The Comox Valley Regional District will contribute $300,000 towards the purchase of a woodland river floodplain along Oyster River and Shelter Point Farms.
The purchase — concluded late last year — includes the creation of a protected wildlife area called Bear Creek Nature Park, which teems with wildlife and contains a volunteer-run salmon hatchery. Nearly 520 acres of wetland, agricultural and forested habitats will be protected.
The CVRD, along with Environment Canada and Ducks Unlimited, will announce the purchase today at Shelter Point Distillery in Campbell River, in conjunction with World Wetlands Day.
Before becoming a whisky distillery, Shelter Point served as a pansy seed farm, a UBC experimental site and as a dairy farm.
The Evans family of Oyster River have granted a conservation covenant to Ducks Unlimited to ensure the area remains an oasis to wildlife.