“Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” - Joni Mitchell

In 1995 a group of concerned Savary Islanders joined together with the goal to save the Heart of Savary from becoming a gated community development.  As a result, the Savary Island Land Trust was established as a society in 1997, and as a charity in 1998 when it received its first gift of land. Since that time, nearly 43% of Savary is protected, including the Heart of Savary. Our successes are rooted in the vision of our Founders, and the commitment of our donors, members, artists and volunteers. 

Executive DIRECTOR

Liz Webster

Liz is a cultural anthropologist who made her first trip to Savary in 1993. It was love at first sight. Determined to stay, she bought a cabin on Savary and turned a one-year teaching contract at Malaspina College, now Vancouver Island University, into a twenty-five year career. Liz was a founding member of SILT and served as the Vice-Chair for the first five years, before assuming her current role as executive director.

“As a child, I spent summers at my family’s cottage on an island in Lake Temagami, Ontario. My love of nature and cottage life began there. In the summer of 1995, I drove the land taxi on Savary and listened to countless Islanders express their love of Savary and their horror at plans to turn the Heart of Savary into a gated community. I was a newcomer and knew nothing about Savary, but the idea to start SILT and try to protect the Heart of Savary began then and there.”

Current Board

Chair: Maddie Beange

Maddie grew up spending her summers at her grandparents’ cabin on Savary and continued doing so through university by working at Riggers. Maddie has a BSc in Biology and recently upgraded her degree to specialize in Marine and Environmental Sciences. She worked for seven years in sea turtle conservation in Costa Rica and now works for Biologica Environmental Services.

Maddie’s grandpa, Dick Whittall, was a pioneer in conservation on Savary Island and a champion of SILT. Dick was an enthusiastic contributor to saving the Heart of Savary. Maddie hopes to continue his legacy of conserving Savary’s rare and vulnerable ecosystems. She is excited to work on SILT’s new goal of protecting 50% of the island. Maddie administers SILT’s website and social media presence and spearheaded SILT’s 2020 and 2021 BioBlitzes.

Vice Chair: Christopher Watson

Chris grew up in BC, graduated from the UBC Faculty of Law in 2002 and was called to the Bar in 2003. Chris Watson is no stranger to Savary. He was a student of former SILT vice-chair Christopher Harvey. The two became colleagues when they both moved together from Fasken Martineau to MacKenzie Fujisawa and Chris and his family rented the Harvey summer home at Thah teq (Indian Point) for 17 years before purchasing it in 2021. Chris Watson recalls many conversations he had with Chris Harvey about the special, rare and fragile nature of the island and SILT’s efforts to save the Heart of Savary. Chris was keen to follow the footsteps of his mentor and joined the SILT board, taking up the Vice Chair position that Chris Harvey had held. He looks forward to spending many more summers on Savary with his family.

Secretary: Bronwyn Schoner

Bronwyn is a Park Planner with the Metro Vancouver Regional District’s Regional Parks Service and works to protect and manage wild spaces in the lower mainland, and to connect people to them. With a BA in Environmental Geography and English Literature, and a graduate degree in Library and Information Studies, Bronwyn is a dedicated naturalist and birder who delights in identifying and learning about plant and animal species, with a special interest in the flora and fauna of Savary. She has a life-long connection to Savary Island, having spent vacations at her family cabin for more than forty years – since she was in utero.

About Savary she says, “to me, Ayhus/Savary is home – the place to which I am most profoundly tied. I’m sure others can identify with the feeling of never being able to truly relax until you smell the island air. Love of this island and its natural environment has been a core thread through my life, shaping my passion for ecology and wildlife at a young age. I volunteer on the SILT Board because I see how vulnerable our island is to the loss of its fragile nature. I contribute my education, and my professional experience in conservation policy and management, because I feel a responsibility to help protect and advocate for the ecology and wildlife of this unique place.”

Bronwyn was a SILT Director from 2005-2009, and worked with former Chair Thea Cacchioni to develop SavaryStock. She rejoined the Board and became Board Secretary in 2018.

Treasurer: Walter Riemann

Walter grew up on the edge of a small German town, his backyard a large Forest Nature Park where he built forts, got muddy and experienced nature every day. After immigrating to beautiful BC with his parents, he earned a BSc in Agricultural Economics from UBC in 1987. While working in agricultural policy, supply management and rural business development with producers, industry and First Nations groups, his interest in entrepreneurship grew. Over the past 25 years he has built an innovative manufacturing business in Victoria specializing in architectural access panels. His skills include operations management, marketing, strategic planning and finance. His leadership approach values clarity of purpose, calmness, and personal connection.

Walter and his family fell in love with Savary Island on their first visit in 1997, and spend more and more time there every year. After observing the increasing pressures on the island’s fragile ecosystems Walter and his family joined SILT some years ago and are gratified to support its work financially and as volunteers. Preservation of natural spaces goes hand in hand with enjoyment of them, and Walter values his role with SILTS in moving this stewardship forward.

Trustee: Kate Henderson

Kate is a visual artist, curator and cultural worker living in Vancouver BC on the unceded ancestral territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and səlil̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ Nations. Kate is Interim Curator of the Art Gallery at Evergreen and was Director/Curator of Capture Photography Festival from 2018-2020 and Access Gallery’s Board President from 2016 to 2018. Her BFA major was photography.

This is Kate’s 37th summer visiting Ayhus/Savary Island, where her family has owned property since the 1970s, with many formative memories in the forests and on the beaches.

Trustee: Sherwood Inglis

“I first came to Savary in 1946, a time when there were cottages along the wharf beach, cottages on the Indian Point beach, and absolutely nothing in between, save a narrow, winding connecting road through the pristine forest. This picture remained unchanged for decades, seducing Islanders that all on Savary was permanent and serene. But, much of that tranquil forest scene wasn’t really ‘wilderness’ at all. In 1910, it had been transformed into hundreds of legal lots, the result of the subdivision that year of two thirds of the Island, making Savary the most densely subdivided Island on the BC coast. In 1995, property owners were startled to learn of plans to further subdivide most of the remaining third of Savary. In the then slightly naïve hope of raising enough money to purchase, and then designate this last third as an ecological reserve, a group of Islanders created The Savary Island Land Trust Society. I had the privilege of serving as the first Chair. Through the timely participation of many people, often at very sensitive times in the long 20-year effort, that initial goal came to fruition.

Now, as the summer population swells larger every year, Savary is at a crossroads. It is a delicate place, and spreading this sensitivity message will become an increasingly important part of the SILT agenda. But, we must celebrate that over 40% of the Island is now protected, a goal not many of us in 1997, except perhaps Liz, believed achievable! I want to again express heartfelt thanks to the many people who turned the initial dream into reality!”

Board Members who previously served SILT

Christopher Harvey, Phil Henderson, Melissa Noel, Paul Leighton, Thea Cacchioni, Carmen Cadrin, Trish Crawford, Danielle Dalzell, Karen Delorenzo, Patty Felch, Maegen Giltrow, Jennifer Greenwood, Mary Gray, Colin Hartshorn, Stephen Jeffery, Keith MacDougall, Jon Mckinney, Lynn Price, Lenore Rowntree, Ed Wootten.

1997 SILT Founding Members

Brendan Allen, Paula Butler, Darryl Duke, Norma Flawith, Sherwood Inglis, Rod Kirkham, Anna Linsley, Hartland MacDougall, Charles Pitts, Liz Webster, Carol Wong and Wynn Woodward