I鈥檓 an early childhood educator who works across from Haro Woods, a beautiful, healthy, second-growth urban forest. Every week, we take the children there to learn about the plants and the animals, the bugs and the slugs. The kids spend time outdoors while also connecting to all other living things.
Haro Woods is a place where you feel a part of something bigger than yourself. You get a sense of how Vancouver Island used to be before development. This is a humbling experience. The things we think we need to be happy become less important when we see, feel and breathe in such natural and ancient beauty.
Three stakeholders currently lay claim to this forest: the University of Victoria, the Capital Regional District and the District of Saanich, which has the largest piece and is proposing to develop it for the sport of bike jumping. Like the Friends of Haro Woods and others, I鈥檓 opposed to this because of the damage it will do to this fragile ecosystem.
This forest is very accessible. The number 11 bus runs right to its edge. As Vancouver Island densifies, people more than ever need easy access to peaceful places such as the 21-acre Haro Woods. It should be protected in perpetuity 鈥� a wild place for all to enjoy, a haven for wildlife and a living memorial to the First Peoples.
There are plenty of places to develop the sport of bike jumping, but there are fewer and fewer healthy urban forests.
Donna Bieker
Saanich
