Richmond Natural History

Richmond supports a diverse mix of  relic natural deltaic habitats, including bog, swamp forest, shoreline salt and freshwater marsh, and low sand dunes/sandspit formations.  In spite of heavy development in recent years, several key natural areas remain, including the Lulu Island Bog (Richmond Nature Park Bog and DND Boglands), Iona Beach Regional Park and Sturgeon Banks, the extensive marshlands and mudflats which border the muncipality along its western perimeter.  These natural areas are important species banks and provide critical habitat for an extensive complement of flora and fauna, including several rare and threatened species.

birding sites
Sea Island and Iona Beach Regional Park provide one of the best birding sites in the Vancouver area, often harbouring rare species. Other birding sites in Richmond include the Lulu Island Bog (Richmond Nature Park) The dyke along Sturgeon Banks is a good observation spot for snow geese and trumpeter swans in spring and fall, and the adjacent natural areas are home to a number of raptors.

Special plants
A trip to the Lulu Island bog provides good examples of treed and heath bog which supports such bog specialties as bog rosemary, bog laurel, round-leaved sundew, wild cranberry, Labrador tea, shore pine and a variety of species.  The riverine habitats along the south arm of the Fraser provide suitable sites for black lily, northern bog orchid and shooting star.  Because of Richmond's proximity to the Port of Vancouver and its associated influx of alien/introduced plant species, and because of its location at the mouth of the Fraser River, which acts as a natural corridor for plant movement, large numbers of alien European and Asian species are found here.  In a flora of approximately 530 species, only 228 are native.

The above article was kindly provided by www.geog.ubc.ca/richmond/city/nat_history.html

話說一萬年前冰河開始溶解，冰塊河水夾帶著沙石，自菲莎河上游沖刷而下，逐漸地在六千年前形成目前列治 文市所在的LuLu島。由目前考古學的研究發現，當時地表長滿了莎草等草原溼地的植物，爾後有山石南(Heather)等植物，接著在兩千五百年前才陸續長滿苔蘚(Sphagnum)植物，列治文低窪溼地(Richmond Bog)於是 誕生！爾後由於人們開墾溼地，抽水築堤，大多的溼地逐漸轉為農田與建地，目前僅存一塊千年苔蘚溼地於列治文自然公園內，供人們憑弔。