“You plant seeds that come to fruition years down the line.”
GaLTT’s seventh president Rob Brockley has “lived, worked and played in forests” his entire life—including working as a forest research scientist for thirty years. So, when he and his wife Susan retired to Gabriola in 2010 and were introduced to GaLTT at the Saturday market, Rob soon became a member and began volunteering with the trail work parties. In 2012, after conversation with then-GaLTT president John Peirce, Susan and Rob signed a trail license on their property, and not long after, John invited Rob to join the board.
Rob Brockley leads a forest bathing walk in S’ul-hween X’pey (Elder Cedar) Nature Reserve
Rob’s first task as a board member was to establish the Big Tree Registry. He continued to volunteer on various committees, became chair of the trails committee in 2016, and in 2019, president, a position he held through 2022. He jokes, “if you stay long enough, you get to be president!”
While recognising the value of Gabriola’s trails, Rob wanted to focus even more on GaLTT’s conservation mandate—to increase the amount of protected natural habitat, whether through land acquisition, formal conservation covenants, or public education. This led, in 2021, to the establishment of the Nature Stewards Program, a voluntary, informal mode of conservation whereby landholders pledge to protect at least 30 percent of their property as natural habitat, without the formal strictures associated with conservation covenants. The idea originally came to GaLTT from Ken Gurr, who has remained under contract to help manage the program, and whose “enormous passion and effort” Rob praises. Today, there are over 100 properties signed up as Nature Stewards.
Also during Rob’s tenure, GaLTT advocated for the RDN to purchase “the remainder parcel” left from the Spruce density transfer agreement. GaLTT was able to make a sizeable contribution towards the purchase of this additional ten acres to the 707 Community Park, the biggest contribution toward land acquisition made since the organisation helped purchase Mudge Island’s Dodd Narrows Community Park. And in 2022, GaLTT was invited, with the Nanaimo Area Land Trust, to be co-covenant holders of Link Island after the Swift family donated the land to the Islands Trust Conservancy. While the family retains right of access, the 60 acre island is now designated as a nature reserve, and GaLTT undertakes its annual monitoring.
During this period the GaLTT board adopted a resolution recognizing that the Snuneymuxw First Nation has treaty rights pursuant to the Douglas Treaty of 1854. In 2022 a small delegation from GaLTT met with the SFN Chief and Council to formally introduce our organization. Rob believes this was an important initial step in building a respectful and meaningful relationship with our SFN neighbours.
As president, Rob also prioritised advocacy and building and strengthening relationships with the RDN, BC Parks, the Islands Trust Conservancy and elected representatives. He is especially proud of having negotiated a formalised funding agreement with the RDN, noting that being able to count on even a small contribution each year has been very helpful. This advocacy also led to improved signage in the 707 and accessibility at Pilot Bay (the trail, picnic table and outhouse are now wheelchair accessible)—a project begun during Anne Landry’s presidency, when GaLTT applied for a BC Parks Enhancement Fund grant. Accessibility became a particular focus during Rob’s tenure, with the establishment of an accessibility committee, completion of a shore access review, and administration of a community survey to see what Gabriolans identified as priorities. Rob emphasises this is ongoing work, and that any enhancements and initiatives “take a long time to mature—you plant seeds that come to fruition years down the line.”
Rob was GaLTT’s president during COVID, when some of the usual work—trail building parties, for example—had to be suspended, but lock down led to some organisational and creative opportunities. With the aid of Zoom, Rob and the board were able to accomplish a lot of “core business,” including drafting and revising policy, developing a strategic plan for 2020-2025, and engaging in some organisational restructuring, particularly with the creation of more narrowly-defined committees like accessibility, invasives, conservation and membership. And COVID provided GaLTT the opportunity to enhance its community presence through activities like the ‘winter walk-about’ series and published directions for self-guided walks (a brilliant idea Rob credits to Lou Skinner), which led to increased memberships and donations.
This will be Rob’s last year on GaLTT’s board, although he plans to remain active in its conservation work. He believes GaLTT has been “very fortunate to find… people with exceptional skills and passions”—but expresses concern that as the organisation has grown tremendously, the sustainability of the current structure may be vulnerable to “burn out”. With this in mind, during his last year as president, Rob initiated a review to investigate more sustainable ways of accomplishing the work. While this may ultimately mean more contractual positions, permanent paid staff or other creative endeavours, Rob believes that such evolution is the inevitable hallmark of a successful organisation.
We’re celebrating our 20th Anniversary with a series of posts capturing the reflections and perspectives of GaLTT past presidents. Thanks so much to Trish Matson for conducting the interviews and writing these articles. Watch for more in coming months!