If you travel past Nanaimo on the Nanaimo Parkway, you will drive past a unique area located southwest of the parkway between Harewood Mines Road and Exten- sion Road. If you pay attention, you may get glimpses of meadows, but for the most part there is little to indicate anything special can be found in this area. However, this is Harewood Plains, an area which due to its unique physical features is the home of about ten red- or blue-listed plant species. Much of the area is characterized by a conglomerate bedrock topped by a thin organic layer. This creates ideal conditions for spring seeps and vernal (spring) pools, which is perfect for restricting tree growth, creating unique meadows. Inter- spersed with these meadows are stands of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and some Garry Oak (Quercus garryana).
For most of the year, the area is superficially unremarkable, but at the end of April through May the meadows explode in colour as flowers emerge in a kaleidoscope of colours. Common Camas (Camassia quamash), Yellow Monkeyflower (Erythranthe guttata), Shortspur Seablush (Plectritis congesta), and Spring Gold (Lomatium utriculatum) dominate with blue, pink and yellow, creating an easily accessed flowering jewel located within a stone’s throw of the city.
At the northwest end of the area, the City of Nanaimo has designated a small portion of the mostly privately-owned Harewood Plains as Lotus Pinnatus Park. The city has also adopted one of its rare plants, Bog Bird’s-foot Trefoil (Hosackia pinnata—formerly, Lotus pinnatus), as the official flower of Nanaimo, and Nature Nanaimo has adopted the same flower as its logo. This species is red-listed in BC, and categorized as endangered in Canada, with almost its entire Canadian population growing right in Harewood Plains. Other red-listed plant species found in the area include Dense Spike- primrose (Epilobium densiflorum), Hermann’s Dwarf Rush (Juncus hemiendytus), Muhlenberg’s Centaury (Zeltnera muehlenbergii) and Howell’s Violet (Viola howellii). In addition, Harewood Plains is home to several blue- listed (threatened) species, including Slimleaf Onion (Allium amplectens), Long-bristled Frillwort (Fossombronia longiseta) and Purple Crystalwort (Riccia beyrichiana), as well as a red-listed species of butterfly, Propertius Duskywing (Erynnis propertius) and a blue- listed frog, Northern Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora). Wetland habitat loss has been identified as a significant threat to this frog.
The park is largely unknown by most residents, however, and the absence of signs means that even when you are in the park, there is nothing to indicate that it is special. In addition to the park, there is a small area under a covenant, which provides some level of protection as long as its status is not changed. Mosaic Forest Management, owners of the majority of the Harewood Plains area, has erected a sign indicating up to $50,000 in penalties for damaging their property. Yet, ATV and off-road dirt motorcycles have torn up significant areas of the sensitive habitat. Wheel tracks and other damage to the thin soils affect the hydrology which in turn negatively affects the flora that depends on the seeps. Furthermore, BC Hydro has impacted some areas to create access to power lines traversing the area.
Yet, these are not the most significant threats to this unique habitat. Earlier this year, a development proposal was submitted to the City of Nanaimo for a housing development adjacent to Lotus Pinnatus Park. The plan is to convert 24 hectares of Harewood Plains into a 480- unit residential neighbourhood in an uphill area that will disrupt critical hydrological processes and threaten the rare species and endangered ecological communities in the rest of the Plains. Coordinated by Nanaimo & Area Land Trust (NALT), a Harewood Plains Working Group comprising members representing NALT, Nature Nanaimo and other interested parties was formed in the spring of 2023 to seek ways to ensure protection of this unique area in perpetuity. In May, a panel discussion (https://bit. ly/3SYgZVy) on the issue hosted by Nature Nanaimo was held. In July, an excellent article providing more detail was published in The Discourse (https://bit.ly/3SWKEP3).
In early May 2024, the BC Nature AGM will be hosted by the Arrowsmith Naturalists, including a guided walk of Lotus
Pinnatus Park and affected areas. Early May is the perfect time for BC Nature members to see the splendour of Harewood Plains for themselves. You can help support our efforts to prevent the proposed development from happening and to increase protection for Harewood Plains by writing to mayor.council@nanaimo.ca
and expressing your opposition to the development that has the potential to cause the loss of one of the rarest ecosystems in Canada.
author Staffan Lindgren originally published in the Winter 2023 edition of BC Nature