At one time there were an estimated 100,000 salmon and sea-run trout spawning in the more than 50 creeks and streams that spread across Vancouver. As the city grew they were buried beneath pavement and landfill, or were crowded out by development so that salmon could no longer spawn within them. One by one our streams were lost.

Amazingly Musqueam Creek survived and today is Vancouver's only remaining wild salmon stream. What does that mean? It means the Musqueam Creek Coho salmon are wild having spent their entire lifecycle in the wild, originating from parents and grandparents and great grand parents that were born in and spawned in the wild, stretching back for thousands of years.

Further, salmon are a keystone species in our coastal temperate rainforests making the Musqueam Creek ecosystem the most biologically diverse area in the City- that’s more species of fish, birds, insects, plants, fungi, lichen and mammals than can even be found in Stanley Park!

If we are going to be the greenest city our world than we must make room for the extraordinary variety of life- the species and ecosystems, that grow and interact with each other in our city. To do this we must save Musqueam Creek, now and for future generations. For more information visit www.mecsweb.org.