Stream Stewardship at Birkdale Farm
Honouring the cycle of life and the interdependence of plants and animals is a key value at Tree Island Yogurt. One way we do this is caring for streams and salmon habitat that run through the local farmland where we source our milk.
This year, as drought conditions kept water levels low in many places along the coast, the Brooklyn Creek Watershed Society (BCWS) in Comox started a 4-year project with Current Environmental, Birkdale Farm and Department of Fisheries and Ocean’s Salmon Enhancement Program. The focus is to improve fish habitat along a 1.6 km stretch of the 6km creek that runs through Birkdale Farm.
Tree Island Co-Founder, Scott DiGuistini explains “We are committed to working with family farms because it keeps things at a human scale. When you live and work on a family farm you get to know the land and cycles of life – the seasons, weather, birds and animal patterns.”
Guy Sim of Birkdale Farm, is a 3rd generation farmer who farms the land he grew-up on says “I have watched the changes from development in the area over the years. There is a lot more water going through the creek now and sometimes it floods the field.” As wild spaces and farmland get taken-up with new roads and housing developments, water and wild things need to navigate new terrain. Towns have policies in place to protect riparian zones, but the pure volume of water moving through creeks can impact the stream banks and beds.
What are Riparian Zones?
Riparian zones are an ecologically rich place – it’s the place where plants, small mammals, insects and fish interconnect and grow, and they depend upon one another to thrive.
The 4-year project is restoring fish and wildlife habitat by increasing riffle pool frequency, adding spawning gravel, removing invasive plant species and reinstating native plants to stabilize banks and shade the creek.
Christine Hodgson, President of the BCWS says “We are happy to be carrying out this important work with the support of the Pacific Salmon Foundation; local businesses like Tree Island Yogurt, Leighton and Lafarge; and a tremendous group of volunteers.”
Learn more about Brooklyn Creek and Support Watershed protection: