Seventy-one acres of land along the Englishman River will soon be under Nature Trust of B.C. control following a $5 million donation from the Emil Anderson Group.(Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

major donation

Newly acquired land along Englishman River ‘critical in achieving’ local conservation goals

Sep 26, 2022 | 2:52 PM

NANAIMO — Another piece of the Englishman River and its surrounding land will be preserved.

The 71 acre parcel just west of Parksville, in the area of Top Bridge Regional Park, is set to be transferred from the Emil Anderson Group to the Nature Trust of B.C. in a $5 million agreement.

Jasper Lament, CEO of the Trust, told NanaimoNewsNOW the property runs adjacent to existing Trust land on the river and continues work done over the last 44 years to protect one of the most endangered ecosystems in B.C.

“The Coastal Douglas Fir is…home to numerous species at risk. Very high biodiversity, very high threat and also there’s a lot of private land located in the Coastal Douglas Fir, so working with private land owners…is critical in achieving the conservation results that we need.”

The bordered red area represents newly protected land. (Nature Trust of BC)

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The donation from Emil Anderson Group includes the land, transaction costs and future land management fees.

Acquisition of the area adds to the over 180,000 acres of Trust land in B.C., spanned over more than 500 different properties.

It’s also the 10th property now owned by the Trust along the Englishman River.

Lament said adding land in the mid-Island region is one of the biggest priorities.

“The properties here on the Englishman River are right at the top in terms of their ecological value and in terms of their importance to species at risk and to the overall conservation of biodiversity in our province.”

Mike Jacobs, chair of the Emil Anderson Group, speaking at the announcement of the donation on Monday, Sept. 26. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

As part of the acquisition announcement on Monday, Sept. 26 was a new partnership between the Nature Trust and Snaw-Naw-As First Nation.

Council member Chris Bob said Indigenous peoples have responsibly fished and hunted in the area for generations, naming it Kw’a’luxw (pronounced QUAH-lukh).

“We had so many things tied to this river. The estuary, right from the mouth all the way to the top of the mountain where we harvested our food for the winter, elk and deer. All the way down to the shoreline with the shellfish and getting cod, everything’s connected.”

Bob added a major village used to be located just below the Englishman River and has always been a home for Snaw-Naw-As people.

“We traded, we move seasonally but we always came home and this was home. We made sure we kept that connection and we still do to this day. We have a lot of younger families, they hunt and fish and harvest seafood all within this small area.”

He hopes the partnership will see the land protected for future generations, allowing more people to experience the area.

“It’s for everybody and it’s for all of us. Hopefully you can see more schools come out and do a field trip out here, just connect the kids with the land because that’s the most important thing.”

In September 2021, a $6 million donation from the Wilson 5 Foundation helped purchase 6.9 acres of waterfront land at the mouth of the Englishman River.

Land around the Englishman River, encompassing the Top Bridge Regional Park, will come under Nature Trust of B.C. control. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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