Nanaimo council asks province and feds to protect Harewood Plains

The Hosackia Pinnata, also known as Lotus pinnatus or bog bird's-foot trefoil, is the official flower of Nanaimo and Harewood Plains is one of the only places the rare wildflower is found in Canada. At Monday’s meeting, Naniamo city council voted to ask the provincial and federal governments to protect the fragile ecosystem from development. Photo: Nanaimo Area Land Trust.

Nanaimo city council is asking the provincial and federal government to help preserve the unique ecosystem in Harewood Plains.

The city has received a subdivision and development permit application for the land, which includes dedicating five per cent of the land as park space and a no-build, no disturbance covenant on a section of the land that has been designated as

an environmentally sensitive area.

Paul Chapman, executive director of the Nanaimo Area Land Trust, told council during its meeting on Monday that Harewood Plains is a critical ecosystem for Nanaimo’s official flower, the Hosackia Pinnata.

“How rare is Hosackia Pinnata? Like I said, 85 to 98 per cent of it exists on the Harewood Plains and the majority of that within the city of Nanaimo,” he said. “There are a few other smaller populations around but nothing as big and as viable as in the city of Nanaimo. This is it. This is it in B.C. This is it in Canada. This is unique to Nanaimo. There are no other Harewood Plains, this is it.”

Bo Staffan Lindgren is a professor emeritus in the ecosystem science and management program at UNBC who now lives in Nanaimo.

“I learned about Harewood planes shortly after moving here, and I quickly realized how unique this area is,” he said. “So I'm passionate about this what I call a flowering jewel, right on our doorstep. And unfortunately, it's now under threat.”

Lindgren stressed that, in his opinion, the plans for development on the Harewood Plains would be irreversible.

“If the proposed development goes ahead, and the park is ecologically compromised in spite of attempts at mitigation,” he said. “That'll be forever. This can't be reversed. If we lose it, it's gone.”

Hunter Jarratt, from Kiki Nursery, specializes in the native Garry Oak trees and their associated ecosystems.

“I truly mean it when I say that the Harewood Plains is the beating heart of our Garry Oak ecosystems left in Canada,” he said.

Jarrat, who is 23 years old and a graduate of VIU’s natural resource protection program, told council that building housing on or near endangered ecosystems is not the way to solve the housing crisis

“Impacting a pristine endangered Garry Oak ecosystem, the most biodiverse terrestrial ecosystem in our province, which is drought tolerant and cultivated over the course of thousands of years by the Coast Salish Peoples is not the way to address this housing crisis.”

Councillor Paul Manly spoke in favour of his motion to request that the province and federal government protect Harewood Plains.

“I've talked to elders in Snuneymuxw,” he said. “I know that there are petroglyphs in the Harewood Plains area. I've talked to them about the Camas fields and this is an important area to them as well. I think that working towards reconciliation, to make sure that we recognize the importance of these areas, not just for the sensitive species and the species at risk and the ecosystems but also the cultural importance of these areas.”

Before the motion passed unanimously, Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog cautioned that the real question is if the provincial and federal governments will respond to council’s call to protect Harewood Plains.

“Don't give us too much credit for stating the obvious, we are calling upon senior [levels of] government to recognize that they have the responsibility to ensure the Harewood Plains are protected because of their unique ecological value, the unique species that exist there,” he said.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.