| People who visit and live on Mayne Island know that it is a very special place. MICS will continue to develop best stewardship practices in collaboration with private landowners and other conservation groups associated with Mayne Island. The Society's mission is to ensure that the island's fragile eco-systems will be enhanced and its natural beauty will be protected for future generations.
Current Projects
Broom Action Team
BAT’s activities are centred on the mechanical control and elimination of Scotch broom in parks, public lands
and on adjacent private properties. Our core activity is our weekly broom removal sessions which have focused on Henderson Park throughout the current year .BAT’s largest single organized activity is the community broom bash held in April each year to educate and to motivate the public to participate in our program and to eliminate broom from their own property and from neighbouring roadsides. We also work with other community agencies in the pursuit of these objectives, produce and distribute educational material on Scotch broom and other invasive species, and network with other conservancies and organizations interested in invasive species control
Henderson Hill Restoration
Henderson Hill and the Vulture View Trail afford opportunities for the Mayne Island community to explore new areas and to experience new vistas of the adjacent islands. The area under park designation includes ecosystems that are representative of what are considered some of Canada’s and the world’s most endangered ecosystems—the Coastal Douglas Fir Zone and the Garry Oak and associated ecosystems. Because of the nature and condition of this new park, the Mayne Island Conservancy and the Mayne Island Parks & Recreation Commission have jointly agreed to pursue management and restoration of the valued ecosystems found here. The “Henderson Park Restoration Plan” (available in the Library) includes background information on the general underlying physical and biological components found within the park; detailed information on rare and endangered
species and ecosystems inventoried and mapped using outside expertise (BC Conservation Data Centre and Parks Canada); and the extent of disturbance, invasive species and other factors (eg. deer browse). The report also highlights key ecological values, the sensitive areas within the park and strategies for restoration using decision support tools and best management practices. These make up components of the restoration plan.
Active Pass IBA
Active Pass was designated an Important Bird Area because it supports significant numbers of two species of waterbirds over winter (Pacific Loon and Brandt’s Cormorant) and supports populations of a third species during the fall and spring migration (Bonaparte’s Gull). As well, up to ten pairs of Bald Eagles nest along the shores of the IBA, and upwards of 100 eagles occasionally forage here in the winter months. In all, there are about 40 species of marine and marine associated birds that regularly use Active Pass at some time in their annual life cycle.
Eelgrass Mapping and Sandlance Habitat
With the help of volunteers, 7 sandy beaches have been surveyed for the presence of Pacific sand lance eggs. No eggs were found and a higher frequency of sampling is being planned for the 2009/2010 winter spawning window.
All known eelgrass beds on Mayne Island have been delineated with the help of volunteers. Three of the 13 sites were mapped and monitored in more detail (density and leaf area index in addition to delineation) with the help of freediver/kayak teams. Polygons are being produced that will enable the calculation of the total area (m ) of eelgrass on Mayne Island.
A community mapping exercise at the Saturday Market is conducted (July-October) to glean local knowledge about the location of eelgrass beds, identify potential restoration sites and recruit volunteers.
Opportunities to Get Involved: MICS is seeking interested parties to support the society's purposes by:
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Becoming a member of MICS ($5 annual fee).
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Offering expertise to MICS in the areas of: land conservancy, eco-friendly commercial and residential development, water stewardship education, land acquisition, and fundraising.
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Bringing environmentally sensitive issues on the island to the organization's attention.
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Making contributions of resources such as money and time to MICS
Do You Want to Join MICS?
Download
Form in word format
Download
Form in pdf format
You can mail it to:
Mayne Island Conservancy Society,
Box 31, Mayne Island, B.C.
V0N2J0
You can drop it off at Gulf Port Realty, Mayne Mall during opening
hours.
Address your envelope to: Mayne Island Conservancy Society.
2010
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| Saturday, January 16, 2010 |
Movie Night |
| Feb. 20th, 2010 |
Ag Hall, 1 to 4 pm
Open House - displays of MICS projects; short presentations; kids area (Maggi and Leanna will have more)
Ag Hall, 7:30 pm,
Movie Night – feature presentation and a “short”. admission by donation, free popcorn. |
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March 13, 2010
Click on poster to enlarge. |
Ag Hall, 1:30 pm,
MICS AGM - more info
followed by Restoration Notes from an Neighbouring Isle, a presentation by Odin Scholz, Restoration Coordinator with the Galiano Conservancy.
