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Letter: Wildlife's place at Coquitlam's Lafarge Lake is dwindling

A Coquitlam letter writer says natural spaces must be preserved at Lafarge Lake in Town Centre Park
Kiyoshi Takahashi painting of golden crowned kinglet
Coquitlam resident and naturalist Kiyoshi Takahashi created this painting of a golden crowned kinglet, a species he said left Lafarge Lake as the area was developed.

The Editor,

Re. Preserve, protect Lafarge” (Letters, The Tri-City News, March 26) and “Don't mess with nature at Coquitlam's Lafarge Lake” (Letters, The Tri-City News, March 12).

I agree with the opinion of the Burke Mountain Naturalists by letter writer Lori Austin with regards to retaining the natural habitat of Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam’s Town Centre Park.

I wish to add some more opinions beyond “don't mess with nature” about improving the park’s natural environment.

Based on the city's plan in 2017, the full concept was still not totally clear; the park will be either a social spot for residents or an enhanced nature and wildlife park. But I seriously hope the park will be one of the rare nature parks surrounded by a social community for residents to learn about nature, as such places are not commonly seen in our province.

I clearly remember when we used to visit the area until the 1970s, when we were living nearby with our children. The area was called Glen Pit, after the industrial sand pit was converted to a small pond. The pond area was rich in wildlife and natural plants, and we thoroughly enjoyed a close-up view of insects and birds and feeling close to nature.

After Lafarge Lake was established, however, a number of wild birds left the area, including the golden-crowned kinglet, but a variety of shorebirds were still seen on the lake during their seasons. Among the wildlife still in my memory were flying bats at night. On the old Lafarge Lake, the water surface was wide open, and without a strong man-made light source, the flying mammals could be seen scooping insects right at the water’s surface when the moon rose, a rare sighting of bat activities right in town sites.

In 2014, when a water fountain was installed and illuminated on Lafarge Lake, the bats suddenly disappeared, most likely due to the disturbance of the noise and lighting, plus a reduction of the insect population. At about the same time, a good number of water bird species disappeared from the area, such as the wood duck, greater scaup, and hooded merganser, to name a few. Further, the shoreline was cleaned to reduce vegetation, which reduces the insect population as well as that of aquatic creatures that make the water's edge environment rich in wildlife.

Although some of those species could still be spotted through expert eyes during the Christmas Bird Count, as Ms. Austin indicated in her comments, we should not forget the numbers of those birds have sharply declined from such a valuable urban nature location since.

If the city plans to keep the Town Centre Park in its natural habitat, I would ask the Coquitlam council to avoid any more human-made structures such as trails or walking bridges along the lake. Nature needs more vegetation such as waterweed or cattail to enhance the natural habitat, and I sincerely hope the city will establish the Town Centre Park to be a valuable nature park, and that the Burke Mountain Naturalists will become a valued supporter to help improve the park.

Kiyoshi Takahashi, Coquitlam