New Activities from QICSS

The Quadra Island Conservancy and Stewardship Society (QICSS) is pleased to let our community know that we are in the process of gearing up for new activities to protect and restore our island’s ecosystems.  We have been fortunate to receive a grant through the Quadra Island Foundation from Canada’s Community Services Recovery Fund, which we titled “Evolving to Community-based Conservation and Active Stewardship”.  The grant will allow us to set up some new operational systems, explore possible project ideas, and start community-based stewardship and restoration efforts over the coming year.  So far, we have developed ideas for extensive removal of exotic plants and are exploring ideas for a project to establish a nursery for native plants and edibles.  Grants for some of these efforts are now pending.  Along with the Hakai Institute, we also worked this summer with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to test methods to restore some of the eelgrass beds that were lost in preceding decades.  We are looking for people’s ideas about their priorities for community-based stewardship and restoration, so please get in touch at QuadraConservancy@gmail.com.  

We are continuing our efforts to protect and care for the land by acquiring and protecting ecologically-sensitive properties and monitoring conservation covenants.  In the next few months, we hope to have some exciting news on these efforts.

For our goals to have the maximum impact, we will need hands-on community participation in stewardship.  As a result, you can expect regular updates as our project ideas get tested and funding hopefully comes through.  Feel free to reach out if you have questions or comments