A Voice for Nature

Yellow Point is a very real place, even if nobody knows where it begins and where it ends. Is the Crow and Gate in Yellow Point? Maybe not. Is Wildwood Ecoforest? Yes – Merv Wilkinson certainly thought so. Is the land around Brenton-Page Road? Yes, but at some point down the road maybe it ceases to be.

I like it this way – Yellow Point becomes more of a state of mind. If you think you live here, you do. And if there’s one thing that most Yellow Pointers love, it’s Nature with a capital N. It’s the forests, the lakes, the farmland, the quiet country roads, the trails, the ocean. Yes, the ocean. It’s the barred owls, with their seven-note build-up to that final whoo-oo. It’s the beavers, working quietly as guardians of the lakes. It’s the river otters, making their way up the ravine to Yellow Point Park. It’s the explosion of wildflowers from March to May. It’s the new young herring, filling the sea in their teeming thousands before they take off to the larger ocean.

It’s the knowledge that the Stz’uminus and the Snuneymuxw First Nations have lived on this land for thousands of years, and appreciation for their stewardship.

It’s the trees, the proud red cedars in their family groups, the determined Douglas-firs, the billowing maples.

It’s the appreciation for all who in years past have donated their land to become parks, who made Yellow Point Park possible, who worked to create the Yellow Point Ecological Reserve.

And now, for all who wish to protect and preserve and celebrate this beauty, we have the Yellow Point Ecological Society (Y.E.S.), newly formed this August. Like most non-profits, the society was formed because of a perceived threat to our remaining green space, wetlands and watershed.

The threats continue, but there’s so much to be said by way of gratitude for Nature in this region. It is our hope that over the years people will step up to say YES, I want to be part of this. YES, I want to add my commitment to preserve, protect and celebrate its beauty. And YES, I want to be a voice for the wildlife, forests and plants who have no human voice with which to speak.

Nature will face huge challenges over the coming years, as development continues, the climate crisis grows and other threats emerge. It is our hope that the Yellow Point Ecological Society will be around for two hundred years, long enough for local residents and the Stz’uminus and the Snuneymuxw First Nations to see the forest recover its old-growth character, to see the salmon and herring return, and to be part of a new ecological civilization being born.

Guy Dauncey

Author: yellowpointecologicalsociety

We are a non-profit society. We work to understand, appreciate, protect and restore the ecosystems and watersheds in the Yellow Point area of Vancouver Island and to inspire and support local residents and visitors to do the same. View all posts by yellowpointecologicalsociety