The CRD finds a solution to Canadian geese overpopulation

Just over seven months have passed since the Capital Regional District (CRD) found a solution to the geese problem, as restoration work and partnerships have proven the project as a much-needed event. For years, geese have tormented local species and communities on the Island with harsh attitudes, heavy appetites, and huge amounts of feces.

Having been a fully migratory species brought in to increase hunting opportunities on the Island in the ’70s, the past few decades have changed the geese with cross-breeding and a lack of predators; now, the Canadian icons can no longer make the Island their year-round home, as Peninsula Streams Society (PSS), Guardians of our Salish Estuaries Society (GooSE), along with a number of other partners create partnerships to reawaken the ecosystem.

“It's a habitat solution to keep geese out of the surge marshes on Vancouver Island that have an Indigenous touch to it,” says Tim Clermont, executive director of GooSE and member of the Pacific Salmon Foundation. “It simulates similar to the old Indigenous fish weirs that were common hundreds of years ago; the First Nations used it to catch salmon and other forage fish that they ate, and now we're doing it to protect critical salmon habitat.”

Learning from a number of First Nations groups in the area, ecocultural habitat exclosure made of alder and willow have begun to see an increase in natural populations, and a decrease in geese landing in the areas. These habitats are wide enough to allow other bird species, fish, and other wildlife to thrive and land, but for geese who like a large area to park, they cannot land with the exclosures in place.

“We were using this kind of pencil post and plastic deer fencing design, which isn't as environmentally friendly and had a few different issues with it, which is when we got in touch with Tim Clermont and his group,” says Kyle Armstrong, executive director of PSS. “We've expanded into new areas and new watersheds and new marshes and are working to restore those areas; not only do we exclude the geese using this like really selective treatment, it's really great because it allows fish and other wildlife to transit through.”

Summer marked an important time to place these habitats, as geese destroy marshes the most during the molting months; not being able to fly for a short period of time, Armstrong says that this is when they remove all the vegetation from the area due to the easy accessibility. With the habitats starting to pop up across the Island, Armstrong says the work is hard but necessary.

“It's a mix of being extremely satisfying, but also frustrating; a lot of times you look around and you’re like ‘oh, that’s a drop in the bucket of what needs to be done’,” says Armstrong. “But it's also really satisfying in terms of going and seeing these areas where you've had success and being able to see not only these areas you've improved, but also people and the connections you've been able to foster and the empowerment you've given people to do things.”

With a number of projects in the works, estuary restoration in the Craigflower Marsh in View Royal is currently underway. Working with multiple partners including the Town of View Royal, the estuary work is just one of many to come.

“I just want to see that balance be restored to the way it was, and it's really nice to see the First Nations taking a stronger role in and stewarding their traditional territories,” says Clermont. “I look forward to more people getting involved in the estuary restoration, and that the local politicians understand that it's really important to have intact shorelines and flourishing vegetation for protection.”