Trial Islands Ecological Reserve

The primary role of Trial Islands Ecological Reserve is to protect the most outstanding known assemblage of rare and endangered plant species in British Columbia. Located just off the southern tip of Victoria in a turbulent part of Juan de Fuca Strait, this twenty-three-hectare ecological reserve protects two elongated rocky islands and associated islets. It protects the greatest number of endangered and vulnerable species in a single ecological reserve in British Columbia.

Nationally significant wildflower habitat, carpets of great and common camas and other showy stands of spring wildflowers, and unique stands of wind-adapted Garry oaks cover the island. Endangered or threatened plants that occur on Trial Islands Ecological Reserve include but are not limited to the white-top aster, paintbrush owl-clover, golden paintbrush, creeping wild rye, rosy owl-clover, California buttercup, snake-root sanicle, purple sanicle, and Scouler's campion. This is the most northern limit of their range for many of these species.

Nine plant communities have been described, including the red-listed Garry oak-California brome association. A living museum of what the Victoria area must once have been like beforecolonization, this outstanding assemblage of rare species highlights the importance of maintaining protected areas . The ecological reserve has potential to serve as a seed bank forspecies re-introduction.

The Trial Islands also serve as important roosting sites for cormorants, black oystercatchers, diving ducks, gulls, eagles, raptors, and shorebirds, as well as haul-out sites for sea lions and seals.