The city wants its wetlands to be welcoming.
Raising the profile of Buttertubs Marsh and telling its stories are some of the priorities identified in an updated conservation area management plan presented to city councillors this week.
At a committee of the whole meeting Monday, members of the city’s parks and recreation department discussed the updated plan with council.
Rob Lawrance, the city’s acting parks planner, said there’s an opportunity to build more awareness and accessibility around Buttertubs Marsh.
“We need to do a better job – and maybe it’s the programming, maybe it’s through other ways of kind of conveying information about what is there and why this is unique and make sure the public has a better understanding of that,” he said. “There’s lots of ways I think we can creatively come and tell that story, but we just haven’t got to that point yet.”
The management plan covers a few different aspects of what goes on at Buttertubs. Monitoring, maintaining and enhancing natural ecosystems are some of the goals, Lawrance said, but the city also wants to continue to support public recreational and educational use. There are also co-management agreements to maintain – the 20-hectare East Marsh has been owned by the Nature Trust of British Columbia since 1974, while the 25-hectare West Marsh has been co-owned by the City of Nanaimo and Ducks Unlimited Canada since 2012.
Coun. Bill Bestwick asked if recreational and educational uses were disturbing wildlife at the marsh.
“It’s a challenge that we deal with on all our conservation lands – wanting to promote the experience [for] people outside who wonder about their natural environment, the natural growth and ecosystems … while balancing the reason why we conserve and protect,” said Tom Reid, Vancouver Island conservation land manager with the Nature Trust of B.C.
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Richard Harding, the city’s director of parks and rec, said the marsh offers that balance right now because the trails are all in the East Marsh, while the West Marsh provides a sanctuary that is hardly visited except by researchers. He added that the West Marsh is a rare sort of park acquisition because it doesn’t have existing users, so the city can blaze its own trails there.
“We can actually plan those accesses well in advance … There are some plans to add some access, but not right away,” Harding said.
Mayor Bill McKay said he would have liked to have seen costs included in the management plan, but Harding said there aren’t any changes to the current operating budget because no significant projects are planned at either the East Marsh or the West Marsh for now.
Lawrance recognized the conservation efforts by various groups and the volunteer work over the years and said this updated plan is about creating a harmonized approach at Buttertubs Marsh.
“It’s something that we want to enhance and improve into the future, but also protect what makes this unique and special as a natural feature,” he said.
Friends of Buttertubs create marsh map https://t.co/uLzzWQBSHW pic.twitter.com/jFN40cbLaC
— Nanaimo Bulletin (@NanaimoBulletin) August 27, 2017