Welcome to Keats Island!
Keats Island is a small-medium sized island of 6.32 km 2 located in Howe Sound, B.C., Canada, considered part of the Salish sea, and part of the territories of the Squamish Nation (Siwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw). Nowadays, human influenced clearing of the previously forested landscape covers ca. 0.27 km2 (4.3%) of the land surface.
There are parks and protected areas that roughly cover 7.5% of the island: Silver Creek SCRD Park (13 hectares), Plumper Cove Provincial Park (33 hectares) of upland and 33 hectares of foreshore, plus ~ 1 hectare for small SCRD parks (West Beach, Triangle Park etc). More is protected e.g. the new Sandy Beach area which is 3-4 hectares.
Part of the resilience of Keats' ecosystem can be attributed to a low density population and seasonal visitors. There are pockets of habitation, including Eastbourne, Melody Point and Keats Camp, but a lot of it is empty and privately owned. The island has trails that traverse much of the rest of the Island, but many of those trails are on private land.
The Keats Island Conservation Society
The primary focus of the society is to reinforce a sense of community driven towards understanding and protecting nature. Trail maintenance, invasive species removal and frequent communication with land owners and other organizations in the Howe Sound Biospehere Region are among the most proactive areas in which the KICS is involved.
Keats Island is rich in poorly known species!
Residents of the island share their homes with a diverse community of species, in both terrestrial and marine environments. Many of these species are crustaceans, spiders and insects too small to see with the naked eye. To restore, catalogue and protect this diversity is to ensure the stability of the ecosystem, These organisms serve as a food source for bigger and better known species, like salmon, whales and dolphins.
To help document and protect this diversity, some specialized members of the KICS use their expertise in microscopy, ornithology, and restoration to elaborate catalogs and inventories that document and communicate the biology of these species.
The ocean connects us
Given its size, Keats Island has a high proportion of shorelines relative to bigger islands in the region. This makes events in the Salish sea specially noticeable to keats islanders. But the mysterious nature of the ocean that drives people to it also makes it difficult to study. The KICS ensures the identification of 'indicator' species, whose presence and absence in the shorelines communicates changes in the diversity and quality of the oceans.
A haven for migratory species
Residents of Howe Sound are often visited by migratory species of killer whales, sea lions, and birds. These species use the region to replenish energy and secure a safe commute towards their final destinations.
Other, equally majestic species like the bald eagle are instead residents throughout the year, raising their chicks in the safety of the forest's canopy. A big part of the reasoning that justifies the protection of these and other species in the island is the same reason why most human residents and visitors are so strongly attracted to nature when they visit the island.