Odin received his BSc. honours degree from the University of Toronto in Environmental Science and Anthropology in 1992. He followed up with the Restoration of Natural Systems Program at UVic in 1998-99 and has been working in the field of Ecological Restoration for the past 10 years with the Galiano Conservancy Association.
He has also been working as a private contractor (Ecological Restorationist) doing several contracts on Galiano Island, working with the Lillooet Naturalists Society and the Cayoose Creek First Nation's Band in Lillooet over the past 4 years designing and implementing a restoration project in Lillooet's Dry Ponderosa Pine grassland ecosystem. |
| Sunday April 18, 2010 |
Beach Clean-up in celebration of Earth Week |
Thursday April 22, 2010
7:30 pm |
Agricultural Hall
This is a celebration of Earth Day with a presentation on the extraordinary lives of seabirds off the northwest coast of Vancouver Island. This is one of the biodiversity hotspots for marine organisms on the Pacific coast of North America. The diversity of seabird species who spend some part of their lives here is high including the most diverse seabird colonies of the eastern Pacific Ocean. This will be a story of their lives including the trials and tribulations of living on the edge. |
| Saturday May 1, 2010 |
Know your Birds, Part 2
This will be a follow-up to the popular winter bird workshop and will focus on the spring and summer birds of Mayne Island. The core of the workshop will provide participants with the skills using field markings to identify more of the diverse bird fauna on the island. The spring and summer focuses more on our forest dwelling birds where field marks and calls are critical to their identification. There will be a field tour after the workshop to hone your skills. Join Michael Dunn for this fun and engaging workshop. Please pre-register before the date by contacting Michael at mdunn@gulfislands.com or 250-539-5745. |
| Saturday May 8, 2010 |
Annual Birdathon
This will be the 5th Birdathon that Michael Dunn has done to raise funds for bird conservation work in Canada and on Mayne Island. The idea is to count as many bird species as possible within a 24 hour period. Mayne Island and surrounding waters will be the count area. That is Michael’s challenge. Your challenge is to consider pledging Michael for either a flat amount (eg $20) or a per species rate (eg $1/species). In the past, 24 hour totals have ranged between 70 and 80 species. If you wish to pledge to Michael’s Birdathon, please contact him at 250-539-5745 or on-line (address to web access to come).
EARTH DAY 2010 – THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR FOR BIODIVERSITY!
LIVING ON THE EDGE – The Lives of Seabirds off Northwestern Vancouver Island.
A Presentation by Michael Dunn
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| Saturday May 8, 2010 |
Ag Hall, 7:30 pm,
Earth Spirit Fundraiser for May Day 2011. An entertaining evening of music, storytelling, poetry and theatre to raise funds for the creation of a LARGE Earth Spirit May Day puppet to be ready to lead the parade on May Day 2011. |
| Saturday May 22, 2010 |
Ag Hall grounds and Miners Bay Park
May Day Celebrations with Morris Dancers, Procession, May Pole dancers, cake, games and more |
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For more information about the Mayne Island
Conservancy or to obtain an informational
brochure, contact:
Michael Dunn, Board President
Phone: (250) 539-5168
Email Us |
For more detailed information and photographs of the Programme Activities and Projects
of the Mayne Island Conservancy Society, please visit our Web Site: http://www.conservancyonmayne.com
Publications
Available on request or at the following locations:
Tread Lightly – Available at both Realtors & The Mayne Island Library
Tips for Visitors – Available Seasonally in plastic dispenser boxes located Miners Bay, Remax on Mayne, and at the Fernhill Centre
Mayne Island Bird Checklist – Tree Frog & Happy Tides
Invasives Brochure – Farmers Marketkt from the Mayne Island Conservancy Society’s display table
Toast to the first Stewardship
Agreement
Stewardship agreements indicate that the landowners are
honouring conservancy guidelines concerning living "green".
Anyone with any property can sign this voluntary form, have
a conservancy member walk through and help sort out what
is on their land, and whether there is historic or ecological
value that hasn't been charted, and generally help share
in maintaining the Mayne Island Conservancy Society values
as stated in the constitution.
Download
the Mayne Island Conservancy Stewardship Pledge.
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