On December 22, 2021, the Pender Islands Conservancy and Raincoast Conservation Foundation announced the first step toward the purchase and protection of a 45 acre coastal property on S,DÁYES, North Pender Island. Two weeks later, we are less than $7,000 away from our first fundraising checkpoint.
A little over a week before New Years Eve, on December 22, 2021, the Pender Conservancy and Raincoast announced our latest land acquisition initiative: the purchase and protection of 45 acres on S,DÁYES, North Pender Island, a property we call KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest. We were fortunate to announce this campaign with a $75,000 pledge if we could collectively raise a matching $75,000 before the end of the year.
On New Years Day we ran the numbers and found that due to incredible community support we had raised $68,000, just $7,000 away from our goal! Luckily our funders have allowed us an additional ten days to meet our $75,000 goal to bring our initial total to $150,000 by January 10, 2022.
This is just the first step in a much larger, 18-month-long campaign with a final fundraising goal of $2.1 million. However, this initial push is essential to set us up for success in this long-term campaign. We have one more week to raise the remaining $7,000.
KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest is located on the Traditional Territory of the W̱SÁNEĆ people and is home to rare and threatened ecosystems characteristic to the Coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone. It is home to over 100 bird species, including belted kingfishers. With the ongoing support of our community of supporters, protecting this land in perpetuity will become a reality.