In Pacific Ocean waters between Seattle and Vancouver is one of the largest, most ecologically diverse inland seas in the world. The Salish Sea, named after the first stewards of the area, contains more than 400 islands inside 343 square miles of abundant and culturally significant marine ecosystems.

Map of Salish Sea islands. (Photo: The Nature Conservancy, Washington)

But with two highly urbanized cities anchoring the northern and southern portions and ever increasing populations, human impact is threatening the life under the sea. In the last 20 years alone the population of the surrounding basins has more than doubled, bringing in industrialization and wrecking habitats and ecosystems we rely on. As species face extinction and natural resources dwindle, regional collaboration and sustainable stewardship among these coastal communities are more crucial than ever. 

During a three-year sailing journey through the Salish islands, author Sheila Harrington interviewed over 50 veteran conservationists from the most populated areas, weaving their experiences into a narrative. In this Book Talk we discuss her newest book that captures these stories for the first time, her own experience in conservation, and how local people and grassroots movements can transform the future of our planet. 

What led you to embark on this three-year sailing journey? 

The passing of John Scull, a founder of the Cowichan Community Land Trust and the Land Trust Alliance of British Columbia in early 2021, followed on the loss of several others who had started local land trusts (often called conservancies) in the conservation movement. I realized that many of these elders’ voices were fast disappearing. I decided to interview the surviving stalwart founders of the island’s conservancies and capture their motivations and their stories before they were lost. So began my exploration and sailing journey to the more populated islands on the Salish Sea to meet with the locals who had banded together to form these organizations and learn about their successes and challenges. I also talked with many who now carry these island conservation organizations forward in this pivotal time—a passing of the guard.

Harrington's sailboat. (Photo: Sheila Harrington)

Could you share a memorable encounter?

While interviewing a couple on Cortes Island, I learned that only 4% of wild mammalian species are left on the planet. That threw me for a loop. With the growing awareness of the larger global picture, hopefully we can pull our heads out of the sand enough to take action, and do something that ultimately lasts. This inspiring couple registered a conservation covenant on their property to ensure that it retains its natural values, beyond their own ownership. Conserving land is a concrete way of doing something that will last well into the future.

Eggs of an Glaucous-winged gull, a large gull found in the Salish Sea area. (Photo: Sheila Harrington)

A Northern red-legged frog hangs by the water. Northern red-legged frogs are considered a species of Special Concern under the Species at Risk Act. (Photo: Biodiversity Saturna Facebook)

What inspired you to document the stories of conservationists? 

I wanted to create a combined historical record of the people and places protected by these island conservancies. Each had different events and challenges that spawned their creation, yet they share a common goal to protect the now rare coastal Douglas-fir, cedar, arbutus, and Garry oak forests and meadows along with the wetlands and shorelines on these precious islands. 

Garry Oaks Forest on Salt Spring Island. (Photo: Sheila Harrington)

Through this collection of stories about conserving specific areas—the land acquisitions, legal battles, lessons learned, and areas protected through landowner (or landholder) agreements, such as conservation covenants—I hope to inspire readers, to share the struggles and triumphs, turn apathy or cynicism to action, and increase conservation in an era of reconciliation and restoration. 

Bill Turner (right), executive director of The Land Conservancy of BC for its first 12 years, and Gerri Turner. Bill negotiated for the transfer of thousands of acres of land to TLC's care and played an active role in many regional and provincial conservation initiatives. (Photo: Sheila Harrington)

The book discusses conservancies formed to counter threats like logging and development. What are the challenges in establishing and maintaining these protected areas?

The biggest challenge has been raising the money to purchase the lands. With today’s increasing land values, this requires working with many people on many levels, from local residents to larger conservation organizations, and in some cases, government agencies. And often, the money has to be raised with some urgency, while the current landowner is willing to wait for the money to be raised and the deal to be complete. There are some tax benefits too for the landowners, if they have the patience to work through the complexities of the various tools.  

