Following the Concept Plan has lead the Friends to take on a stewardship role. Primarily this has meant our restoration project of removing ivy, daphne, broom and other exotic species. Along with the Decision Support Tool’s monitoring system, we have been able to keep a good record of the state of invasive plants at these removal sites and other areas of the Park. Further, we hope to improve our interpretation efforts for the community regarding the ethnobotanical features of the site.

In the past, the Friends have enjoyed support from experts such as Adolf Ceska, Richard Hebda, Hans Roemer, Grant Keddie, Nancy Turner and Rick Serle. As well, in 1993, with hundreds of volunteer hours spent by the Friends in organizing, petitioning and advocating for the Gordon Head Local Area to be maintained and to keep the original proposed oceanfront park at Glencoe Cove, over 400 members of the community crowded the Garth Homer Centre at a special hearing regarding the subdivision at Glencoe Cove. Saanich Council heard voices from the scientific community and the general community throughout Saanich to help secure the $3.75 million of Provincial and Municipal funding to create the 3.6 hectare park.

With several COSEWIC listed species occurring in the Park and with our success so far in restoring the Garry oak and associated ecosystems in the Park, we hope to secure further funding from Environment Canada for a rare and endangered plant inventory, a plant community inventory and specialists in Garry oak ecosystem restoration.

The Friends of Glencoe Cove work with the Songhees Land Management Office and their archaeologist to ensure that we do not disturb any sites.

Garry oak (Quercus garryana) ecosystems, and the complex of closely related coastal bluff, maritime meadow, vernal pool, grassland, rock outcrop, and transitional forest ecosystems of southwest British Columbia, are important for their great beauty and their biological diversity. Over recent decades, habitat conversion of the ecosystems to agricultural and urban uses has occurred at an alarming and accelerating rate. Less than 5 % of the original habitat remains in a near-natural condition. Habitat loss, fragmentation, and invasion by exotic species, altered fire regimes, and other factors pose serious and ongoing threats to these ecosystems throughout their range in Canada. Unless these factors are addressed, widespread losses of the constituent organisms are likely.

Garry oak and associated ecosystems are home to 91 species that have been designated as “at risk” in British Columbia. Twenty-three of the species are threatened or endangered throughout their global range. Twenty-one of the species are listed as being at risk on a national scale, having extirpated (1 species), endangered (12 species), threatened (4 species), or special concern (4 species) designations from the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). Many more of the species are likely candidates for national listing upon assessment by COSEWIC. Indicators suggest that extirpation or extinction is possible or likely unless recovery actions are taken. Garry oak plant communities have been ranked as imperilled and critically imperilled within British Columbia.

Garry oak and associated ecosystems may play an increasingly important role with the progression of global warming. Much is what is currently Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forest in coastal British Columbia may be replaced by Garry oak and related ecosystems within the next half century. Comprehensive ecosystem and species conservation are required to ensure that these biological resources persist within the landscape so they can occupy new habitat as it becomes available. Growing alarm over past, current and potential future losses of ecosystems and species has spawned a multitude of activities by concerned citizens and governmental and non-governmental agencies. Overall concern has not translated into an equivalent level of substantial protection. Coordinated action is needed and an overall recovery strategy is a necessary prerequisite to a coordinated program. This document serves that function. A program dedicated to recovery of Garry oak ecosystems is a clear priority for many British Columbians and other Canadians. The work towards development of this recovery strategy was endorsed by a number of municipalities and regional districts located within the range of Garry oak ecosystems. This draft strategy has also been endorsed by three local governments and twenty-one local, provincial, and non-governmental agencies.

Recovery planning in Canada has historically taken a species-by-species approach. Current national initiatives are recognizing the importance of incorporating a wider scope in recovery planning than single species recovery. The proposed federal Species at Risk Act recognizes the essential role of habitat protection for conservation of species at risk and for preventing species from becoming at risk. The Act explicitly permits ecosystem-level planning for recovery of species at risk under appropriate circumstances. The Recovery of Nationally Endangered Wildlife (RENEW) program recognizes occupancy of multiple species at risk within a limited geographical area as a primary factor in determining the appropriateness of ecosystem-level planning.

This strategy takes a dual-level approach to recovery planning. First, the strategy addresses recovery of the full diversity of Garry oak and associated ecosystems and the essential ecosystem characteristics that sustain them. This broad, “coarse filter” approach is assumed to capture the conservation requirements of most species and is critical for addressing the needs of species at risk in the ecosystems. But although ecosystem-level planning may be necessary for recovery of species at risk, it is generally insufficient. For this reason, a “fine filter” approach for directly addressing individual species is part of the recovery strategy.