CERCA's Mariners Island Salt Marsh Rehabilitation Project
Project Overview
This project will restore approximately 3 hectares of prime salt marsh habitat on Mariner’s Island which is located south of the Western Forest Products (WFP) Mill Pond in the Cowichan-Koksilah Estuary. The island salt march is currently covered by logs that are in varying stages of decomposition. The primary objective of the project is to remove the over-abundance of logs and wood debris that have covered the marsh areas, inter-tidal pools and small water channels preventing the natural growth of marsh and riparian vegetation in the estuarine environment.The project targets habitat for chinook, chum and coho salmon smolts providing intertidal shoreline habitat as well as unimpeded access to marsh, intertidal pool- and side channel areas for rearing.
Project Activities
In January 2015 CERCA met with Key partners of the project in order to discuss scientific, technical and logistical aspects of the undertaking, and to develop a road map for the proposed salt marsh rehabilitation which is financially supported by the Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program.This project is implemented by CERCA in cooperation with the Cowichan Estuary Environmental Management Committee (CEEMC), Western Forest Products Limited (WFP), owning adjacent property to the north of the target area, Ducks Unlimited (DU) with property bordering the area to the south, Cowichan Tribes, and the Vancouver Island Land Conservation Management Program (VILCMP) of the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources (FLNRO). The latter is in charge of managing Mariners Island which constitutes Crown Land. As indicated in the interim report of March 3, 2015, the main contractor responsible for the removal of the large woody debris has been "Heavy Metal" Ltd.Required Permits from the CEEMC and FLNRO and an official letter of support were received by mid- February and the contract with Heavy Metal signed shortly thereafter.Dr. Goetz Schuerholz of CERCA provided environmental services throughout the project implementation. He was on-site daily for inspection of the work progress and to advise the machine operator on habitat improvement measures as per instructions by and agreement with the VILCMP, Ducks Unlimited, and Ron Diederichs, Chair of the CEEMC.
Project Results
To learn more about the project I invite you to check out the youtube clip which documents the project from start to finish.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYeZV5wJjNk&feature=youtu.beThe project results have exceeded the scope of the original proposal: by being able to access a much larger section of Mariners Island than originally anticipated an additional 4 hectares were cleared of logs and woody debris resulting in the rehabilitation of 7 hectares in total instead of 3 hectares as originally proposed.Logs and large woody debris were either removed from Mariners Island or piled up in strategic locations building mounds mixed with top-soil for additional wildlife habitat. It is expected that the mounds will be colonized by endemic shrub/herb vegetation providing prime habitat requisites for a larger spectrum of biological diversity than typical for a pure salt-marsh. The material used for the mounds, is composed of logs and woody debris in advanced stage of decomposition, unsuitable for transport off the Island.Although the choice in favour of an excavator to be used for log/debris removal proved to be the right one, the excavator could not be used to safely clean the smaller inter-tidal pools and side channels without causing unjustifiable environmental damage. Against this background CERCA in cooperation with the field crew of the "Vancouver Island Land Conservation Management Program" plans to clean and rehabilitate the side-channels and pools by hand later this spring.Furthermore, a clean-up of Mariners Island involving the collection and removal of plastic materials, styro-foam and other garbage is planned by CERCA for late May prior to the start of the vegetation period. This will be done in cooperation with other local environmental groups from the Cowichan Valley Regional District.Dr. Goetz Schuerholz (Chair)