View from Mount Parke, an area that Mayne Island Conservancy worked for years to protect. It is now a Capital Regional District park. (Photo: Sheila Harrington)

As far as maintaining the protected areas, this is specific to each property. Overall, invasive species are a particular challenge these days, as they tend to replace native species, which can reduce the overall biodiversity of the site. Also with the housing challenges that we now have on the west coast, we need to ensure that remaining natural areas aren’t sacrificed to immediate human priorities. We can be creative, and keep to already developed areas, and recognize there are limits to growth. 

View from the top of Mount Maxwell (Hwmat'etsum) on Salt Spring Island looking into Sansum Narrows, showing the forested slopes of Mount Bruce, at risk of logging in 1999. (Photo: Sheila Harrington)

Did any interviews stand out to you?

I interviewed so many inspiring people! I was impressed by the dedication of individuals such as Lorne Wilkinson on Galiano Island who spent a whole day escorting me around to the protected areas on the island and explaining many of the details behind their acquisition. He is one of the founders of the Galiano Conservancy Association, the first local land trust on the islands started in the late 80s. 

I was inspired by the openness of people I’d heard about but had not met, including former staff of key agencies, such as Ian Atherton, who negotiated the acquisition of many of BC’s parks. I was also very inspired by volunteers I met on Saturnina Island and the islands in Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound who have been doggedly working to protect marine habitats around the islands. Unfortunately, industrialization of the Salish Sea is continuing at full speed, with little regard for its impacts on the larger area and its sustainability. 

Saturnina tombolo from behind. (Photo: Sheila Harrington)

Having lived off-grid on Lasqueti Island, how did your connection to that land inform your perspective?

Well, off-grid life is only a small step in reducing our western culture’s impacts on nature. Living off-grid does require using less energy then if you are hooked into the grid. Life on a remote island, with a passenger-only ferry (no cars allowed), also requires that you limit your consumption of stuff. When you have to carry it over, and then dispose of it at the end of its life cycle on a small island, you realize that over-consumption is one of the core problems driving many of our current crises. Also, so many people don’t notice how many natural areas are being lost. Lack of appreciation and understanding for nature, starting within our education system, is a huge problem. It’s all too easy to overlook what we don’t know is essential. Society is so focused on economic values without understanding that intact natural systems are the web that is the foundation for all of our lives.

Members of Lasqueti Island Nature Conservancy explore wildlife on the island. (Photo: Lasqueti Island Nature Conservancy / Facebook)

How long have you been in the field of conservation, and what changes have you seen in public attitudes toward environmental protection?

I’ve been involved in conservation for more than thirty years and in environmental education for ten years prior to that. Certainly more people are supporting conservation, as evidenced by the increasing number of protected areas (shown on the 2000 and 2022 maps of the area created for this book.) The recent budget allocations from government agencies for Indigenous-led protection is also a sign of the changing times. 

Due to the fires and the droughts that have engulfed BC and other regions over the past five years, the public is more aware of environmental and climate change problems. However, many people are still in denial about the level of societal change needed to face the ecological changes ahead. Today’s young people will face the biggest challenges, and I hope this book will help them appreciate that a many people voluntarily gave decades of their lives to conserve and protect nature on these islands and in the wider world. 

Mount Maxwell on Salt Spring Island, from Harrington's boat in Burgoyne Bay. (Photo: Sheila Harrington)

What do you hope readers will take away from these stories?

I hope that people will see that everyone can do something to protect natural areas, and that we have power as individuals, especially when we work with others, such as local land trusts and other advocates of nature who can and do protect land and its biodiversity for the future. 

Sunset at Rebecca Spit (Quadra Island), from Harrington’s boat, the night before heading to Cortes Island. (Photo: Sheila Harrington) 

Anything else to share about your book?

Sometimes it’s hard to maintain hope when all around us we see signs of disasters—wars, division in philosophy or politics, widening economic gaps. Yet we must move forward, with positive actions and faith in ourselves and the larger community of people who are working to protect nature. "Voices for the Islands" shares photos and stories from those who have led the way on these islands. Their successes are due to the thousands of people who refused to give up, doing what was needed at the time—protesting, donating, giving land or money, applying their knowledge to help the case. It’s all important. I hope my book offers insights and some tools to create a future that includes wildlife, spectacular biodiversity, and a human community that cares enough to take action.