used to document the biodiversity on Pender Islands and data may be useful for a number of potential projects.

Measurement guidelines

For more information on how to measure big trees, including tools you will need, photography tips, safety information, and how to measure irregular trees use Raincoast’s big tree measurement guidelines. 

Measurement Guidelines (PDF)

Other registries

Find out about other registries from other regions.

Other registries

Thank you

RBC Tech for Nature logo.

Recent articles

dummy-img

Hope Springs Eternal

Hope springs eternal – at least that’s how it feels right now on BC’s c Central coast. The juncos, warblers and sandhill cranes have returned from their wintering grounds in the south. Hummingbirds are everywhere, searching out the sweet salmonberry blossoms. And grizzly bears have been awake and active for almost a month, gorging themselves…
dummy-img

Fish Farm Link to Sea Lice Infections on B.C. Wild Salmon Confirmed

Martin Krkos­ek, Centre for Mathematical Biology, Depts. of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences and Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB. The paper described here is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, March 2005 as, Krkošek, M., Lewis, M. A., & Volpe, J. P. Transmission dynamics of parasitic sea lice…
dummy-img

Down to the Wire

by Faisal Moola Large Carnivore Projects Coordinator Victoria, BC, March 2005 It’s election time in British Columbia this spring (May 17) and campaigning by the various political parties has already begun in earnest.   In addition to the persistent concerns of the electorate on health care and education, the environment could also be a factor in…
dummy-img

Notes from the Shipyard

The alarm goes off at 6am. It’s still dark and I can hear the rain on Hemisphere Dancer’s aluminum coach house. Stephen and I don our raingear and quietly slip outside without waking Brian. As we walk the footpath along the Fraser River, Vancouver is already humming with the sounds of traffic. We spot a…