2023 Conservation Contributions

The VFGPA mission and goals are clearly laid out on our website, i.e. to provide facilities for, and to promote, safe competitive sport, and recreational shooting, fishing, and hunting, while supporting the conservation of British Columbia’s natural resources: https://vfgpa.org/vision-goals/

Most of us are aware of our facilities, but what do we do to support conservation?

Since we were founded the VFGPA has provided volunteers and money to many worthwhile projects, from watershed restoration, fish hatcheries, ungulate enhancement, purchasing land for parks, etc.

This year, at our December Members meeting, we donated $5,000 each to two major local conservation groups, both with very impressive track records.

The first was to Peninsula Streams and Shorelines (PSS), which for over two decades, has made substantive contributions to restoration and habitat conservation projects throughout Greater Victoria. They have an excellent track record in building healthy aquatic habitat that supports self-sustaining populations of native species in both freshwater and marine environments. The PSS has also restored and protected watersheds throughout Greater Victoria. Please have a look at what they are up to here: https://peninsulastreams.ca/

The second was to the South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition (SVIAC) who, since 2013 has spearheaded a Sooke River Chinook revitalization by operating a community-based net pen project. SVIAC has reared and released 4.25 million Chinook smolts into the Sooke Basin during the past seven years, with 650,000 of those in 2023. They plan to increase their numbers to a million a year in 2024.
For more information what they do and upcoming events, visit: https://www.anglerscoalition.com/