06 Sep Vital People/Vital Causes September 2024

Drawing on key data and themes from our Vital Signs 2024 report, we will present a new Vital People/Vital Causes online and in the Coast Reporter on the first Friday of every month.

Vital Cause: Environment and Climate Change

The Sunshine Coast faces a number of environmental challenges, including drought and wildfire risk. The Sunshine Coast Foundation’s Vital Signs 2024 found that, in 2022, the region faced 4 weeks under Level 5 drought conditions– the most severe with “adverse impacts almost certain.”  Cumulative summer rainfall (July-Sept) was 33mm or less in both 2022 and 2023, well below the typical amount.

Those dry summers also saw a large increase in the number of wildfires in the Sunshine Coast/Powell River Wildfire Service Zone – jumping from an average of 10 in previous years to 30 in 2022 and 33 in 2023.

Vital People: David Stiles and Michelle Evelyn
Co-Leaders, Sunshine Coast Wildlife Project

Longer, more severe, droughts and the increased likelihood of wildfires, along with activities such as development and forestry, have been putting pressure on the wetlands that are crucial habitat for many local species.

Led by husband-and-wife team David Stiles and Michelle Evelyn, the Sunshine Coast Wildlife Project is involved in several conservation initiatives and public engagement efforts, including restoring wetlands to create a network that will allow wetland species to migrate.

David holds a BSc from UBC and has more than two decades of experience working on wildlife conservation projects in BC, California, and Mexico. Michelle, a Registered Professional Biologist and research affiliate with the UBC Biodiversity Research Centre, holds a BSc from UBC and MSc and PhD from Stanford University.

“We’re creating wetlands in sites where they’ve been damaged by fire or forestry or both. We are working with the landscape, creating climate change resilience, fire breaks and habitat for salamanders, red legged frogs, which are red-listed, newts and other species.”

Michelle and David say wetland restoration will continue to be a major focus as climate change makes these habitats even more valuable and threatened. The group has worked recently to restore areas in the Sunshine Coast Community Forest tenure, including an area damaged by wildfire in 2015. “We’re always grateful to be working with the Community Forest, and we’re happy it’s working and creating good habitat,” says David.

The Wildlife Project also has a close partnership with the shíshálh Nation. “We feel so fortunate to work in the beautiful shíshálh swiya and we are immensely grateful to the Nation for supporting and permitting our wildlife conservation and habitat restoration efforts.”

Michelle and David say Sunshine Coast Foundation grants are helpful in demonstrating community support for their work and providing matching funds for federal grants. For more than a decade those funds have aided with everything from youth education to citizen science to specific projects focused on frogs, turtles, swallows, and bats.

Supporting Environmental Causes on the Coast

The Sunshine Coast Wildlife Project has benefitted from several Sunshine Coast Foundation grants over the years. Most recently, in 2024, the Foundation awarded a $10,000 Responsive Community Grant in support of their wetland restoration work in the West Sechelt Fire Area.

Critical environmental conservation work in our community is a result of Vital People, like David Stiles and Michelle Evelyn, and generous donor contributions made to the Foundation.

If this Vital Cause speaks to you, consider making a gift to the Environmental Legacy Fund.

Established in 2006, the Environmental Legacy Fund supports protecting Sunshine Coast ecosystems, improving air, water, and soil quality, encouraging land and shoreline stewardship, and educating the community on environmental issues. Since 2019, the fund has disbursed more than $39,000 in grants.

For more information on our Vital Signs program, click here.

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Interview and article by Sean Eckford. Photo by Lisa Furfaro Photography.