World

Domena Diesing’s 1981 Inheritance Helps Secure 1,000‑Acre Conservation Area on Lasqueti Island

By TOI World Desk

In 1981, Domena Diesing used money inherited from her grandmother to buy a share of a 160‑acre property on Lasqueti Island. Over the next four decades she and her partner, Bruce Fleming‑Smith, gradually acquired the remaining shares and built a home on the land. They managed the property with minimal environmental impact, avoiding practices such as burning leftover branches and logging debris.

In October 2026, the couple partnered with the BC Parks Foundation and donated part of their property’s value through Canada’s Ecological Gift program. Under the agreement, 140 acres of mature forest were placed under permanent public protection while the couple retained ownership of their 20‑acre homestead. The protected portion, known as the Jenkins Creek property, is part of the Coastal Douglas‑fir maritime ecosystem and contains rare plant communities, seasonal streams, and a salmon‑important creek.

The protection of Jenkins Creek coincided with the conservation of the neighbouring 190.6‑acre Jenkins Bay property, which had been owned by the late Alfred “Al” Gaensbauer. Gaensbauer, a local warden and long‑time environmental steward, had begun working with conservationists in 2011 to secure a permanent future for his land. After his death, his family continued those efforts, and the BC Parks Foundation finalized the transfer, ensuring the combined 330 acres remain protected.

The new protected area now connects with the existing Lasqueti Island Ecological Reserve and Mount Trematon Nature Reserve, creating a continuous protected zone covering more than 1,000 acres. This makes it one of the largest protected natural landscapes in the Salish Sea region. The BC Parks Foundation’s CEO, Andy Day, highlighted the success as an example of what long‑term cooperation between local people can achieve.

With legal protection in place, the connected area will safeguard important coastal shorelines, old‑growth forests, and fish habitats for future generations.