Habitat Acquisition Trust

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Habitat Acquisition Trust

Helping people understand & care for nature in the Capital region of B.C.

08/24/2026

Have you heard about our Good Neighbours program? 👀

Good Neighbours is one of HAT's core programs where we support landowners with the stewardship of their property by connecting people with the knowledge, resources, community, and physical support they need to address barriers to land stewardship. This season, we have been keeping busy!

Recently, the field crew had a full week of stewardship work, helping our neighbours manage invasive species in almost exclusively Garry oak and associated ecosystems. Several days focused on removing daphne (Daphne laureola), photographed above, a toxic and poisonous invasive species in our region. This has a significant positive impact, given the prevalence of these eco-cultural landscapes on private lands. The Good Neighbours program offers a meaningful way for land owners to help play an active role in the conservation, stewardship, and restoration of these important landscapes.

Currently, our active focus area for Good Neighbours includes properties within the Craigflower Creek watershed (east Highlands). We are looking to support landowners who are working on stewarding larger properties (greater than 1 acre) within this area. If that sounds like you and you’re interested in participating, please request a site visit via our website at https://hat.bc.ca/goodneighbours. We look forward to connecting with you!

08/18/2026

Join us in helping to heal the land and restore the native ecosystems on the Jim family's land in the W̱SÍ¸ḴEM (Tseycum) village forest. This project is led by Sarah Jim, a proud member of the W̱SÁNEĆ Nation. Sarah is an artist and language learner, and is deeply passionate about land stewardship through ecosystem restoration.

Date: Friday, August 28, 2026
Time: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Location: RSVP at www.hat.bc.ca/volunteer for address and additional event details. A follow-up email will be sent to all registrants prior to the event date.

For more updates on the W̱SÍ¸ḴEM Ivy Project, go to www.wsikemivyproject.com

Contact [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns

08/14/2026

Join the lək̓ʷəŋən Community Toolshed for a morning of ecological restoration!

Contribute to invasive plant species removal and Indigenous plant restoration in the Songhees community. Volunteers are invited by the lək̓ʷəŋən Community Toolshed to participate in the restoration of Maplebank on Songhees Land, led by Cheryl Bryce. The restoration work includes the removal of Himalayan blackberry, broom, and daphne in an important coastal oak meadow restoration site in Lekwungen territory.

To register go to hat.bc.ca/volunteer.

08/11/2026

Join us for a guided turtle walk! 🐢

Come with a CRD Regional Parks naturalist and HAT as we explore the lake looking for signs of the colourful Western painted turtle, Vancouver Island’s only remaining native turtle species.

Learn about their life cycle, the importance of healthy wetland habitats, the challenges they face, and what you can do to support them.

🐢 Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2026
🐢 Time: 10 am to 11:30 am
🐢 Location: Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park. Meet at the Beaver Lake Picnic Shelter at the Filter Beds parking lot.

No RSVP needed! More details can be found on the CRD events webpage.

08/07/2026

Check out this transformation! 🤩

Our Good Neighbours team removed heaps of daphne and other pesky invasives from this landscape, which is typically home to native wildflowers like fawn lilies. We can't wait to see what emerges in the spring!

This site is located in the Craigflower Creek watershed, where we work thanks to funding from to help landowners steward habitat on their property. With about 80% of ecosystems privately owned within the region, our Good Neighbours Program is critical to ensure landowners have what they need to care for these ecosystems.

If you're in the Craigflower Creek Watershed and interested in learning about our Good Neighbour Program, we encourage you to connect with us. Visit hat.bc.ca/goodneighbours for more information.

08/02/2026

Join HAT and PEPÁḴEṈ HÁUTW̱ for a day of ecological restoration supporting the SṈIDȻEȽ Resiliency Project!

SṈIDȻEȽ is an important place to the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. SṈIDȻEȽ means “Place of the Blue Grouse” in SENĆOŦEN and is the first W̱SÁNEĆ village site. The PEPÁḴEṈ HÁUTW̱ team will guide volunteers through the restoration process, while following W̱SÁNEĆ protocol.

Training, tools, and snacks provided. Please bring plenty of water, and dress for the weather!

Date: Monday, August 10th 2026
Time: 10:00am – 2:00pm
Location: SṈIDȻEȽ (Tod Inlet Trailhead on Google Maps), Gowlland Tod Provincial Park. Follow the trail down to the water, where we will be gathering near the beach. The walk from Wallace drive may take 10 - 15 minutes.

Please RSVP at https://hat.bc.ca/volunteer

For more information on the SṈIDȻEȽ Resiliency Project, more detailed directions, and an overview of protocol, please go to https://www.pepakenhautw.com/

Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns.

07/25/2026

At the end of May, the HAT field crew collaborated with Morgan Davies, a Conservation Biologist with the CRD, to remove Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) from the top of Mountain Forest Regional Park. CRD Outdoor Recreation Technicians Eva and Catie joined for the day and showed us their unique method for hauling out large amounts of broom across long and steep terrain – by strapping it to a hard-frame backpack in bundles! We always love learning from other organizations and knowledgeable people about alternative methods for accomplishing the same goals.

Under the thick broom, we found common camas, stonecrop, Alaska onion grass, Oregon grape, & more. Thanks for having us !

07/16/2026

Come join us tomorrow, Friday and Saturday at Pacific Opera Victoria's journey through Sherwood Forest 🌲

We're spending our weekend with Pacific Opera Victoria's Youth Summer Performance Program as they showcase their rendition of Robin Hood. This spirited 55-minute opera will be filled with daring heroes, legendary outlaws, memorable music, and a timely message about caring for the people and places we share. Performed by talented local youth alongside professional artists, this family-friendly production is perfect for audiences of all ages.

Visit us at the tables celebrating ecological diversity courtesy of "Creatively United for the Planet", in partnership with Climate and the Arts, and yours truly, Habitat Acquisition Trust (HAT).

📷 - The Cast of Ben Moore and Kelley Rourke’s Odyssey, Pacific Opera Victoria, 2025. Photo by Arcade Pallot

Interested in tickets? Learn more here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/robin-hood-by-ben-moore-and-kelley-rourke-tickets-1990143051440

07/14/2026

Come learn about bats on a guided bat walk! 🦇

Join CRD Regional Parks naturalists and the HAT crew on a fun and educational walk as we explore the amazing world of bats.

Discover why bats are so interesting, what makes them so important to our ecosystems, and how we can help protect them. As the sun sets, we’ll hopefully get to see the bats in action as they emerge from bat boxes at dusk to feed on insects. 🌙🦟

Date: Friday, July 17, 2026
Time: 8 to 9:30 pm
Location: Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park. Meet at the Beaver Lake Picnic Shelter at the Filter Beds parking lot. No RSVP needed.

Further details can be found on the CRD community events page. See you there!

https://www.crd.ca/your-community/community-events

Address

661 Burnside Road E
Victoria, BC
V8W1J4

Website

http://www.hat.bc.ca/

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