{"id":15032,"date":"2021-09-30T19:32:55","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T02:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vicnhs.bc.ca\/?p=15032"},"modified":"2021-09-30T20:05:36","modified_gmt":"2021-10-01T03:05:36","slug":"to-mayor-and-council-of-colwood-re-two-proposed-areas-of-development-beside-havenwood-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vicnhs.bc.ca\/?p=15032","title":{"rendered":"To Mayor and Council of Colwood RE: TWO PROPOSED AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT BESIDE HAVENWOOD PARK"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"Havenwood19 Sept<\/span>ember<\/span> 2021<\/span> <\/span>
<\/span>
Dear Colwood Mayor and Council, <\/span> <\/span>
<\/span>
RE:<\/span> TWO PROPOSED AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT BESIDE <\/span>H<\/span>AVENWOOD <\/span>P<\/span>ARK <\/span> <\/span>
<\/span>
The Victoria Natural History Society is a community organization that has supported those with an <\/span>
interest in nature in our region since 1944, and we currently have approximately 750 members, <\/span>
many of whom are residents of Colwood. Our organization has thre<\/span>e main objectives: <\/span> <\/span>
\u2022<\/span> to stimulate an active interest in natural history, <\/span> <\/span>
\u2022<\/span> to study and protect flora and fauna and their habitats, <\/span> <\/span>
\u2022<\/span> to work with other societies and like bodies having interests in common with this Society. <\/span> <\/span>
<\/span>
Along with the other municipalit<\/span>ies in the Capital Regional District, the City of Colwood is located <\/span>
in one of the top three most endangered ecosystems in Canada. We share this region with more <\/span>
than 100 endangered species, including several that are listed under the federal <\/span>Species at Ri<\/span>sk <\/span>Act. <\/span>
It is with this collective and critical stewardship role in mind that we are writing today about any <\/span>
additional loss of natural areas\/greenspaces in Colwood and further impacts to existing <\/span>
greenspaces through development in your city.<\/span> <\/span>
<\/span>
Unlike other<\/span> municipalities in the region, Colwood has almost no protected areas that belong to the <\/span>
City itself. This lack of foresight by previous councils can be ameliorated by current mayor and <\/span>
council through the intentional protection of additional areas, as well<\/span> as reducing impacts to the <\/span>
few existing parks the City does manage. Greenway corridors are a further means of creating a <\/span>
protected areas network in an otherwise urbanized landscape; allowing for wildlife movement as <\/span>
well as providing a trail system for re<\/span>sident to explore the out<\/span>–<\/span>of<\/span>–<\/span>doors, exercise, and recharge <\/span>
their spirits. The positive effect on mental well<\/span>–<\/span>being of greenspace is increasingly being <\/span>
recognized through many scientific studies. <\/span> <\/span>
<\/span>
Of grave concern to the Victoria Natural History <\/span>Society is the continued loss of native vegetation <\/span>
and the significance of these natural areas for supporting nesting birds, native pollinators <\/span>
(butterflies and bees), and for providing refuge and food for a myriad of other animals. We hope <\/span>
you, as mayor a<\/span>nd council, will make it a goal of your term to have no net loss of greenspace, and <\/span>
instead, look for ways to add more protected natural areas in the City of Colwood. <\/span>This will <\/span>
provide some balance to the areas of concrete and asphalt in your community.<\/span> <\/span>
<\/span>
S<\/span>incerely,<\/span> <\/span>
<\/span>Philip Lambert<\/span> <\/span>
President<\/span> <\/span>
Victoria Natural History Society<\/span> <\/span>
president@vicnhs.bc.ca<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  19 September 2021 Dear Colwood Mayor and Council, RE: TWO PROPOSED AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT BESIDE HAVENWOOD PARK The Victoria Natural History Society is a community organization that has supported those with an interest in nature in our region since 1944, and we currently have approximately 750 members, many of whom are residents of Colwood. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-initiatives","category-letters","category-protected-areas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicnhs.bc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicnhs.bc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicnhs.bc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicnhs.bc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicnhs.bc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15032"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicnhs.bc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15034,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicnhs.bc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15032\/revisions\/15034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicnhs.bc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicnhs.bc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicnhs.bc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}