Dear Editor,
The Board of the Bowen Island Conservancy supports the idea of a pollinator garden on Bowen Island, and the initiative taken by the Bowen Agricultural Alliance (BAA) to create one for education and interpretative purposes. However, we oppose the location of this garden in the Killarney Meadow.
Why we oppose the proposed location:
We oppose the location in the Killarney Meadow because of our concerns over depletion of native pollinator habitat. The Killarney Meadow in its current state has a broad biodiversity of plants, which already support a large number of native pollinators. The proposed initiative will destroy the existing native pollinator environment and replace it with an artificial “native pollinator garden”. This is likely to lead to fewer nesting sites for bumble bees, solitary bees and wasps, and larval food plants for butterflies, moths and beetles. Removal of the salmonberry bushes in the meadow will deplete both hummingbird foraging and nesting habitat.
The Metro Vancouver Ecological Health Action Plan advocates for protection of native pollinator habitat. The proposed BAA plan, although very well intentioned in its goals, will unfortunately reduce this habitat.
With the current active uses in the meadow—the horse paddock and the off leash dog area—there has already been a significant reduction in the area’s natural habitat.
Any further reduction will affect the ability of some of the birdlife to forage for seeds, berries and insects.
We are also concerned about the impact this proposed garden and the consequent public traffic will have on the population of garter snakes, which are particularly abundant in the meadow. Garter snakes are important predators of slugs, insects and mice, and thus an important element in the meadow ecosystem.
Finally, the Killarney meadow is a very popular place for islanders and visitors alike, who enjoy the quiet and solitude that this place offers. The addition of a fenced garden site utilizing one third of the meadow with structures and more human activity will detract from this experience.
We encourage the BAA to consider alternate locations for their proposed pollinator garden, somewhere that will not cause any damage to existing natural pollinator habitat.
With kind regards,
The Bowen Island Conservancy Board
