The 2017 Brant Wildlife Festival adopted the theme Water to Earth while spanning more than a month from International Water Day in March through Earth Day last weekend.
On Sunday, the annual festival came full circle, wrapping up back on the water with its annual Hamilton Marsh tour just outside of Qualicum Beach.
The event was hosted by Friends of Hamilton Marsh, with tours guided by volunteers from the Arrowsmith Naturalists Club.
“We want to raise awareness of its value, so we can protect it,” said Ceri Peacey, self-proclaimed Swamp Goddess and chair of the Friends of Hamilton Marsh Committee.
Hamilton Marsh, which encompasses 36 hectares of a 360-ha. block owned by Island Timberlands, is the largest body of water in the French Creek Watershed, Peacey said.
In recent years, there have been efforts by the Regional District of Nanaimo and Ducks Unlimited to try to acquire the marsh, and Peacey vowed those efforts will continue.
Home — or at least a stopping-off place — for various waterfowl, it was overrun Sunday by dozens of youngsters who made the tour with their families and tottered out onto the floating dock to dip small nets in hopes of finding bugs, snails, nymphs, leeches and other freshwater critters for a living display on a shoreside table.
The marsh is a short, few-minutes hike down a periodically muddy path from the trailhead off Hilliers Road South. Toni Wyckoff made the round trip multiple times to deliver groups to the marsh, pointing out features of the forest along the way as part of the tour.
Wyckoff, who has taken part as an Arrowsmith Naturalists volunteer for five years, said attendance can vary depending on the weather and other conditions, but she has seen up to 200-250 people in a good year.
One of those visitors Sunday was Scott Fraser, the NDP candidate who is seeking re-election as MLA for the Alberni-Pacific Rim riding that also takes in Hilliers, Coombs, North Qualicum and Cumberland.
“I’ve always been a huge proponent of supporting protection of our wetlands,” Fraser said. “They’re integral to our water supply and, frankly, they’re so attractive for people to visit. This is a big part of why we live here; there is more value here than simply the trees.”
The tour takes place during the Brant Wildlife Festival annually with the permission of Island Timberlands, Peacey said.
Other partners who staffed informational and display tables Sunday included the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association (NIWRA), and the Arrowsmith Independent Pre-school of Hilliers.