The Galiano Conservancy received funding to establish a foundation for Species at Risk (SAR) awareness and recovery. The main goal of the project is to work toward the recovery of rare species occurring on Galiano island through broad level public awareness, targeted landowner contact, community based stewardship and monitoring programs, land protection and habitat enhancement.

We have mapped habitats for confirmed and anecdotal SAR occurrences with the help from local residents and expert Biologists, and have consolidated those into a SAR registry. Although learning about the island’s rich biodiversity on a scientific level is important, the overall emphasis is a task of increased local community awareness of the island’s habitat. In other words a means to live closer to the changing cycles of the land and work as stewards.

Stewardship agreements to targeted private landowners with rare species occurrences are the first step of an overall SAR management plan. Stewardship agreements are an important part of community outreach and awareness, a means to habitat protection, and as a way in which we can share ecological information with the people of Galiano. The conservancy will also benefit from SAR by integrating species information into current and future restoration plans and ongoing environmental education.

The Galiano Conservancy is interested in hearing about your wildlife sightings. By reporting you are helping to focus our conservation efforts while adding valuable habitat and ecological information to the baseline data of rare species and ecosystems. Please email biologist @ galianoconservancy.ca regarding any sightings and, if possible, include high quality photographs of the wildlife.

Several dozen native species on Galiano have been classified with the following Federal (COSEWIC) status levels:

• Endangered (E): A wildlife species facing imminent extirpation or extinction.
• Threatened (T): A wildlife species that is likely to become endangered if nothing is done to reverse the factors leading to its extirpation or extinction.
• Special Concern (SC): A wildlife species that may become threatened or endangered because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats

Species at Risk in BC are also classified with the following Provincial status levels:

• Red List: List of ecological communities, and indigenous species and subspecies that are extirpated, endangered or threatened in British Columbia.
• Blue List: List of ecological communities, and indigenous species and subspecies of special concern (formerly vulnerable) in British Columbia

To access up to date information on the endangered species of our region, check out the Provincial Government’s BC ecosystems explorer website.

Have you seen any of the following species?

Galiano Species at Risk

Vascular Plants: Farewell-to-Spring, White Meconella, Gray’s Desert Parsley, Phantom Orchid, California Hedge Parsley, Slender Popcornflower, Scalepod, Purple Sanicle, Oakes’ Pond Weed, Slimleaf Onion, Erect Pygmyweed

Mosses: Twisted Oak Moss, Banded Cord Moss, Rigid Apple Moss

Reptiles: Sharp-tailed snake, Western Painted Turtle

Marine: Quillback Rockfish, Bocaccio Rockfish, Canary Rockfish, Yelloweye Rockfish, Harbour Porpoise, Gray Whale, Humpback Whale, Orca Whale, Northern Abalone, Olympia Oyster, Stellar Sea Lion, Eulachon

Insects: Blue Dasher, Western Pondhawk, Dun Skipper, Propertius Duskywing, Taylor’s Checkerspot, Moss Elfin, Island Blue

Amphibians: Red-legged Frog

Birds: Band-tailed Pigeon, Great Blue Heron, Common Nighthawk, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Peregrine Falcon, Purple Martin, Western Screech Owl

Gastropods: Blue-grey Talidropper Slug, Oregon Forestsnail, Pacific Sideband