The Loon Foundation

Our mission is to promote the preservation and enhancement of biodiversity on the Sunshine Coast,
and to provide facilities and programs for environmental education, arts and cultural exploration,
scientific research, and ecological monitoring.

The Loon Foundation is a registered Canadian charity.

ÉTABLISSEMENTS

Canada

Histoire de l'entreprise

The Loon Foundation began in 2002 as the Ruby Lake Lagoon Nature Reserve Society, formed by a group of local residents to preserve 10 hectares of forested acreage surrounding the Ruby Lake Lagoon, on the Sunshine Coast of BC, Canada. With the help of donors the land was purchased, and this conservation reserve now includes a restored wetland, a small lake, forested acres, and an innovative green building, the Iris Griffiths Fields Studies and Interpretation Centre (IGC).The IGC has been the hub of our operations for many years, hosting our popular Nature School program, as well as workshops, festivals, conferences, and other community events.

Our projects have since spread beyond the Ruby Lake Lagoon to more of the lower Sunshine Coast.

In 2012 we hosted the first Sunshine Coast Biodiversity Summit, bringing together scientists and local stakeholders to explore strategies for preserving and enhancing the rich biodiversity of our region. The findings from this summit were published in 2013 as the Sunshine Coast Biodiversity Strategy.

Initially operated out of the IGC and then at an independent location in Madeira Park, our EarthFair Store has been selling books, gifts, and unique locally-sourced items since 2013. In 2020 we purchased a centrally located commercial building with versatile indoor and outdoor space in Madeira Park to be the new home of our EarthFair Store and to serve as offices and an information centre for the Loon Foundation’s operations.

With the IGC established at lake and wetland, our focus was drawn to our area’s other aquatic ecosystem: the ocean. The first conceptual report on the Pender Harbour Ocean Discovery Station (PODS) was published by the society in 2015. After further conceptual development, and with the help of a private donor, PODS took a huge step forward in 2017 with the purchase of the Irvine’s Landing property, its future location. PODS will welcome scientists, students, visitors and the community to a state of the art research and education facility. Following years of consultation, design, and fundraising, at individual, local and national levels, PODS is scheduled to begin construction in October 2021.

Now with our 4 key initiatives – the Ruby Lake Lagoon Nature Reserve, the IGC, the EarthFair Store, and PODS – established or ready to take flight, plus institutions and donors eager to partner with us, we needed a new name to better represent our operations. In 2020 our board unanimously chose the Loon as the name and symbol for our overarching Foundation. The common loon is recognized the world over as a symbol of Canada. The loon breeds on our countless lakes during the spring and summer and spends the winter out on the open ocean, making it a perfect bridge between the freshwater and marine ecosystems and a natural mascot for our foundation. The loon’s many different calls are haunting, reassuring and evocative of the wilderness. We are pleased to have the Loon Foundation associated with the “call of the wild.”