Woman's 1981 land investment helps protect 140 acres of Canadian island forest 45 years later

A woman who used her grandmother’s inheritance to buy a piece of land on Lasqueti Island 45 years ago has helped create a large, connected conservation area in Canada's Salish Sea. Domena Diesing and her partner, Bruce Fleming-Smith, worked with the BC Parks Foundation to permanently protect 140 acres of mature forest on their property. They kept their 20-acre home and surrounding land. The deal was combined with the purchase of the neighbouring 190.6-acre Jenkins Bay property, bringing the total newly protected land to more than 330 acres. By connecting these two properties with the existing Lasqueti Island Ecological Reserve and Mount Trematon Nature Reserve, conservation groups have created a continuous protected area covering more than 1,000 acres. According to an official announcement published by the BC Parks Foundation on 1 October 2026, this connected area is one of the largest protected natural landscapes in the Salish Sea region.Investing an inheritance to save a forestThe story of the land's protection began in 1981, when Diesing moved to Canada's West Coast from Germany in search of a place to settle. She was upset by the large areas of clear-cut forests she saw along t...