We are excited to announce the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) has secured their goal of 28-million dollars to purchase the entire 360+ hectares of Hamilton Wetlands and Forest. This purchase of lands from Mosaic Forest Management will conclude the largest land acquisition in the history of the RDN and ensure that this biologically and culturally significant area is added to RDN Parks lands as a Regional Park and Conservation area and added to the Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas database as a “Protected Area”.
As we celebrate this momentous achievement, we wish to thank all the pledgers for their significant role in making this land acquisition successful. The RDN Board understood the contributions that you all made collectively, and this understanding helped them make the decision to top up the funding required to ensure this land acquisition could proceed. The MABR is proud to be connected to this incredible community that prioritizes conservation of biodiversity, water quality and quantity and habitat that is so critical to the wellbeing of all who live or visit this incredible region.
RDN News Release: https://rdn.bc.ca/notice-2026-02-25-0
In the year 2000 our uniquely diverse region that includes the Town of Qualicum Beach and City of Parksville was designated a biosphere reserve by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Biosphere reserves or ‘regions’ in Canada, are learning places for sustainable development. They are sites for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention and the management of biodiversity.
Today 785 biosphere reserves have been designated across the world, with 19 located in Canada and 3 in British Columbia. Mandated by the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme, in Canada, biosphere regions aim to contribute to the following objectives: conservation of biodiversity, climate action, sustainable development and reconciliation. The Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region (MABR) contributes to these objectives through conducting research, delivering education and facilitating engagement.
Conservation of Biodiversity is an ongoing struggle within the MABR. We have seen species extirpated over time due to loss of habitat, and the wide-spread introduction of invasive species. The Province of BC via the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Land Grant of 1884 granted approximately 20% of southeast Vancouver Island (2 million acres) to Robert Dunsmuir in exchange for building a railway. This still impacts our region today as these lands are held by private resource companies, primarily managed by private forestry companies. As such, land acquisition is a top priority for the MABR to help secure areas that are both sensitive and biodiverse.
This past year, the Hamilton Wetlands and Forest has been a priority land acquisition within the region. The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) has an agreement in place with Mosaic Forest Management to purchase over 360 hectares (~890 acres) of land that contains the Hamilton Wetlands and Forest for 28 million dollars. This land is critical for many local and migratory species and water storage and is also candidate coastal Douglas-fir and Western Hemlock old-growth forest and essential wildlife habitat and corridor.
