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     A number of plants distinct from any others on the planet flourish 
     
     on BC's Queen Charlotte Islands. The 156 islands which make up the archi— 
     
     pelago are home to several disjunct species - plants which grown nowhere 
     
     else but in one or two of the exotic and distinct places one dreams of 
     
     visiting some day: Borneo, southern Ireland or the Himalayas. But there is 
     
     more to the Charlottes' natural splendour than pleases the eye. 
     
    

    
     The undisturbed ecosystems on the islands are of enormous importance 
     
     for scientific investigation. Paleobotanist Calvin Heusser‘s discovery in 
     
     the 50's of pollen grains nearly 11,000 years old revealed that some areas 
     
     of the Charlottes had escaped glaciation. In these refugia, plants — per— 
     
     haps even animals, fish, insects and birds . survived that last ice age. 
     
    

    
     University of BC botanist Dr. Wilf Schofield has found a number of 
     
     tiny, elusive mosses - ancient throwbacks which escaped the glaciers here 
     
     and nowhere else. The botanical importance of the Queen Charlottes' en— 
     
     demic mosses has until now lacked any real recognition. "If they were ani— 
     
     mals," Schofield says, "it would be like finding a native monkey in the 
     
     Charlottes; people would be extremely excited!" 
     
    

    
     Exactly what other forms of life survived the ice sheet in the Queen 
     
     Charlotte refugia is still a matter of speculation. Stickleback fish, tiny 
     
     sea fleas and many of the woodland birds are likely candidates. Even the 
     
     shrew, martin and ermine are distinct from their mainland cousins. Did the 
     
     refugia play a part in their separate development, within the evolutionary 
     
     eye—blink of 10,000 years? 
     
    

    
     Biologist Bristol Foster, former head of the BC Ecological Reserves 
     
     Unit, calls the charlottes an evolutionary showcase. They have also been 
     
     dubbed the Canadian Galapagos. Yet today resource extraction is advancing 
     
     with the same thundering relentlessness as once did the great ice sheet. 
     
     Will the Queen Charlottes survive this next onslaught? 
     
    

    
     (The above information was taken from the CNF Nature Alert. The Save 
     
     South Moresby Caravan is over and was a big success, but the fight is a 
     
     long way from being over. The BC government has not yet been convinced that 
     
     South Moresby must be protected, and the effort must continue. If you wish 
     
     to make a tax deductible donation, please make payment to: 
     
    

    
     Save South Moresby Fund, 
     
     Canadian Nature Federation, 
     
     Suite 203, 75 Albert St., 
     
     Ottawa, Ontario, KlP 6G1 
     
     ******************** 
     
    

    
     During 1987, Canadians will have a unique oppor— 
     
     tunity to focus activities on wildlife and celebrate 
     
     a century of conservation in Canada. One hundred years 
     
     ago on June 8, Sir John A. MacDonald designated the 
     
     first Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Canada at Last Moun— 
     
     tain Lake south of Saskatoon. 
     
    

    
     In July 1985, The Canadian Nature Federation took the initiative and 
     
     submitted a proposal to the Honorable Tom McMillan, Minister of the Envir— 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
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