Have you seen bats flying above your property? Then you might make an awesome candidate for a bat box. Bat boxes provide habitat for some of our endangered species of bat and many incredible community members even build their own. Here are some success stories and pictures from bat stewards in the area. If you feel inspired you do it too! Read more to learn about bat boxes!
HAT is excited to present our New Land Protection Program video. Most of Land Protection Program happens behind the scenes and it was such a gift to have the talented Rodrigo Inostroza helps us showcase it for everyone to see. Before you watch the video here is a little introduction from our Land Protection Coordinator Barb von Sacken:
"As residents of Southern Vancouver Island, we are blessed with amazing opportunities and ready access to a wonderful array of nature through our local, regional and provincial parks. We share our love and use of these spaces with a huge array of species from the tiny sharp tailed snakes and bearded owl-clover to the large and wondrous black bears and soaring Douglas fir trees. What may surprise many is the number of these plants and animals that are struggling to thrive in our seeming abundance of nature. In B.C. more species and habitats are considered threatened or endangered than in any other province or territory (learn more).
For many of these species and habitats, private conservation lands such as those protected by HAT can play a very important role in their ongoing survival. Private conservation lands provide buffers, refuge, and habitat links. Much like the regional conservation areas of the CRD parks, or BC Parks ecological reserves private conservation lands ensure healthy environments for species to live out their important life activities of breeding, feeding, denning and dispersing, sheltered from our human nature loving curiosity. However, unlike public parks, private conservation lands are often owned and stewarded by individuals and families who work in partnership with HAT and other land trusts by registering and maintaining conservation covenants on their land titles. These landowners have an intimate knowledge of the diversity and ebb and flow of life on their land and the important role their commitment to conservation plays in the dance of nature. During our annual monitoring HAT staff and volunteers regularly witness thriving plant populations, cougar scratching posts marking their territory, and butterflies honing in on specific plants in blooming meadows. At HAT we look forward to continuing to work with and learn from landowners to conserve the abundance of nature on Southern Vancouver Island."
To find out more about conservation covenants contact Barb von Sacken -Land Acquisition Coordinator at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you have issues playing the video please click HERE
HAT is very excited to introduce Sara Lax as the newest member of the HAT team. She will be working with us for the next several months as a Conservation Technician. We look forward to updating our HAT community about the work that Sara helps us accomplish.
Read more: HAT welcomes Sara Lax as our new Conservation Technician
Are you a good neighbour to nature? This is the question that makes up the foundation of HAT’s Good Neighbours Program. The idea behind the program is that conservation does not have to be a single act but can be a practice that describes how we interact with the natural world around us. People like you can make small changes on your land that can have an incredibly large impact on the ecosystems that we live in. This month HAT would love to highlight a Habitat Steward and Metchosin resident Doris Lundy who is doing spectacular things on her property to enhance the local flora and fauna.
