The provincial government has announced the closure of Botanical Beach in Juan de Fuca Provincial Park for 72 hours for recreational visitors starting at 7:30 a.m. on June 19, and ending at 4 p.m. on June 21. During this time, other day-use areas in the park will remain open, including Mystic Beach, Sombrio Beach and China Beach. The province says the measure is taken to give members of the Pacheedaht First Nation time and privacy to harvest marine resources. Located near Port Renfrew, Botanical Beach
is one of four main areas in Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, which spans 47 kilometres along the southern coast of Vancouver Island. The beach is known for tide pools that display a variety of marine flora and fauna, such as red, purple and orange starfish, sea urchins, white gooseneck barnacles, blue mussels, green sea anemones and sea cucumbers. Historically, Pacheedaht had a village located just above Botanical Beach, which is known as Big Wave Beach to Pacheedaht. The village facilitated Pacheedaht’s stewardship of the
area and its rich marine resources that continue to sustain Pacheedaht culture. These resources are now challenging for members to access due to the popularity of Botanical Beach, which averages approximately 13,000 visitors per month from June until September. More information about the park is available on bcparks.ca/juan-de-fuca-park/ (https://bcparks.ca/juan-de-fuca-park
Botanical Beach, Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, Port Renfrew, Pacheedaht First Nation, marine resources, tide pools, Mystic Beach, Sombrio Beach, China Beach, bcparks
72 hours? That’s basically nothing lol.
So they close one beach but the others stay open… okay but still, why not just limit access instead of fully shutting it down? Seems like an overreaction to me.
Wait, I thought Botanical Beach was called Big Wave Beach? Like isn’t that the same place? Also 13,000 visitors a month like… that’s nothing compared to LA beaches or whatever, so I don’t get the urgency.
I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but how does “privacy to harvest marine resources” work when people can still go to Mystic/Sombrio/China? Feels like they just picked the busiest beach and blamed the tides or something. Also those tide pools are where everyone goes for starfish, so are they gonna close that part too? I need clarification.