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Climate Hugs: Whitfield passionate about the environment

Community activitist involved in variety of projects in PQB area
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Tom Whitfield.

Anyone who has walked the trails of the Qualicum Beach Heritage Forest and stood in awe of its ancient Douglas fir trees, while perhaps listening to the hoot of an owl, the screech of an eagle or a pileated woodpecker, owes a huge debt of gratitude to the many volunteers who raised funds more than two decades ago to purchase and preserve this local gem.

First and foremost among these community activists today is Tom Whitfield, president of the Brown Property Preservation Society (BPPS) since 2008.

This month’s Climate Hug honours Whitfield’s engagement not only for BPPS, but also for numerous other conservation and stewardship efforts and for environmental education in the Parksville Qualicum Beach area.

Having worked as a forester and later as a realtor here on Canada’s west coast, Whitfield has watched the growing pressures on our natural environment. He understands we stand to lose a lot through climate change. Having lived in Qualicum Beach for the past 28 years, he wants to protect what he loves so deeply.

“There are countless ways we can all make a positive change,” he said, and credits his retirement at the end of 2019 for his many additional environmental activities.

Whitfield’s work for the Heritage Forest goes beyond presiding over the BPPS and co-managing the Heritage Forest with the Town of QB and the Land Conservancy of B.C.

Because community support for our forests depends on our knowledge about them, he feels strongly about public education. For the Heritage Forest, he has established natural and cultural interpretive stories for trail signage, created a website, written a management plan and a brochure and leads walking tours during the annual Brant Festival. He organizes volunteer work parties for fire-hazard reduction, trail maintenance and invasive plant removal and has had KSS high school students transplant sword fern in the Heritage Forest.

“Fostering environmental awareness among youth is crucial,” said Whitfield. “And you have to start early.”

He had QBES kindergarten students disperse seeds on Earth Day as part of a Pollinator Pathway project along the walking trail on Hoylake Road W to help the young students realize the importance of native flowering plants to bees, other insects and birds. With KSS and Ballenas high school students, Whitfield plants trees annually on Earth Day in the riparian ravine of Grandon Creek.

Whitfield intimately knows where our endangered natural environment needs attention and care. He volunteers for work parties at the French Creek Estuary Nature Park (FCENP) to amend soils, plant and water trees and shrubs and to remove invasive plants in restoring ecosystems there. With the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Research Institute (MABRI) he volunteers on citizen science projects that study wetland aquifers, marine beach debris and clam abundance. For the Save Estuary Land Society (SELS), he monitors Great Blue Heron and bald eagle nests in the area for the Wildlife Tree Stewardship mapping program (WiTS). He supports the Coastal Douglas Fir Conservation Partnership (CDFCP) with their newsletter through his nature photography.

Does he have any spare time?

Whitfield laughs. “Of course!” How else could he also work on stream rehabilitation by planting trees and shrubs, mostly in riparian areas, for conservation groups such as the Arrowsmith Naturalists (ANats) or the Mid-Vancouver Island Habitat Enhancement Society (MVIHES)? Or propose strategies to support BC’s new Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health (BEH) initiative? Whitfield is passionate about designating and protecting enough local areas to achieve the 30 per cent biodiversity protection goal by 2030.

“The provincial 30x30 project is something truly wonderful we can do for our children and grandchildren,” he said.

And off he goes to paddle with his fellow kayakers in the Cowichan, Nanaimo and Comox kayak clubs: Tom Whitfield, the happy and highly deserving recipient of this month’s Climate Hug.

The Nanoose Bay Lions Club will send $50 to the Brown Property to honour Tom Whitfield for his exceptional conservation and stewardship efforts in the Oceanside area.