We’re thrilled to share that momentum is growing and our collective voice is getting even stronger, as we welcome a group of passionate individuals to our efforts: Valdes Island Conservancy. They are joining us in our shared commitment to end the use of commercial freighter anchorages in the beautiful Southern Gulf Island waters. This growing support underscores the importance of our mission and the increasing concern within our communities. Together, our amplified voices will undoubtedly make a greater impact.
Leey’qsun (Valdes Island) is the ancestral home of the Leey’qsun mustimuhw peoples. The Leey’qsun Nation is committed to reclaiming their ancestral territory and are also working to re-establish a community in the Cowichan Valley on land returned to the Nation in 2024 (visit the Nation’s website).
The settler community of Leey’qsun finds itself along the east side of the Valdes Island on a series of properties that were surveyed in 1960-1970s and then leased until the late 1980s. Properties were then offered up for sale. Most are now privately owned with a few leased lots still active. The cabin community, as it calls itself, runs contiguously from Cardale point, around Porlier Pass and then up to and passed Hippy Bay (see map), with a stretch of IR land breaking up the surveyed lots until the next section of cabins at the north end by Kendrick Island and Gabriola Pass. There is a provincial marine park at the northern tip—Wakes Cove.
The Valdes Island Conservancy grew up through a shared concern for the conservation of the island’s biological and cultural richness. Today we have 99 member families, representing the majority of islanders. Our signature events are an annual Bioblitz and newsletter. We are active in promoting best environmental practises to our community and voicing our concerns for practises which threaten the biological integrity of the lands and waters of Leey’qsun.
The Bioblitz offers us an opportunity to collect data on species and ecosystems of the island and it surrounds and is used as evidence of the uniqueness of this Gulf Island among others of the chain. All information collected is shared with the Lyackson Nation.
We have worked hard to build a relationship with the Lyackson Nation and over the years have met in person for meetings at their office in Chemainus, over lunch, and then on the island itself. Several community members and staff have been our guests and enjoyed the happy chaos of the annual Bioblitz. The Nation shares our goal of conserving the wildlands and waterways on the island and the marine ecosystems surrounding the island. Much of the data compiled from our biodiversity work is viewable via this website.
While many of us do not have the freighters in direct sight on a daily basis, we observe their formidable presence in Trincomali and Northumberland channels as we come and go from Valdes Island via Spanish Hills, Fernwood, Crofton, Ladysmith, Chemainus and/or Nanaimo as well as when on hikes to the west side of the island. As a Conservancy we have been active in opposing the anchorages since their inception. We work to provide an informed voice for our membership and are fortunate to have several biologists, science communicators, educators, lawyers and a marine architect presently on our board. The Lyackson Nation shares our approach and opposition to the freighters at anchor.
The Conservancy recently joined the South Coast Ship Watch Alliance in support of its advocacy to eliminate the freighter anchorages in the Southern Gulf Islands and adjacent Vancouver Island waters. While the Valdes Island Conservancy has filed documents opposing these anchorages, it is the opinion of the Conservancy board that a collective of voices, and professional experiences and skills will strengthen the opposition and lead to success in reaching our shared goals.
Contact: valdesconservancy@gmail.com
