Our Green Champion!

BY PAMELA WALKER

Strangely, the famous quote from boxer Muhammad Ali, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” has nothing to do with the natural world. Perhaps it should. Recently, TAKE 5 magazine and the Yellow Point Ecological Society (YES) hooked up to find the local heavyweight contender in the ecological ring. We selected a crackerjack team of judges and then solicited TAKE 5 readers and members of YES to send in nominations to find our champion.

The cast of judges were pretty extraordinary people themselves. They included the woman who initiated and expedited the 45-km North Coast Trail (part of the Cape Scott Trail) and now lives here; the guy who, among other things, got plastic bags banned in Nanaimo; a woman who practically learned to speak Latin fluently just by knowing the genus and species names of so many plants; and our very own regional director of Area H, Mr. Ben Maartman.

But before we reveal the winner, let’s introduce two who deserve honourable mention, although all nominations were hardworking, dedicated souls.

Shirley Blackstaff, a school teacher, designed educational materials for her classroom, for Holland Creek Park, the Ladysmith Marina and other natural spots. She created the Sealife Celebration Festival with the ever popular “touch tank.” Recently, she built a forest trail with signs in both Hul’q’umi’num and English, identifying the flora and fauna on her property. She invites school groups to come and get some outdoor education in this unique way.

Jackie Wasyluk has worked tirelessly since 2012 to safeguard the Cable Bay Trail from development. Walking the trail almost every single day, she has played a critical role in building bridges among local governments, stakeholders, land trusts and nature foundations advocating for the park. Her efforts have garnered massive local and online support, which is shown in a petition that includes 29,000 signatures. She continues the fight round after round after round.

And the winner is Hunter Jarratt. A native of Campbell River, Hunter Jarratt came to Nanaimo to get his Bachelor’s of Natural Resource Protection from VIU and never returned home. Instead, he starting working at Kiki Farm in Yellow Point as an ecological restoration consultant and jumped into ameliorating the property’s Garry oak forests in order to save the native camas fields. Given the close proximity to Woodley Range Ecological Reserve, this is a plus to the whole community.

In addition, he has established a consulting firm and can advise homeowners about restoring their own properties, planting for pollinators, planting with indigenous plants and removing invasive species. He also works doing manual and mechanical removal of both invasives and native plants, the former for disposal and the latter for protection and reuse in restoration projects.

His advocacy work includes trying to get the City of Nanaimo to pass an Invasive Species Bylaw. Having recently submitted it as a staff report to the Governance of Priorities Committee Meeting, he hopes it will become a city-wide decree soon.

Hunter volunteers with a variety of groups including Maple Mountain, Friends of Uplands Park Stewardship Program and BroomBusters. As a volunteer with the Harewood Plains Working Group, he works with the Stz’uminus First Nations and NALT (Nanaimo Area Land Trust). At the last AGM, Hunter also became a member of YES.

Currently enrolled in UVic’s Ecological Restoration Certificate program, Hunter Jarratt has 11,500 Instagram and 37,500 TikTok followers and posts regularly about his philosophy on how we can restore nature for all our benefit. He believes, “Every day, you can make a difference by doing something. It’s not enough to recycle. We all need to plant beneficials and get rid of invasives.” At the time of this interview, Jarratt was busy making a cedar vegetable box. He is 24 years old.

In the judges’ opinion, Hunter Jarratt is the Muhammed Ali in Mother Nature’s mitochondrial fairy ring. Your belt is in the mail, Hunter.

In his words: “Diversity is the key. We need patches of habitat everywhere. I highly endorse having a section of ecological reserve in every yard.”