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Discovery Islands Mapping Project Stewardship Program
We are a group of scientists, journalists, writers, naturalists and citizens—all of whom have a long relationship with the Discovery Islands.
Our purpose in creating this website is to advance public understanding of critical environmental issues affecting the ecological health of this area. We also intend it as a place where new directions and possibilities, in response to changing environmental conditions, can be aired and explored. As part of our program, we are advocating for the transition of current forestry practices toward a greater emphasis on carbon stewardship and conservation of biodiversity. As well, we will advocate for transitioning marine finfish aquaculture to contained, land-based operations.
You will find on this site many documents created by government agencies to assist them in the management of natural resources and Crown land on and around the Discovery Islands. As more documents come to our attention, we will archive them here as a public resource specific to this place. We welcome your assistance in this gathering of useful information.
We are conducting an ongoing survey of physical features and biodiversity on the islands. This involves visiting selected sites on both Crown land and private property (with permission) and recording the species found using photography, videography, and audio recordings. GPS coordinates are established for each observation, and those observations are then "mapped" on this website. Our program will entail visiting the same sites, which we are calling "stewardship areas," on an annual or twice-annual basis and noting any changes to those sites over a period of years.
Over time, we will create a catalogue of species found on the Discovery Islands and surrounding marine waters and determine whether populations of those species are increasing—perhaps as a result of restoration efforts—or declining under the influence of factors such as climate change, resource extraction, and development.
Our primary goal in conducting these surveys is to increase the numbers and expertise of people in the community involved in land stewardship and conservation. Our work will also create an open archive of data obtained by systematic, science-based collection methodologies. This information may be useful to scientists and journalists, and we are hopeful it will assist governments in making future decisions about how the land base of the Discovery Islands is utilized.
We are also developing a program that will allow Discovery Islands stewards to connect with scientists, naturalists, writers and journalists. Our goal with this aspect of the program is to encourage land stewards in our community to become highly informed, active communicators and leaders on issues related to biodiversity, conservation and environmental stability.
We also intend to offer an educational program in the fundamentals of stewardship, including species identification, photography, data collection and writing.
This website will allow and encourage respectful discussion in the community about issues related to our collective use of the land.
Stewardship areas on Quadra Island: