Grantee: Raincoast Conservation Foundation
Project: The Land Healing Stewards Initiative (LHSI)
Timeline: January 2025 – December 2029
The Land Healing Stewards Initiative (LHSI) is an ecological restoration and place-based education program within British Columbia’s Salish Sea region, focused on the Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) biogeoclimatic zone. A collaboration between Raincoast’s Forest Conservation (FCP) and Salish Sea Emerging Stewards (SSES) programs, LHSI blends ecological restoration with education to increase local stewardship capacity and environmental literacy using science-based ecological and Indigenous-centred relational approaches.
Found only in southeastern Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and segments of the mainland coast, the CDF zone is ecologically unique and culturally significant. Among the most densely settled and ecologically fragmented areas in BC, the CDF is the least protected zone in BC, despite being the most biodiverse and containing globally rare plant communities. Heavily fragmented by development, logging, and agriculture, it faces mounting pressure from climate change and biodiversity loss. In response, Raincoast established a land trust in 2021 and now co-owns two conservation properties on North Pender Island: S,DÁYES Flycatcher Forest and KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest. Through a “Two-Eyed Seeing” approach, LHSI integrates Western science and W̱SÁNEĆ Knowledge systems to restore ecosystems, increase carbon sequestration and strengthen resilience.
In its first year, LHSI piloted hands-on programming and deepened community partnerships. This included two five-day youth sailing expeditions aboard SV Achiever that immersed participants in marine and terrestrial conservation, including bird monitoring, intertidal exploration, invasive species removal and native planting. The youths that took part gained practical skills and meaningful connections, with many citing the trips as influential to their academic and career paths. LHSI also partnered with the W̱SÁNEĆ Lands Trust Society to document restoration at ȾIKEL (Maber Flats) and supported community volunteer days to remove invasive species at QENENIW̱. These efforts enhance biodiversity, reduce climate-related risks and empower community members to steward their own lands, advancing both ecological healing and cultural renewal across the Salish Sea.
Stay tuned for further updates as Raincoast continues to grow and develop the LHSI.
About Raincoast Conservation Foundation
Raincoast Conservation Foundation is a science-based registered charity that applies a unique model of informed advocacy to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of coastal British Columbia. Led by a team of conservationists and scientists, Raincoast’s projects are rooted in rigorous, peer-reviewed research and science and informed by community engagement. Unique in Canada, Raincoast operates an applied conservation research lab at the University of Victoria, a conservation genetics lab at the Pacific Science Enterprise Centre, runs a 68-foot Transport Canada-certified research sailing vessel and operates a coastal ecosystem-focused land trust. Their on-the-ground presence, coupled with their rigorous peer-reviewed science is distinctive among environmental groups and has given them a deep-rooted understanding of the vast coastline, its processes and its people. Raincoast’s mandate is investigate, inform, inspire: investigate to understand coastal species and processes, inform by bringing science to decision-makers and communities, and inspire action to protect wildlife and wildlife habitats.