Great Beaver Swamp

The Great Beaver Swamp is one of the largest wetlands on Galiano, providing valuable habitat for birds, amphibians, and mammals alike. It is also the source of Beaver Creek which flows northeast to Cable Bay on the Georgia Straight side of Galiano.  The Galiano Conservancy acquired the Great Beaver Swamp as part of the Mid-Island Protected Areas Network in 2006. As far back as 1888, William Ralph mapped “The Great Beaver Swamp” in a survey of District Lot 61. Since his 1888 survey, generations of beavers (Castor canadensis) have come and gone along “Beaver Creek”, maintaining a mosaic of wetland ecosystems in the watershed.  In the 1980s, the beaver dam was breached and this wetland was briefly used as pasture, until the cessation of agricultural use allowed for the return of the beavers in 1998. Today, the wetland has recovered its former scale, no doubt resembling “The Great Beaver Swamp” described by William Ralph in 1888.

The Galiano Conservancy maintains a public trail across the property and regularly removes invasive species, including yellow-flag iris (Iris pseudacorus), Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), and English holly (Ilex aquifolium).