Non-profit stewardship groups partner to restore the shoreline of Songhees Walkway Pocket Beach
Green Shores for Shoreline Development Demonstration Project
Songhees Walkway | Victoria, British Columbia
As part of the Resilient Coasts for Salmon (RC4S) project, Stewardship Centre for BC and Pacific Salmon Foundation are partnering with Peninsula Streams Society to develop a Green Shores demonstration site at the Songhees Walkway Pocket Beach. Other partners include the City of Victoria, Ralmax Group of Companies, Salish Sea Industrial Services, and the Songhees Nation and Esquimalt Nation.
The demonstration site is located on southeastern Vancouver Island (latitude: 48.427702; longitude: 123.383662) on the north shore of Victoria’s Middle Harbour, approximately 1.5 kilometres west of the city’s core, adjacent to the residential neighbourhood of Victoria West. It is within the traditional territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) People, known today as the Songhees Nation and Esquimalt Nation. The area to be restored is just off the Songhees Walkway to the southeast of Lime Bay.
Songhees Walkway Pocket Beach site map, produced by Peninsula Streams Society.
Project Objective
Using a Green Shores® approach, restoration of this pocket beach will help to reclaim the ecological and cultural values of the site, including the restoration of vital nutrient and sedimentary processes which support all five important salmon species found in this area: chinook, coho, sockeye, chum and pink.
The eroding backshore will be re-graded, stabilized, and planted with native riparian and upland species. Non-native armoured rock and materials will be removed and the beach will be nourished with a sand-gravel mix of small rock pebbles, pea gravel, and sand. These sediments are well suited to provide spawning habitat for surf smelt and potentially for Pacific sand lance forage fish both of which support salmon. The beach nourishment will also help to stabilize the backshore against erosion and prevent coastal squeeze.
First Site Visit
In July 2021, members from the Resilient Coasts for Salmon project team, Peninsula Streams Society, and World Wildlife Fund visited the site to view the pre-restoration conditions of the shoreline. The Resilient Coasts for Salmon Project aims to broaden awareness about the importance of nature-based solutions for shoreline conservation.
Photo of the July site visit: looking out to the Victoria harbour.
Photo credit: Kelly Loch, Stewardship Centre for BC.
Photo of the July site visit: looking back to the nearby residential condominium complex.
Photo credit: Kelly Loch, Stewardship Centre for BC.
Measurements being take at the site, with a lateral view of the pocket beach showing invasive plants and anthropogenic materials to be removed, the slope to be regraded, and the sediment substrate that will be improved for forage fish spawning.
Photo credit: Peninsula Streams Society.
Historical use and adjacent Lime Bay
Below are additional photos of the pocket beach and shoreline at different times in history, and the view outward of the harbour from the adjacent Lime Bay beach.
Historical photos, provided by Peninsula Streams Society.
Ian Bruce, Executive Coordinator of Peninsula Streams Society, at the first site visit in July 2021.
Photo credit: Kelly Loch, Stewardship Centre for BC.
More Information
We look forward to working with our partners on this exciting project. Stay tuned for more updates from our Resilient Coasts for Salmon team! In the meantime, explore our SCBC Resilient Coasts for Salmon project page and find additional content on the Pacific Salmon Foundation website.
