Matson Conservation Area
The Matson Conservation Area is located in Esquimalt on the unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən People known today as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations.
Lək̓ʷəŋən means the "the place to smoke herring" and refers both to the place and the language as it is a language of the land. For more information, watch this video from the Greater Victoria School District 61.
Support for the Matson Conservation Area
For more than 10 years, in recognition of the partnership approach to the maintenance of the Matson Conservation Area, Esquimalt approved full permissive tax exemption for the property. Exemption from property taxes allows all of the funds that HAT raises for Matson to be spent on the management and restoration of the site, which in turn enriches Esquimalt with ecological integrity, and community green space.
Mandalay Developments Ltd. donated the Matson Conservation Area lands to HAT in 2004. This donation came about through the tireless efforts of the Friends of Matson Lands, and a partnership among HAT, Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Township of Esquimalt.
To date, restoration work at Matson Conservation Area has been funded by grants such as the TD FEF, Sitka Foundation, Conservation Economic Stimulus Initiative (2021), Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, and the Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Photo by Eva Wainwright
Matson Conservation Area Interpretive Signage Project
Click the links below to view our new signage at Matson Conservation Area!
Above: Video of Matson Conservation Area circa 2005 and featuring Todd Carnahan HAT’s Stewardship Coordinator at the time.
Protected in 2004 through an innovative partnership of visionary land developers, dedicated local residents and grass-roots conservation organizations, Matson Conservation Area constitutes an exemplary model of successful community-based conservation in an urban setting.
A remnant example of the endangered Garry oak meadows that once dominated the surrounding landscape, this area has become an important node in a regional network of protected areas and greenways surrounding the Inner Harbour and Gorge waterways.
Prior to European settlement, these oak ecosystems played an important role in the rich and complex culture of the Coastal Salish First Nations of this region. In the past, Indigenous communities led prescribed burned in these areas to maintain open conditions for deer hunting and promote the growth of berries and root vegetables such as camas.
For more information on the local cultural significance of these ecosystems, read this interview with Lekwungen Cheryl Bryce written by Briony Penn in Focus Magazine (June 2006), here.
For information on the walkway accessibility and past European history at this site, check out the Walks in Your Backyard blog here.
A Home For Nature
Today, this 2.4-acre property is home to countless wildlife species such as black-tailed deer, river otter, barred owl, Cooper’s hawk, hummingbirds, and Great blue herons. This place is an important habitat corridor and sanctuary for native plants and animals across the Esquimalt and Victoria area. All 5 families of bees that are present in Canada are represented at Matson. Read the Matson Conservation Area 2022 Pollinator Survey HERE.
In spring, the meadows and rocky outcrops of the Matson Conservation Area are a blaze of colour as camas, seablush, and other native wildflowers bloom. A forested ravine contains Douglas-fir, trailing blackberries, and fawn lilies. Species at Risk found onsite include Hooker's onion, Great Blue Heron, and Purple Martin.
Photo by Eva Wainwright.
Community-based volunteer restoration & stewardship – Matson Mattocks
HAT's conservation strategy for the property is informed by a management plan, contract biologist expertise, and covenant holders. Active management includes invasive species control, native plantings, and community education. Local volunteers from the Matson Mattocks stewardship group have been removing English Ivy, Common periwinkle, Himalayan blackberry, orchard grass, that has been choking out native plants such as onion grass, camas, and chocolate lily, for over a decade. As a result of their dedicated restoration efforts, you will be challenged to find a stem of Scotch broom remaining on the land. We welcome your assistance!
The Matson Conservation Area community project is a great way for neighbours to learn practical ecological restoration skills and steward the natural areas in their backyard. This is a wonderful demonstration site for urban ecosystem conservation because of its accessibility.
Many residents in the neighbourhood have become Matson's Habitat Stewards. Planting native shrubs on their land and watching over the conservation area, people are taking ownership of this hidden gem of a nature reserve.
Sign Up to Join the Matson Mattocks Below
Recent Restoration Efforts
In the summer of 2021, the HAT Restoration Crew and the Matson Mattocks stewardship group seeded the main meadow in order to restore the native wildflower diversity. See HAT’s blog post about this seeding event here.
Volunteers and HAT staff have also been salvaging native plants from the Centre Mountain Development site in Langford since Fall 2020 and giving them a new home at Matson Conservation Area’s restored sites. Some of the native plants that have been salvaged for this site include licorice fern, broadleaf stonecrop, frog pelt lichen, and alumroot.
See Gallery below for some of the critters that call the Matson Conservation Area home.
photos taken by Eva Wainwright
Migratory Bird Sanctuary
Matson Conservation Area is the only protected land that HAT holds inside of the Victoria Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary. This sanctuary is the first bird sanctuary in Pacific Canada. For more information on the Victoria Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary, check out their website here.
Photo by Eva Wainwright.